quade 3 #1 November 1, 2002 http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/news/stories/Detail_LinkStory=22672.html Quote The man who fell to earth MARK CALLAND THERE aren't many sports where you can top 300mph without an engine. But that's exactly what British speed-skydiving champion Mark Calland does. The 39-year-old speed freak from Wigan has just clinched a new UK record at the world championships in France - achieving an average 278mph over a vertical kilometre. The sales engineer hit a maximum of 312mph as he plummeted into fifth place, just 25mph behind first-placed Marco Wiederkehr of Liechtenstein. Headfirst Launching out of a plane at 13,000ft, mild-mannered Mark becomes a human dart - diving headfirst with his hands by his side, trying to make himself as aerodynamic as possible. "Once you're above 220mph the air goes very hard, like concrete, and it's a question of just trying to keep yourself as stable as possible within the tube of softer air you're creating with your head," he explained. "If your legs start wobbling or fishtailing you can feel them hitting the sides of the tube and you have to try to relax. If you over-correct things could go wrong and you'd be in big trouble. Once you've got over the initial fear of falling it's just a massive rush." Mark caught the skydiving bug after doing a charity jump to raise cash for the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. But his success is all the more remarkable because he has only been competing for a year. And he's the only skydiver in the top flight who wears a baggy suit. "I haven't got a tight rubber suit yet and I think it worried a lot of the Europeans that I was going so fast without one," he said. "Hopefully, when I've got one of those and with a bit more training, I'll be looking at a second or third place. "The world record from 13,000ft is 304mph, so that's my goal. "Most people I meet think I'm mad but it certainly gives you something to talk about." Mark is sponsored by his employers, the Air Tech Group, but is looking for further backers to boost his bid. quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #2 November 1, 2002 That's cool, I want to start doing a speed dive every once in a while to see what I can get to. I hit 224mph a few weeks ago by accident on a solo headdown dive, so I wonder if I could break 300mph if I was really trying...--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
callahan 0 #3 November 1, 2002 I'm just wondering about some things . Do most people use a pullout system for speed diving ? If they do is there any guideline as far as what speed you'd what to stay away from a boc . Crazy questions, but it came to mind . Do you have marks e mail ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Viking 0 #4 November 1, 2002 bahhh speed diving should be done on your belly I swear you must have footprints on the back of your helmet - chicagoskydiver My God has a bigger dick than your god -George Carlin Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cornholio 0 #5 November 1, 2002 I'm a little confused.... did he break the record? The article states Quote The sales engineer hit a maximum of 312mph as he plummeted into fifth place" However, later in the article, it says Quote"The world record from 13,000ft is 304mph, so that's my goal. So which one is it? He was doing 312 and trying to beat the record of 304 ? That makes no sense to me. Butthead: Whoa! Burritos for breakfast! Beavis: Yeah! Yeah! Cool! bellyflier on the dz.com hybrid record jump Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cpoxon 0 #6 November 1, 2002 The record (although I'm not sure where the value came from) is the average over a kilometer, whereas the peak is not. Also "record" is a bit of a grey area. The devices are too susceptible to pressure changes to be definitive enough. Also, the competitions are relative, a result from one meet bears no relation to a result from another meet, they are only relative to results in the same competition, hence the points awarded for your position in the ranking, and the units run in TAS (therefore very with met conditions and AGL) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Staso 0 #7 November 1, 2002 Quote The 39-year-old speed freak from Wigan has just clinched a new UK record at the world championships in France - achieving an average 278mph over a vertical kilometre. my best average is 284 mph. still unofficially ... -- it's not about defying gravity; it's how hard you can abuse it. speed skydiving it is ... Speed Skydiving Forum Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
