>> why most famous BASE jumpers are dead
That's a bit of a stretch. There are several BASE jumpers who would qualify as "famous"... at least within BASE circles... who have not died.
>> It's also not good for the public
>> image of skydiving when sombody dies
>> like this
Who else has "died like this"? None that I know of. Nobody else has tried it. Plus everyone knows this is a planned, specialized, high risk jump. If SpaceShipOne had crashed, I doubt folks would have thought less of private aviation.
Little known fact is that a wingsuit HAS been landed and the pilot survived... it was an emergency landing on a BASE jump (no I will not go into the whos and wheres). There is some debate, however as to whether he had partial canopy extraction that slightly slowed him down.
If anybody can pull it off, Jeb can. That said, I've talked to several extremely experienced wingsuit fliers... both in BASE and skydiving... and most seem to think it's possible... but there are an awful lot of "ifs" attached to it.
Jeb is supposedly getting a 4:1 glide ratio, which is very very impressive. There are ways to "punch out" your glide to obtain a 0 fall rate, but the time frame is very brief.
My concern isn't so much the vertical fall rate as the horizontal speed assuming he can flare it out at the right moment. Vertical fall rate will be translated into horizontal velocity, so if he hits 0 vertical he'll be doing well over 100MPH horizontally. One little tumble... even on water... would hurt a LOT.
Like I said, if anyone can do it, Jeb can. This is extremely dangerous no matter how you slice it. We're all pulling for Jeb.
I've been saying for a long time now that corporations have more legal rights these days than individuals.
If this thing becomes law, it pretty much seals it for me: politicians are nothing but a bunch of corporate whores.:-P
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>> why most famous BASE jumpers are dead That's a bit of a stretch. There are several BASE jumpers who would qualify as "famous"... at least within BASE circles... who have not died. >> It's also not good for the public >> image of skydiving when sombody dies >> like this Who else has "died like this"? None that I know of. Nobody else has tried it. Plus everyone knows this is a planned, specialized, high risk jump. If SpaceShipOne had crashed, I doubt folks would have thought less of private aviation. Little known fact is that a wingsuit HAS been landed and the pilot survived... it was an emergency landing on a BASE jump (no I will not go into the whos and wheres). There is some debate, however as to whether he had partial canopy extraction that slightly slowed him down. If anybody can pull it off, Jeb can. That said, I've talked to several extremely experienced wingsuit fliers... both in BASE and skydiving... and most seem to think it's possible... but there are an awful lot of "ifs" attached to it. Jeb is supposedly getting a 4:1 glide ratio, which is very very impressive. There are ways to "punch out" your glide to obtain a 0 fall rate, but the time frame is very brief. My concern isn't so much the vertical fall rate as the horizontal speed assuming he can flare it out at the right moment. Vertical fall rate will be translated into horizontal velocity, so if he hits 0 vertical he'll be doing well over 100MPH horizontally. One little tumble... even on water... would hurt a LOT. Like I said, if anyone can do it, Jeb can. This is extremely dangerous no matter how you slice it. We're all pulling for Jeb.
Boo hoo...
I've been saying for a long time now that corporations have more legal rights these days than individuals. If this thing becomes law, it pretty much seals it for me: politicians are nothing but a bunch of corporate whores. :-P