For would-be record-breakers, the modern world of flight offers slim pickings. The airplane has been invented, the sound barrier has been broken, and airplanes and balloons have flown around the world. But there is still one last, great first: Jumping out of an airplane and landing without a parachute.
“Everyone thinks it’s impossible,” says Jeb Corliss. “That’s what will make it so cool when we do it.”
Mr. Corliss, a Californian who has become a star in the rarefied world of BASE jumping and wingsuit flight, has spent the past several years experimenting with the concept, calculating his glide and vertical speed in a long series of jumps. At the moment, Mr. Corliss believes the most practical way to pull off a landing is to build a giant sloped ramp. He hopes to touch down like a ski jumper, matching his trajectory to the slope,
Aerospace engineer Roy Haggard, who has consulted with Mr. Corliss on his proposal, says the idea can work, but it will be costly and offer little margin for error. “You have to get it exactly right,” he says. “Or you won’t be walking away.”
Mr. Corliss is one of half a dozen wingsuit fliers around the world who are considering the possibility of landing without a parachute. Among them is Loic Jean-Albert of France, who became known as Flying Dude in a popular Youtube video that shows him skimming along steep mountain slopes. Mr. Jean-Albert believes landing on a steep slope may be possible, but he says the risks are higher than most people could imagine: “You might do it well one time and try another time and crash and die,” he said in a recent interview.
Over the past decade, Mr. Corliss has become an acknowledged master of wingsuit flight. Like Mr. Jean-Albert, he has become a Yotube star thanks to adrenaline-laced videos that show him jumping off buildings, bridges and the Eiffel Tower. This year, Mr. Corliss jumped out of a helicopter above the Matterhorn and zoomed along one of the famous peak’s stone ridges, coming within a couple of metres of the snow and rocks.
Jeb Corliss skimming the Matterhorn
Mr. Corliss has conducted a series of experiments as he moves toward his ultimate goal of landing without a parachute. Among them was an attempt to “dock” with a skydiver flying beneath a high-speed wing. Mr. Corliss has also attempted to re-enter a plane after jumping from it, matching his speed and glide angle to the diving aircraft.
Digital tracking systems have allowed wingsuit jumpers to track their flights with newfound precision. The results are not entirely encouraging: Although some have managed to temporarily slow their vertical descent rate to about 50 kilometres an hour, their forward speed is more than 120 kilometers an hour, making a landing extremely risky, even on a steep slope.
Although he agrees that an artificial slope is probably the best theoretical solution, Mr. Haggard says a wingsuit jumper will face an incredible challenge because even a tiny miscalculation in glide angle will result in a fatal undershoot or overshoot.
“It could be done,” he says. “But it’s not going to be easy."
Despite the risks, Mr. Corliss says he will continue on his quest to bag what he sees as the last great achievement in aviation.
“This is something people have wanted to do since the time of Icarus,” he says. “Everyone thinks we’re crazy. But the crazies push the species forward.”
