ConfusedVorlon 0 #1 July 21, 2014 A friend called me up to try to explain the skydiving event he just witnessed. I'm baffled - I wonder if anyone here can shed some light? He was walking in Italy (in the Dolomites) and saw two small jets cruising down the valley below him (jets were approx 1000-2000ft from the valley base). The jets were small and flying in formation. He said it was much like the jets that fly past in the Welsh mountains; He heard the sound, then saw them for a moment, then they were gone. Except - that there were two skydivers where the jets were, and then shortly afterwards two (square) parachutes and a lot of whooping and hollering. So - any idea what happened? My best guess is that someone has been doing an event where a couple of wingsuiters fly down the valley and are buzzed by a couple of jets. Perhaps the Italian military are testing out some new ability to eject passengers at low level... Can anyone shed any light? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arvoitus 1 #2 July 21, 2014 Is your friend a jumper?Your rights end where my feelings begin. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ConfusedVorlon 0 #3 July 21, 2014 ArvoitusIs your friend a jumper? no - hence the question to me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ryoder 1,572 #4 July 21, 2014 Someone shooting a new James Bond film? "There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JFish 0 #5 July 21, 2014 ryoder Someone shooting a new James Bond film? Probably not a James Bond film, however it could be the remake of Point Break. It started filming this month and Italy is one of the locations where they are planning to film. They are using actual extreme athletes to perform the stunts, so it could have been a scene with some of the wingsuit flyers filming a scene. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cpoxon 0 #6 July 22, 2014 JetMan?Skydiving Fatalities - Cease not to learn 'til thou cease to live Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ConfusedVorlon 0 #7 July 22, 2014 I think the most credible suggestion (thanks Slater) is that there were no jets, and they were just wingsuiters. I'm told that wingsuiters zipping past sound a lot like jets, and this may be the cause of the confusion. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jbag 0 #8 July 22, 2014 JFish ***Someone shooting a new James Bond film? Probably not a James Bond film, however it could be the remake of Point Break. It started filming this month and Italy is one of the locations where they are planning to film. They are using actual extreme athletes to perform the stunts, so it could have been a scene with some of the wingsuit flyers filming a scene. what the hell is an "Actual Extreme Athlete?"IHYD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mkelly3078 0 #9 July 22, 2014 Jbag ******Someone shooting a new James Bond film? Probably not a James Bond film, however it could be the remake of Point Break. It started filming this month and Italy is one of the locations where they are planning to film. They are using actual extreme athletes to perform the stunts, so it could have been a scene with some of the wingsuit flyers filming a scene. what the hell is an "Actual Extreme Athlete?" People who can hold in their gut and still breath. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sanjak 0 #10 July 22, 2014 Jbag ******Someone shooting a new James Bond film? Probably not a James Bond film, however it could be the remake of Point Break. It started filming this month and Italy is one of the locations where they are planning to film. They are using actual extreme athletes to perform the stunts, so it could have been a scene with some of the wingsuit flyers filming a scene. what the hell is an "Actual Extreme Athlete?" Probably just means real stunts done by real people, rather than Hollywood fakery. Like that freefall scene in Point Break where you just know they're suspended from a ceiling by wires with a fan blowing up on them to tussle their hair. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JFish 0 #11 July 22, 2014 Sanjak *********Someone shooting a new James Bond film? Probably not a James Bond film, however it could be the remake of Point Break. It started filming this month and Italy is one of the locations where they are planning to film. They are using actual extreme athletes to perform the stunts, so it could have been a scene with some of the wingsuit flyers filming a scene. what the hell is an "Actual Extreme Athlete?" Probably just means real stunts done by real people, rather than Hollywood fakery. Like that freefall scene in Point Break where you just know they're suspended from a ceiling by wires with a fan blowing up on them to tussle their hair. ^^^ This is what I meant. The wingsuit scenes are going to be performed by pro wingsuit flyers, not done with special effects/computer generated. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JFish 0 #12 July 22, 2014 ConfusedVorlonI think the most credible suggestion (thanks Slater) is that there were no jets, and they were just wingsuiters. I'm told that wingsuiters zipping past sound a lot like jets, and this may be the cause of the confusion. How close was he to the objects that he thought were jets? Wingsuit noise can sound quite loud when they are very close (check out some of the wingsuit videos on youtube), but from a distance I'm guessing that the noise wouldn't travel nearly as far as that from a jet - could someone with more wingsuit knowledge than me confirm? In your OP you said that your friend saw them for a moment and then they were gone - can you get more details on what he means by this? If he saw the objects and they disappeared mid air and suddenly there were parachutes around the same place where the "jets" magically disappeared, I would be inclined to agree with you. If what he meant by they were gone is they flew out of his line of sight and then there were parachutes somewhere behind where he last saw the "jets", I'd be inclined to think that you may have been correct that there were wingsuit and jets doing some kind of stunt. Sorry for all the questions, I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that someone could confuse a wingsuit and a fighter jet. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
