January 13, 2006

I like to fly. They have long cold winters in Finland. Long enough, and cold enough, to encourage young men to strap jet turbines to their feet and jump off balloons. (embedded video, and glorious lunacy).
posted by DangerIsMyMiddleName 18 years ago
  • Astoundingly good. Have a banana. )))
  • I am so confused. They just out of hot air balloons/planes and float down? how do they release a parachute and what can they do during the free fall?
  • Splendidly crazy!
  • ooooooooooooooooooooooo! *claps paws and jumps up and down with glee* Now that's SOMETHIN'!
  • That much jet fuel next to your weiner can NOT be good.
  • *shivers wings appreciatively*
  • Nope. No way. Crazy barstards.
  • The description in the link, and the actuality are two different things, pilgrim. Essentially, they are skydiving, while using their bodies as airfoils, to achieve forward momentum. It's an old idea, made practical with modern materiels. Still some crazy-ass shit, though.
  • O.O *points mutely at screen* Uh...DIMN, you're not going to...y'know?
  • Essentially, they are skydiving I don't understand the distinction here. I believe the test "pilot" says he achieved 30 seconds of level flight, although I presume he does land via parachute. To my mind level flight is flying, not skydiving. Even an unpowered wingsuit can do a glide ratio of over 2:1, which is pretty near flying.
  • These guys are sky-divers, with a minimum of 200 jumps. They go up in an aeroplane with their parachutes,and specially designed gliding suits, and then they jump. It's actually not level flight. The extra fabric in the suit arrests the drop speed from 130 mph to 30 mph, while the airfoil shape provides forward momentum. At the end of the glide, they release the extra fabric, and activate their chutes, drifting to the ground in the traditional way.
  • Note. They don't strap jet turbines to their feet as the link says, and the weather in Finland has nothing to do with it. The wording in the link confused the heck out me, at first, as well.
  • They don't strap jet turbines to their feet as the link says yes they do! don't they? I don't have sound at the office, so I can't hear what they are saying, but he definatly straps turbines to his feet!
  • If there's any one thing we know about the Finns in general, it's that they all have jet turbines strapped to their feet, all the time. Why would they take them off just to skydive? Coffee...need more coffee...
  • Really? I can't watch the videos, so I was forced to read the articles. From what I read and linked to, it's skydiving, with special suits. I've done a fair bit of para-sailing in my day, and know a bit about canopies and glide ratios, the article I linked to makes sense to me, but its possible I'm missing something extra, not being able to view the videos, (which really annoys me, BTW). I'll look at them at work. STILL very cool , though.
  • Yes, the video shows a guy in a wingsuit strapping jet engines to his feet. In the video this intrepid fellow says (I think) that he achieved level flight for about 30 seconds. That's flying, not skydiving. I've seen a gazillion skydiving and wingsuit videos, but this one takes the cake.
  • Well, if portable jet-turbines are available to consumers, then I want a pair to go around the Stanley Park Seawall on my Roller-Blades.
  • if portable jet-turbines are available to consumers I don't know specifically what engines this guy used, but they have been used by RC jet plane hobbyists for years. I want a pair to go around the Stanley Park Seawall on my Roller-Blades Post the video!
  • I WANT ASTRO-BOY BOOTS!
  • That's not flying. That's falling with style.
  • COCK ROCKET!!! *PFFSSSHHWWOOOOOOOooooooooooommmmmm**
  • Zoooooom. This is very great.
  • strapping jet turbans t' the feats o' fins... yikes! is this how lunar sea begins...? /could bee
  • Well, HOLY CRAP. They do strap portable jet-turbines to their legs and achieve flight! I just watched the video at work. Pretty frikken amazing. Insanely dangerous, but amazing. According to the article I linked to above, the pioneers in this arena are all dead, so don't try this at home, Monkeys. But I checked out the Dealer Page. Luckily, here in Canada, these guys will peel yer banana, and in the U.S., if you live near Beaumont Texas, Vic Jennings of GORILLAWORX ,should be able to accomodate any simian adrenalin-junkies.