Wingsuit landing = vaporware?

Steve Foley said:
Is it possible to build up enough speed to do a vertical climb in one of these, That would let you fly upwards and grab onto a bridge or other raised structure just as your velocity reached zero.

No, I don't want to go first.
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Nope. I don't think any of them have ever generated more lift then they have weight. They just fall with style.

Real high speeds in the wingsuit can get extremely dangerous. Imagine flutter but with your arms/body instead of a control surface. You can get into violent spins, etc, that can be a ***** to get out of. There is a reason a *LOT* of the people that developed these things are dead.
 
jesse said:
Nope. I don't think any of them have ever generated more lift then they have weight. They just fall with style.
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At 140kts they can climb. Then again 140kts is a lot of energy to dissipate.
 
Pi1otguy said:
At 140kts they can climb. Then again 140kts is a lot of energy to dissipate.
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Isnt it standard practice for jump planes to be descending when releasing? Perhaps the plane was descending faster than the wing suit.
 
Mtns2Skies said:
Isnt it standard practice for jump planes to be descending when releasing? Perhaps the plane was descending faster than the wing suit.
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They claim it's not descending and that's it's really him climbing.
 
Jump planes do no descend while jumpers are exiting. As to the video I'd guess it is an initial wingsuit climb then the jump plane descends while still in frame. Also most everyone jumps very wide angle lenses so the airplane is not disappearing nearly as fast as it appears.
 
Pi1otguy said:
They claim it's not descending and that's it's really him climbing.
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I suspect that they can't hold a forward speed fast enough to climb like that. I'm guessing that's kind of a one-time deal if they jump out of an airplane going fast enough. I'm no expert with this stuff though.
 
A human body isn't going to hydroplane. It's not shaped like an aircraft float or boat hull, which have very straight planing lines and a sharp break at the step or transom to prevent the water's following the rising surface and sucking it down. As a former water skier, I can tell you that even at 40 mph the water is really hard and you cannot control what it does to you when you hit it even if you try to land and slide on it. You tumble and hear every joint in your body pop and 30 years later are in pain much of the time:-(

Unlike the wingsuit flier's who attempts a water landing, the water skier is still around 30 years later...

Dan
 
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