justme12001 0 #13 July 22, 2014 This was my first thought as well! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yoink 321 #14 July 22, 2014 Canopies opening can sound like jets to whuffos too. Wingsuit is mistaken as a jet, snivel sounds like the jet engine and then poof! Parachutists. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 613 #15 July 22, 2014 Another possible coincidence is that Italian Air Force jets were practicing flying "nap of the earth" in the same valley that some wing-suiters were "contour flying." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 613 #16 July 22, 2014 Jumping from small jets is dangerous. The biggest risk is hitting the wing or engines or tail, etc. A decade or so ago, a pair of French Air Forces para-rescue jumpers tried jumping from a Falcon executive jet. They were testing the feasibility of using executive jets to quickly transport them to the middle of an ocean, where they could jump in to save people in distress. The Falcon's main door is forward of the wing. Contact with the left wing's leading edge made a massive bruise on the leg of one test-jumper and the other guy barely missed the wing. That was the end of the test program! The only safe way would be to fall out a Raisbeck (after-market Supplementary Type Certificate) ski/luggage pannier under the aft fuselage. Keep in mind that the luggage pannier is not pressurized, so that altitude and endurance at (oxygen-breathing) altitudes would be severely limited if you wanted the rescue jumpers to be capable of jumping by the time they arrived over the target. Forget about cruising at 10,000 feet until over the target (ship in distress) because jet engine, fuel efficiency drops dramatically below 20,000 feet. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
normiss 733 #17 July 22, 2014 A corporate pilot friend of mine repeatedly offers me the rear access hatch on the Falcon he flies. Aft of wings on port side, underneath an engine. He said it bothered him since we met that there was not a safe way out. I still pass. Sweet aircraft though. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,772 #18 July 22, 2014 >Jumping from small jets is dangerous. We had a Challenger 604 for a while and it would have been quite easy to jump from, even with a fairly large ruck. The luggage hold was accessible from the cabin, and it had a door that opened inward beneath the left engine. I've often thought about it for the same purpose - rapid deployment of rescue over oceans and in areas without reliable transportation. The US Coast Guard already has a few of these. (In fact I can't find it now but I believe it has been STCed for parachuting. I saw the news release and first thought "that can't be right" but apparently they actually did the paperwork and got it approved.) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Trafficdiver 8 #19 July 22, 2014 I heard the old Marine Force Recon guys did some pretty crazy stuff out of jets. http://www.combatreform.org/goodbyeforcerecon.htm Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theonlyski 3 #20 July 23, 2014 normiss A corporate pilot friend of mine repeatedly offers me the rear access hatch on the Falcon he flies. Aft of wings on port side, underneath an engine. He said it bothered him since we met that there was not a safe way out. I still pass. Sweet aircraft though. You pass on using your buddies backdoor to get your rocks off? "I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890 I'm an asshole, and I approve this message Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coticj 0 #21 July 23, 2014 Maybe it was Red Bull? https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=734177803316867&set=vb.168034663264520&type=2&theaterhttp://www.prostipad.si Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lnx 0 #22 July 23, 2014 Jbagwhat the hell is an "Actual Extreme Athlete?" It's an ordinary skydiver who drinks red bull. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
piisfish 137 #23 July 23, 2014 cpoxonJetMan?AFAIK he is in Spain for the momentscissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sanjak 0 #24 July 23, 2014 lnx***what the hell is an "Actual Extreme Athlete?" It's an ordinary skydiver who drinks red bull. And wears a Go-Pro! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rick 67 #25 July 23, 2014 theonlyski ***A corporate pilot friend of mine repeatedly offers me the rear access hatch on the Falcon he flies. Aft of wings on port side, underneath an engine. He said it bothered him since we met that there was not a safe way out. I still pass. Sweet aircraft though. You pass on using your buddies backdoor to get your rocks off? probably a good call You can't be drunk all day if you don't start early! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
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