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Correct me if I'm wrong but don't the new flying suits these guys are using slow the descent rate and therefore increase the "glide" ratio?

I don't know what a normal skydiver gets in a head down track, I imagine it's less than 1 to 1. With these suits they are supposedly getting better than 1 to 1.

I have a feeling this guy got a target fixation ("gee, don't hit that") and he flew right to where he was looking. I've done that in a 13 to 1 hangglider, I have no idea if that happens in freefall.

Thoughts?

If the glide ratio in a track with these new suits is better than 1:1, it's not by much. I was jumping in the days of tight suits and made the change to the bell suits. There was a difference, especially when you put on the "brakes", but the freefall difference wasn't that great...maybe 10 mph at altitude.

Jumpsuits here: http://www.bodysportusa.com/suits.htm

One suit is called the "crater suit", very apropos if you eat high speed dirt.

I believe the Royal Gorge is at 5,000 msl. You fall faster at that altitude...until you hit something.

Twice I had LOW openings. The ground rush is incredible once you get below 1,000 feet. My point is that the bridge was growing like a monster before he hit it. My thought is that this guy developed mind lock and didn't think objectively and with safety concerns about what he was doing....else he would have opened the pack as soon as he realized that he MAY be in trouble, especially at LOW altitude.

Jumper error started 10 secs before he hit the bridge... this is from an USPA ex-safety officer.

a jumper in freefall and in a track position, (think of the ski jumpers at the Olympics, but head down) gets about a 1:1 glide ratio... exiting from 12,000' agl, a tracker could cover approximately 2 miles (10,000') before opening their parachute...

seems I read (which I question) that their descent rate was 30 mph and their forward speed was about 90-100 mph...