THis is an even-better idea. It's cheaper and the only hard part of flying is the landing.
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Anyone Into Wingsuit Flying?
- Thread starter r32
- Start date
I have had the glider pilot deathwish for a long time.
Maybe someday.
I can only imagine how weird the silence must be.
There's one in Warner Springs that offers ride alongs:
I'm thinking about going for my birthday.
Glider is pretty safe. Even if you fly a powered airplane, some day you'll be gliding whether you want to or not. Ask me how I know.
My dad used to go glider flying with a friend of his up above Solvang. He'd have an adrenaline rush for days after.
Thanks for the correction. Of 46 fatal incidents listed on Wikipedia, parachutes are mentioned 11 times but closer inspection reveals details such as "collided with another jumper, lost consciousness, failed to open his parachute . . . " and "he waited too long to release his main parachute and switch to his backup parachute" which aren't really parachute failures.
gliders are sofa king cool
"For the third time in a week, Airbus Perlan Mission II has set a new world altitude record for a glider, this time soaring the engineless Perlan 2 to 76,124 feet, in the process collecting vital data on flight performance, weather and the atmosphere.
Yesterday’s flight by pilots Jim Payne and Tim Gardner surpasses even the maximum recorded altitude in level flight of the U.S. Air Force’s famous U-2 Dragon Lady reconnaissance aircraft: 73,737 feet, flown by pilot Jerry Hoyt on Apr. 17, 1989."
i think only rockets, balloons, and the sr71 go higher?
"For the third time in a week, Airbus Perlan Mission II has set a new world altitude record for a glider, this time soaring the engineless Perlan 2 to 76,124 feet, in the process collecting vital data on flight performance, weather and the atmosphere.
Yesterday’s flight by pilots Jim Payne and Tim Gardner surpasses even the maximum recorded altitude in level flight of the U.S. Air Force’s famous U-2 Dragon Lady reconnaissance aircraft: 73,737 feet, flown by pilot Jerry Hoyt on Apr. 17, 1989."
i think only rockets, balloons, and the sr71 go higher?
dude i used to dj for is all about this and para gliding these days. i should hit him up but i think my adrenaline junkie days are over. ive done skydiving once strapped to another person/ bungee jumps galore. i think this particular freaks me out because how long youre up there. Even skydiving felt like it was over in an instant.
no idea what it sounds like *inside* of one, but i had one go maybe 200' over my head one time and i was totally amazed at how *loud* it was!
the wind noise sounded almost like a little jet!
I had a co-worker who was into BASE and at that time just getting into wingsuit flying. We were in our late 20's back then and the list of his friends who had either died or suffered some horrible accident (one guy broke his leg so badly apparently his foot was literally hanging by threads, another jumped off a bridge, chute failed to open, he hit the water ass first and did serious internal damage via unplanned enema) was quite amazing. But he happily kept doing his thing. He's still alive, I haven't seen him for years but based on social media looks like he rides moto and explores caves for his thrills these days.
All that said, wingsuit flying is the most enticing thing I've ever seen, though the risk keeps me from doing it. I imagine that if it had been around when I was single I'd have ended up jumping off a few cliffs.
My dad took me for a glider ride for my birthday when I was about 13, from the glider airport in Calistoga. Not sure if that's still there or if they do rides, but man that was a great experience. Quite possibly the best birthday gift ever.
so jealous. i've always wanted to go up in one of those birds!
was there a lot of wind noise inside the cockpit?
That was a long time ago, I don't remember the wind noise too much. My dad was into flying r/c gliders, and I do remember that the "real" glider sounded like the models.
Mostly what I remember was the pilot turning us on a wing over the Palisades, and looking straight down at the crags below us. It was a really spectacular flight.
Mostly what I remember was the pilot turning us on a wing over the Palisades, and looking straight down at the crags below us. It was a really spectacular flight.
So many cool things about flying, whichever style you choose. Very similar to surfing, just 'surfing' the air, another fluid. You learn how to 'see' the wind. I always tell anybody who seems at all interested in it, 'do it!' Surfers that I've known that have gotten their licenses are usually pretty good pilots. It's gotten pretty expensive though to get a private pilot license, probably 10 grand or so. I got my license in 1990 when it was considerably cheaper, plus I bought an old beater Cessna that I learned in and got my check ride in. It was a 172 and now I have an older 182 with manual flaps and 80 more horses up front...gliding in it is fun but I do like an engine. I do a lot of 'bush' flying, dirt strips, etc. Baja has a few I've landed on. Always an adventure doing that...Isla Natividad, Cadaje, etc. Here's my strip where I live...if you can land on this you can land on anything...
