I don't know if this is a repost, but I've never seen it.

Holy **** - I thought base-jumping was nuts, but theses guys.....http://www.biertijd.com/mediaplayer/?itemid=4262

 

First time i've seen it too. That is amazing. I'd never have the ***** to do that kind of thing though.

 

I think that that's the closest thing to actually flying that one could do! I want in!

 

didn't they use those in that Tomb Raider Movie, I've seen those before, there's a video somewhere of a guy jumping out of a plane and then the plane does a nose dive, and the guy is able to keep a enough lift to glide right back into the plane

 

wow that's awesome

 

holy ****.

 

That's not flying, that's falling with style.

 

That's the only extreme sport I've ever wanted to do.

 

Red Devil (wing suit) vs Porsche:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-wZsfhvJqc

 

So why don't you?

 

5 posts in 2 years and this is the thread you pipe up in

 

He has a point. I've been asking myself that. There was (is?) a big jump school at the little airport I learn to fly at(Lodi, CA) in my early 20's. They would fly a DC-3 out of there on weekends. I could never quite justify spending the time and money to learn to parachute but I used to watch them when I was done with my lessons. Flying could be justified because I could (and did) use it for my career.

The jump pilot was a dick, BTW.

 

I've seen the wingsuits on discovery channel before.
I haven't seen people flying THAT CLOSE to the ground before.

Hehe, Gotta love the little mishap the driver had with the Porsche at the end of the video.

 

Damn, I saw this years ago, lol

Skydiving is awesome. It's a bit pricey ($150-$200) when you don't have your own suit/chute/etc but completely worth it if you've never done it. Different results for different people, but jumping out of a plane at 13000 feet bettered my outlook on life. You tend to appreciate the little things more and not give a damn about the stupid ****.

I think jumping with a flight suit like that would be incredible... it's one thing to just free fall, but being able to glide like that must be amazing!

As for flying back to the plane... the plane would have to be diving for the jumper to get back to the plane since the flight suit doesn't really enable you to fly, it just slows your descent, gives you more forward speed and lets you have better control over what direction you fall.

 

How many jumps before you can jump solo?

 

The guy that reentered the aircraft wearing a wing suit, was a French man named Patrick de Gayardon. He is credited with invention of the modern “bird man” suit. He was killed in 99 IIRC, When he had a failure with his outfit.
Watching that incredible video, reminded me of another spectacular failure.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/996246/posts

 

Well let's clarify something... I'll answer both cases, but are you asking about jumping solo as in not being strapped to someone or not jumping with instructors?

Case 1: If you asking about jumping without being strapped to someone (tandem) then you can do that immediately if you decide to become a licensed skydiver.

Case 2: If you are asking about not jumping with instructors then you have to be a licensed skydiver. I believe it varies from state to state, but it's usually ~7 classes/jumps before you become licensed. Those 7 classes/jumps usually end up costing $1000-2000 once everything is said and done. Then if you buy your own equipment diving is stupid cheap.... like $25 a jump

Here's an example of the progression for certification:
http://www.skydivingalabama.com/main.html

 

I check the forums about every day, I really should post more!

I have around 400 skydives of which about half are wingsuit. I would post some pics but I dont have permission (guessing its a post count thing). Anyone who wants to make a skydive should, it's the best thing that I have ever done.

 

Upload your pics to tinypic.com or make an account at photobucket.com and upload them there. Then post the img tags here so we can see them that way.

 

Lets see if this works......















Yes I'm a amputee, no its not from skydiving
And I know that I should always use a helmet