More Wingsuit Fun!

You know that I can never get enough of these wingsuit videos. It looks like such a fun activity and the surreal images of these guys drifting through the clouds is both tranquil and exhilarating at the same time. In this latest video, a team of skydivers jumps out of a plane over Illinois, not far from the city of Chicago. You won't be seeing them whizzing past the Sears Tower, but they do pass through some low hanging clouds, which only adds to the cool factor.

Thanks to Richard Schneider for sharing his video with us. Looks like fun!

Falling Out Of The Sky Never Looked So Good

One of my fellow contributors at Gadling posted the video below this morning. It shows some of the most tranquil and relaxing images of skydivers floating high above the Earth that you could ever hope to see. It was filmed by a team at the Melbourne Skydive Center in Australia, and it almost makes you believe that they are defying gravity rather than hurdling towards the planet at terminal velocity. It is a beautiful video and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.



Experience Human Flight from Betty Wants In on Vimeo.

Wingsuit Video To Start The Day

Yesterday we got the word that Felix Baumgartner would be denied his attempt at setting a new world record for skydiving, at least for now. Today we have a great video of Jeb Corliss demonstrating what all the fuss is about in this video that shows off the use of a wingsuit. We've seen these videos before of course, but this one is pretty amazing for the scenery that Corliss is flying through. The video really does give you a sense of the speed and freedom these suits give to skydivers, and this looks like an absolute blast. (Warning: The music included in the video might make your ears bleed)

Thanks to Rocky over at The Goat Blog for the heads up on this one. Very cool video.

Record Skydive Attempt Put On The Shelf

Way back in January of this year I wrote about Felix Baumgartner and his attempt to set a new record for the highest skydive in history. Recently, Baumgartner has gotten a lot more attention as he neared the attempt, which would see him take a hot air balloon up to 120,000 feet then jump out and fall back to Earth. At that altitude, he would also break the sound barrier, achieving super sonic speeds on his descent.

Today, Baumgartner's chief sponsor, Red Bull, pulled the plug on the project, at least temporarily, as they fight off a multi-million dollar lawsuit from another person who the company had worked with previously in an attempt to break the same record, which is now over 50 years old.

According to the press release sent out by Red Bull today a "Mr. Hogan" is claiming ownership of certain elements of the attempt, and is suing the company for millions of dollars. In that press release the company says:

"Red Bull has acted appropriately in its prior dealings with Mr. Hogan, and will demonstrate this as the case progresses. Due to the lawsuit, we have decided to stop the project until this case has been resolved."

So, for now the jump is on hold, which has to be an enormous let down for Felix. Hopefully this will get back on track soon. After all, who doesn't want to see a man float to the edge of space, then jump out of his balloon, only to shatter the sound barrier as he hurdles toward the Earth? Sounds great to me!

Wingsuits Over Canada

The lovely and talented Steph Davis posted this great video of her and Mario Richard having some fun in their wingsuits over Quebec, Canada. In the description for the video she describes it as capturing "A fine day in the sky where no one has any parachute malfunctions, and nothing bad happens to anyone." Which of course begs the question, how often do you have parachute malfunctions and what bad things occur on a regular basis? Those comments don't exactly inspire confidence in this sport.

Still, it makes for a lovely video on a Thursday morning.




Pas de Deux from steph davis on Vimeo.

Skydiver Set To Break Altitude, Speed Record

Austrian Felix Baumgartner is set to challenge two amazing skydiving records later this year, as he attempts to jump from the edge of space, setting a new record for highest altitude, and while in free fall, he hopes to break a 50-year old speed record, by breaking the sound barrier.

Sponsored by Red Bull (Who else?), Baumgartner hopes to ascend to 120,000 feet with the help of a giant balloon filled with helium. The 600-foot wide balloon will carry a specially designed canister up to where the atmosphere is thin, with Baumgartner tucked away inside. It is estimated that it will take roughly three hours for the skydiver to reach the designated height, at which time he'll rotate the capsule's door open and leap out, setting the new record for high altitude jump in the process.

He'll then proceed to free fall for some time, and with the air so thin at that altitude, Felix's support crew expects him to reach supersonic speeds in about 35 seconds or so. If their calculations are correct, he'll set a new speed record as well. As he descends, He could drift as much as 150-200 miles from his starting point. The team hopes to prove that an astronaut could survive a similar jump were they forced to abandon a spacecraft on re-entry.

As of now, there is no target date set for when he'll make the jump. The team is hoping that it will happen this year, but they are still clearing some logistical hurdles. They will be conducting a number of test jumps at lower altitudes while they work out the final details and look for a proper weather window to make the leap.

For more on the story, check out the Fox News article found here.