Everest Wingsuit Jump

[awon2zip]

Joby Ogwyn will attempt to jump off Mount Everest with a wingsuit live on the Discovery Channel. There isn't an official date yet. All we know is that it will be in May. Thoughts on this?

Here's the website:
http://everestjumplive.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And a New York Post article
http://nypost.com/2014/03/31/one-mans-q ... n-live-tv/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Dave B]

So how do you up the adrenaline factor when you’ve already climbed to the top of the world?

[jbchalk]

Ole Joby...steppin' up the game. I hope it is actually successful as it would be so sweet to see his point of view video. But, so many factors have to be working properly and align perfectly in order for him to be able to make that leap. I'm sure he's taking it one day at a time hoping for a successful end. Its funny that the Discover Channel is promoting this as a "sure thing" in May. Nothing is ever "for sure" up there especially leaping off the summit. Joby is a good dude and a fellow southerner - we hung with him a lot at EBC in 2010.

[Steve Climber]

I wonder what mods they had to make to his wingsuit to get his balls to fit...

[painless4u2]

Any thoughts on this? Hmmm, well let's see. Besides the usual risks of AMS, cerebral edema, frostbite, hypothermia, extreme fatigue, exposure, crevasses, avalanches, rogue air currents, and other various ways to die, I wonder what effect air density will have on his flight suit, being a 1/3 the density compared to sea level. That could impact the needed lift to keep him away from the rocks. Probably shouldn't have said "impact".

[djkest]

Hope it goes well. I don't think it will.

[ChrisRoberts]

But if he has to wear a flight suit, how will Discovery turn this into an episode of Naked and Afraid?

[mountaingoat-G]

I was thinking about air density, too, so was surprised to read that he is using a suit that is SMALLER than a standard wing suit- but then again, I don't really know anything about the sport, other than having seen numerous videos of it....

[jdorje]

But, gravity is also lower, since he's farther from the center of the earth!

[TK]

Future Everest climbers will know him as the off-route cairn with the wingsuit and giant balls.

I hope it goes well, but the story reads like the beginning of a bad joke with a predictable punch line.

[Steve Climber]

But, gravity is also lower, since he's farther from the center of the earth!

And he will also be flying in much warmer air since heat rises.

[ChrisRoberts]

The decrease in air density will decrease his Reynolds number, which would make his flight less turbulent. That's good for a stability standpoint, but not from a pressure drag standpoint. He'll be going significantly faster at the end of his flight than he would if starting at more conventional altitudes. The smaller suit would decrease his skin drag but it would be marginal compared to his total drag. I don't know much about the suits, maybe there's a reason he's going smaller?