Flying Humans, Hoping to Land With No Chute

NY Times ^ | December 10, 2007 | MATT HIGGINS

[ThanhPhero]

That’s not flying. It is gliding with a fairly rapid rate of descent.

[Joya]

bookmark for later reading (bmflr)

[mad_as_he$$]

Wonder how putting your arms out when there is no atmosphere works.

[Portcall24]

He's a regular on Larry David's HBO comedy called, Curb Your Enthusiasm .

[quark]

Landing aid:

[Sapper26]

The landing, as one might expect, poses the biggest challenge, and each group has a different approach.

I have to disagree. The landing is guaranteed, walking away may be problematic.

[Malone LaVeigh]

I guess that what they used to say when I was in the Army years ago is still true. The only thing that falls from the sky is bird$#it and idiots.

[SampleMan]

Looks to be about 25 square feet of wing. At 200 pounds total weight, thats about about 8 pounds per foot.

If he can perform the flare correctly, he’ll have a stall/landing speed of around 60-80 mph.

If he can run really fast, he’ll do OK.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

How about some little wheels ?

[Dudoight]

pretty funny. I tried to get a friend to sky dive w/ me she was afraid of breaking bones. I told her she didn’t need to worry about that it was a matter of living or dying.

[Deaf Smith]

"probably get down to 60MPH"

They could add a Reverse Thruster, but then they would become a rock.

[ltc8k6]

I thought turkeys could fly...

[monday]

“It all boils down the getting the landing speed down to something reasonable, e.g. walking or running speed.”

Not if he lands on snow on the side of a mountain like he says. he could come in as fast as he wants as long as he matches the angle of the mountain, the mountain is perfectly smooth and he has a slippery enough belly to avoid tumbling head over heels. Personally I would rather ski off the side of Mount Everest than try that.

[wbill]

Great idea, until he goes into the ground like a lawn dart.

That having been said, anyone can accomplish this. But only one time. Hopefully, this guy hasn't reproduced yet so that his next-of-kin can pick up his Darwin Award.

[SampleMan]

How about some little wheels ?

A skate board?

[Eric in the Ozarks]

fore and aft.

[crghill]

Oh they’ll land alright...they’ll land!

[Bat_Chemist]

If you’re at some type of orbital or sub-orbital velocity, you’d need significantly more protective gear. Like a space shuttle or something...otherwise, re-entry is a
bee-yotch.

[Sender]

They could add a skateboard or roller blades, with an appropriate runway and guardian angel.

[LeGrande]

Plus, his wing was a simple foil, lacking any of the lift devices such as slats and flaps.

A simple foil is a lifting device. More so than slats or flaps, especially slats.

Having said that, you are essentially correct. It is a lift vs drag question. Maybe the answer is a high speed landing on ski's?