Forget the parachute...

[mairving]

just get you some wings (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=389357&in_page_id=1770). I wonder how long it will be before these are marketed.

[jeofrey10100900]

USAMA Benladen's wish list for Christmas!!

[786ARS]

just attach jet pack

[Colonel Sanders]

So they just re-invented the hang-glider?

L J

[Hi Ho]

So they just re-invented the hang-glider?
It's a bit more compact than a hang glider, I'd say. I can't see people jumping out of a plane with a 10 wide hang glider. :)

That does look cool. Sounds like fun.

[HAL9000]

I'd try it.

[David M]

I'm wondering how he got a 6:1 glide slope (15 degrees) wth all that resistance and what looks like a very high wing loading

It reminds me of those old films where you see some guy jumping off a cliff holding onto a pair of birch and canvas wings only to come crashing down to the ground.

Apparently it worked though....pretty cool.



Edit: I just worked out the math and it does not work out...something seems fishy.

The article says it has a 6:1 glide slope. The article also says the person was dropped at 30,000 feet. 6:1 times 30,000 feet is a horizontal distance of 180,000 feet or 34.09 statute miles. This is assuming you have the same glide slope at 35,000 ft as you do at 1000 ft...which is not true because the air is less dense at higher altitudes.

The artice says they will be able to glide 120 miles? Well if you can glide 34 miles dropped from 30,000 feet then you would have to be dropped from 105,000 feet to glide 120 miles. Is this going to happen?...not at SR-71 altitudes which border space. Commercial aircraft do not fly much above 40,000 feet and military fighter jets not much above 60,000, give or take some. There are pleanty of reasons why dropping someone from 105,000 ft is not going to work...virtually no air for lift and temperatures well below 100F to start with.

Well what about a jet pack? A jet pack will light up any radar screen for hundreds of miles. Do they think they are going to hide that heat signature behind that tiny little wing? Radar reflects off ionized and heated air.

The article mentioned the ability to carry 200 pounds of gear?...with what kind of glide slope? The poor guy is going to drop like a rock! He would probably make a decent boat anchor....lol

Well okay...so you increase the surface area of the wings. As the article mentioned, how are special forces supposed to hide a miniature hang glider?

I can see it working for some things but I think the developers are stretching reality a bit.

It would be fun to strap one on and go for it.

[Floppyman]

Looks like something out of a Bond movie. I want one.

[Stuey]

Nifty concept. I want to see some vids though!

[Kareeser]

David's explanation makes more sense... it doesn't sound like it'll work.

However, I do remember watching this stunt artist (the same one mentioned in the article), who strapped on some wings, with an aerodynamic suit, and glided for a bit.

The landing looked quite harsh though.

[Force Flow]

Looks like fun to me :)

[786ARS]

david, if they are planning to release it from that height, wouldn't the drop effectively be the same as re-entery from orbit, and so lots of friction. Add to that gravity and low air-resistance = batman shaped pancake formed by a burning guy in a failed military prototype.

[HAL9000]

I do believe that the world record for a parachute jump from a weather balloon is 100,002 feet.

[Panama Red]

I do believe that the world record for a parachute jump from a weather balloon is 100,002 feet.

Close. 102,800 feet in 1960

http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2004/JerardKneifatiHayek.shtml

[HAL9000]

Whoops... I meant to say 102,000.... shouldn't type and talk to customers at the same time.

[tomster2300]

I'd try it if I got a reserve chute on my stomach.

[786ARS]

I'd try it if I got a reserve chute on my stomach.

but that defeats the point of the suit thing, if you have a chute and you use it

[HAL9000]

If I read the article correctly, that wing is used in conjunction with a parachute. That wing is meant for high speed, it doesn't have enough area for slow flight that would be slow enough for a safe landing.

[786ARS]

then why bother, you have stealth planes, parachutists jump out from the stealth planes
- higher chance of survival

[HAL9000]

Stealth planes aren't designed for a cargo of paratroopers.... also, this method is silent.. you're not going to fire flak cannons into silence.. where if you hear a plane, you're going to fill the sky with garbage... do you want to parachute down into that? I know I don't.

[mbossman2]

also, don't forget that when the military releases info like this it can be to confuse and mislead...somewhere in the middle east there is some "hater of freedom" going "Uhoh, that could be used against us! Achmed, Fubar, Willy, stop building suicide bombs and figure out how we can protect ourselves from this weapon of the Great Satan"

I am always mistrustful of info releases on military toys...by the time the MSM hears about it, the info is probably 2 generations old.

[tomster2300]

If I read the article correctly, that wing is used in conjunction with a parachute. That wing is meant for high speed, it doesn't have enough area for slow flight that would be slow enough for a safe landing.

I didn't read it, I just looked at the picture.

Like mboss said, I doubt the military uses that exact model.

[HAL9000]

Even so, to function without a parachute, it would have to be hang glider size.

[pam123]

My sanity meter just went off the scale, I'd try this.
I think it's in a movie as well?

[Sauron]

Yeah - I believe it was used in Dr. No (Sean Connery). And there was another one with Roger Moore where he gets ejected as his boat goes over the waterfall - I forget which one that was - Jaws was in that one though.