BASE Fatality List
BFL - Home
Wingsuits might be included in these lists.
Hard to read some of these stories.
As a private risk assessment analyst consultant, I am interested in the type of people who do these things, their various personalities etc.
...and also what went wrong.
....I am goingoutside now...as you are paddling hard, outside, towards, a heavy set wave...you hear your buddy on the wave's
shoulder side of you ...say in a calm tone....are you going?.... all your "risk assessment" gets compressed right there....
BFL - Home
Wingsuits might be included in these lists.
Hard to read some of these stories.
As a private risk assessment analyst consultant, I am interested in the type of people who do these things, their various personalities etc.
...and also what went wrong.
....I am goingoutside now...as you are paddling hard, outside, towards, a heavy set wave...you hear your buddy on the wave's
shoulder side of you ...say in a calm tone....are you going?.... all your "risk assessment" gets compressed right there....
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Yes but I have a monopoly on that thread for probably another 2 weeks
Nobody believes me that intense adrenaline dumps last for days. I’m still a MESS and loving it and it’s been a few days now. Not a mess of fear or anger or anything, just a good solid adrenalized chaotic mess. I’ve been a PEACH at the office as a result, seriously. Everything is cool, even though Morale right now is worse than 2020 (thank you brave leaders) I’m chipper as could be and it’s ONLY the adrenaline because before Friday night I was as angry as everyone else on the teamMy dad used to go glider flying with a friend of his up above Solvang. He'd have an adrenaline rush for days after.
That's pretty impressive. There aren't a lot of air molecules at that altitude with which you can generate lift.
The X-15 was able to utilize control surfaces to control the plane up to about 150,000 feet or so. Above that and you are ballistic. Above about 250,000 feet and you get astronaut wings.
Went skydiving today, first time so it was tandem. My son went, too. Was pretty fun.
They were running late so had to hang around the base, which made good people watching. Very much had a "ski lodge" kinda feel to it, or rock climber kinda vibe, like it's a tribe and I was not part of it. Which was fine, really. I was more nervous about being crammed into a very small plane (smallest one I have been in) than I was about jumping out of it. I guess the freefall was about 9,000 feet, which means around 45 seconds long as we jumped at 14,000 feet. It was not long enough. The guy I was strapped to was pretty quiet, which I appreciated. Other tandem instructors were trying to hype it up while in the sky, as I saw on video after. "You're flying bro!" I have a feeling I was more silent than most, as I didn't make a sound. Maybe I just blocked my dude out though, I dunno.
My son paid for his to be recorded to video, he screamed the whole way down, ha. I did not have mine recorded. So, yeah, at least one person since the ubiquity of GoPros declined video.
To keep it thread related, there was a crew of people in wing suits on the plane before us.
The only other thing I'd like to try in the sky is a glider.
Also found out that once you are certified, you can go up for $30.
They were running late so had to hang around the base, which made good people watching. Very much had a "ski lodge" kinda feel to it, or rock climber kinda vibe, like it's a tribe and I was not part of it. Which was fine, really. I was more nervous about being crammed into a very small plane (smallest one I have been in) than I was about jumping out of it. I guess the freefall was about 9,000 feet, which means around 45 seconds long as we jumped at 14,000 feet. It was not long enough. The guy I was strapped to was pretty quiet, which I appreciated. Other tandem instructors were trying to hype it up while in the sky, as I saw on video after. "You're flying bro!" I have a feeling I was more silent than most, as I didn't make a sound. Maybe I just blocked my dude out though, I dunno.
My son paid for his to be recorded to video, he screamed the whole way down, ha. I did not have mine recorded. So, yeah, at least one person since the ubiquity of GoPros declined video.
To keep it thread related, there was a crew of people in wing suits on the plane before us.
The only other thing I'd like to try in the sky is a glider.
Also found out that once you are certified, you can go up for $30.
gliders are a rush!!! this 18 year old was the pilot. unreal feeling.