# Holy. Flurking. Schnit! Have you gone MAD? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 14, 2003, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-flurking-schnit-have-you-gone-mad/207351 "2003-10-14T11:44:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SkyBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@SkyBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkyBum)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-flurking-schnit-have-you-gone-mad/207351/1 "2003-10-14T11:44:58Z")
This may very well be the most amazing sport I’ve ever witnessed. I’m an avid skydiver, but _this_ guy has taken it to a new high (or should I say LOW). It’s just mind blowing. I’m not sure I can accurately describe it but the video puts you right in the drivers seat. [Check out this Soul Flyer video clip.](http://www.performancedesigns.com/pdzone/video2.asp?team=loic&category=ff&videoID=52) Does anyone else find it as mind boggling as I do? [And he’s just as insane under a canopy.](http://www.performancedesigns.com/pdzone/video2.asp?team=loic&category=ff&videoID=58) If you want to know more about wingsuits, here’s an interesting Forbes article,[The Birdman of DeLand.](http://www.forbes.com/fyi/2003/0526/054_print.html) And just in case this has peaked your interest, [This is an excellent skydiving forum and website.](http://www.dropzone.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-flurking-schnit-have-you-gone-mad/207351/2 "2003-10-14T13:21:07Z")
Shay-YIT!!! Doing the Superman thing is just WAY too intense! ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-flurking-schnit-have-you-gone-mad/207351/3 "2003-10-14T20:23:16Z")
Does the name Wile E. Coyote ring any bells here? ---
**Author:** ![Amberlei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@Amberlei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amberlei)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-flurking-schnit-have-you-gone-mad/207351/4 "2003-10-15T02:10:14Z")
Wow. Can you just imagine the rush that guy must get? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-flurking-schnit-have-you-gone-mad/207351/5 "2003-10-15T02:20:50Z")
“You will believe a man can fly.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-flurking-schnit-have-you-gone-mad/207351/6 "2003-10-15T02:53:04Z")
“Holy crap” doesn’t even begin to describe it. But… what if his arm cramps up or something? Does he go _splat_? ---
**Author:** ![ILovCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e99b99/32.png) [@ILovCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ILovCoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-flurking-schnit-have-you-gone-mad/207351/7 "2003-10-15T02:55:09Z")
Lara Croft and freind used two wingsuits to escape a bad guy in the 2nd movie. Stunt people I’m sure. That is cool 'cause it appears to be wire-free and the suit is available to use. Meaning of course I thought it was all on wires in the movie. Did I make any sense at all? ---
**Author:** ![Grelby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a5b964/32.png) [@Grelby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grelby)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-flurking-schnit-have-you-gone-mad/207351/8 "2003-10-15T03:35:41Z")
Holy ficking shut! That’s the most incredibly mind-bogglingly insane thing I have EVER SEEN! I want one. I want one BAD. ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-flurking-schnit-have-you-gone-mad/207351/9 "2003-10-15T05:24:51Z")
Is that the guy who used one of those to fly across the English Channel a few months ago? I wanna do that! ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-flurking-schnit-have-you-gone-mad/207351/10 "2003-10-15T05:27:25Z")
[I guess he isn’t](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3112095.stm). ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-flurking-schnit-have-you-gone-mad/207351/11 "2003-10-16T00:51:52Z")
HEY…just thought of something… Combine the Glidesuit with Longjump skis. Be the first guy to jump out of a plane without a parachute and live! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stranger\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@The\_Stranger\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stranger_1)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-flurking-schnit-have-you-gone-mad/207351/12 "2003-10-16T02:53:14Z")
Damn. I must be crazy too…I would love to do that. ---
**Author:** ![SkyBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@SkyBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkyBum)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-flurking-schnit-have-you-gone-mad/207351/13 "2003-10-16T05:07:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Enola Straight \* > \*\*Combine the Glidesuit with Longjump skis. > > Be the first guy to jump out of a plane without a parachute and live! \*\* Right out of the gate I would say that’s the craziest idea I’ve ever heard…but I won’t be at all surprised if that actually happens one of these days. The only problem I can see is that you might not be able to buzz the ground like that with ski’s on your feet. It’s very important to hold a perfect body position when swooping and even extremely slight changes in position can change your trajectory dramatically. If you’ve ever put your hand out of a car window at high speed and moved it around in the airstream, you will have a very good idea what I mean. I would imagine that if he tried to transition to a standing position at that speed that he would tumble out of control (can you say crash and burn? Ouch.). There have been several instances of people jumping out of a plane and using their body position to manuever themselves back into the plane…(course the plane has to be in somewhat of a dive for this to happen.) Crazy huh? > [@](#): > > De Gayardon was a French aristocrat who’d been skydiving since he was 18. He’d invented sky-surfing, had jumped from 41,700 feet without using oxygen and had more than 11,000 jumps to his name. He was a god to sky divers everywhere, an absolute legend, and he flew his wingsuit like no bird-man could have dreamed. His most spectacular stunt may have been when he leapt out of a plane, cruised along next to it and then flew back inside. De Gayardon made more than 500 jumps with this wingsuit. It’s said that wearing one of these wingsuits can slow your fall (in a flat and stable body position) to around 38 MPH. I hope I get a chance to demo one of those suits sometime, although i’ll be damned if I’m gonna go buzz a mountain!