Human Flying Squirrels

[Gilbert]

Enjoy!!

[Jeff Matthews]

That is awesome! I've seen those videos before. I need to pursue trying this.

[Jeff Matthews]

Apparently, you can't just go try this. It seems you can't get your chance until you've become a certified skydiver (free fall) and had 200 jumps under your belt. Quite an expensive proposition.

[Gilbert]

Apparently, you can't just go try this. It seems you can't get your chance until you've become a certified skydiver (free fall) and had 200 jumps under your belt. Quite an expensive proposition.

Got this from an Instructor's website:

A prerequisite to wingsuit flying is skydiving. You need to be proficient in skydiving prior to wingsuit flying. As a matter of fact, the United States Parachute Association (USPA) recommends that you have at least 200 freefall skydives before even thinking about using a wingsuit. Of course, the more the better. But 200 is the bare minimum. Also, the USPA recommends that the 200 freefalls be within the last 18 months prior to a jump using a wingsuit.

The USPA also recommends after at least 200 freefall jumps, you then receive wingsuit flight instruction from a certified instructor. Finding a certified instructor for wingsuit flying is not an easy task, considering there is not to many people who have done wingsuit flying. Your instructor should absolutely be certified. The USPA states that you can also perform wingsuit flying without instruction from a certified instructor, as long as you have at least 500 previous freefall skydives. I would highly recommend instruction. Wingsuit manufacturers offer training courses and certify instructors.

200 free fall dives is just a recommendation.... not an absolute requirement. If you can demonstrate proficiency with sky diving directly to a wingsuit instructor, you'll get your wingsuit lessons. It might take more than a dozen or so jumps, but it sure won't take 200.

[Audio Android]

These are some of my favorite videos to watch.......The footage these people get with their GoPro's really is unbelievable......Thanks for the link Gilbert this is a good one!!

[jbsl]

Just remember mistakes are fatal.

[oscarsear]

If it was me that would not be streams of smoke trailing from my man-flying suit!

[Islander]

Just remember mistakes are fatal.

Wingsuit flying looks like so much fun, but for some people, it doesn't matter how strong the physical sensations are, if it's not dangerous, it's not a thrill. The clip in the OP looks like they're having a great time, but most other wingsuit flying videos I've seen show guys skimming along a few feet from rock faces, fully aware, I'm sure, that the slightest misjudgement, or an unseen rock outcropping, would mean instant death.

There's one video that shows a guy flying down a hillside, but he gets a bit too low and breaks his legs.

The info below the fatal video that jbsl posted states that he was doing a "proximity demonstration". I take that to mean that he intended to show how close he could come to disaster without getting killed. Not that close, apparently.

You get the same mindset with some motorcyclists and skiers. One guy I used to know told me that double black diamond runs weren't exciting enough, so he and his friends would ski at high speeds through trees in the out of bounds sections. I feel sorry for the first responders who have to deal with what happens when the danger seekers screw up.

Just to clarify, I totally understand thrill-seekers. I rode motorcycles for over twenty-five years, and raced for six full seasons, three at Pro level. It was really exciting, and lots of fun. I tried to do it safely, and was still fast enough to be competitive.

It's the danger seekers I don't get.

[Gilbert]

Just remember mistakes are fatal.

No need to point that out to anyone, and IMHO it looks safer than driving a car... unless your a nooby.

I think that in any extreme sport such as this, the person taking the risk is his/her own worse enemy.... it is with me anyway. I still don't know how I made it to live this long 51 yrs. and counting..... how much longer, only God knows.

EDIT:

Well, I'm gonna give it a try. This Sky Diving School is less than an hours drive from my doorstep.

http://www.skydivesanmarcos.com/index.html

[Daddy Dee]

i watched the video a day or so ago. still can't forget the sound of that guy hitting the bridge.

[Marvel]

In my younger days I was a news photog, back when you covered car wrecks. They still do, but now most only do it for really big accidents. I saw enough of that kind of thing to really make you ill.

Like the beginning of "Saving Private Ryan", when they land on the beach.

Bruce

[Daddy Dee]

that was one of the most shocking and horrifying scenes I've ever seen in a movie. God bless the people who've had to live witnessing the real deal.

[Islander]

That scene certainly was horrible. I'm glad I saw it the one time, but I'm not planning to see it ever again. Oddly, though, I've heard of people using it over and over to dial in or show off their subwoofers and the rest of their system. Desensitised much?

A few years back, some teenagers were caught after they vandalized headstones in a veterans' cemetery. The judge sentenced them to some community service, plus they had to watch Saving Private Ryan, to appreciate how those veterans had been killed. I thought that was a really appropriate punishment.