- Title: British daredevil aims to break four records for wingsuit flying
- Date: 16th May 2017
- Summary: WILTSHIRE, ENGLAND, UK (MAY 10, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRASER CORSAN, WINGSUIT JUMPER, SAYING: "Commercial aircraft will actually be below us when I exit because they go up to 37,000 ft; we're going another 5,000 ft higher than them. So around 12,000 feet higher than Mt. Everest. And then on top of that we're going to try and do the highest speed which is about the same speed as a Bugatti Veyron or a Ferrari F50, about 250 miles per hour. And then whilst doing that speed I will dive the wingsuit and basically get as fast as I can and fly forwards which gives me that speed." CLOSE OF CORSAN'S WINGSUIT HELMET ON GROUND WIDE OF WINGSUIT AND HELMET CLOSE OF CARBON-FIBRE BLADE ON TAIL OF WINGSUIT VARIOUS OF CORSAN PUTTING ON WINGSUIT (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRASER CORSAN, WINGSUIT JUMPER, SAYING: "The human arm is not very efficient. It's not shaped round and clean like a leading edge of the wing. So we have high density foam inside the suit which allows us - let me just zip up - to have that smooth leading edge which means that we can actually fly more efficiently." CLOSE OF CORSAN EXPLAINING WING DESIGN TO RORY MACKENZIE, A BENEFICIARY OF 'SSAFA', AN ARMED FORCES CHARITY WIDE OF CORSAN AND MACKENZIE CLOSE OF CORSAN POINTING OUT INLETS ON SUIT (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRASER CORSAN, WINGSUIT JUMPER, SAYING: "We have inlets here and inlets here; these inlets basically allow the air flow about 160, 180 miles-per-hour to ram in and inflate the suit without there actually being any issues with it depressurising. That's really important what and going for the record but it's also really important because it means the suit remains stable." CLOSE OF CORSAN POINTING OUT INSULATION INSIDE WINGSUIT (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRASER CORSAN, WINGSUIT JUMPER, SAYING: "We're actually going to a place which is between minus 50 and minus 70 degrees centigrade. So it's incredibly cold, it's the coldest place on earth. North Pole gets to about minus 35. We're going twice as cold as that. That's before I factor in wind-chill. The wind chill on top takes me down to another minus 137 centigrade. So it's incredibly cold." WIDE OF CORSAN AND MACKENZIE CLOSE OF CARBON-FIBRE BLADE ON TAIL OF WINGSUIT WIDE OF BLADE / TILT UP TO CORSAN (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRASER CORSAN, WINGSUIT JUMPER, SAYING: "Those blades are carbon fibre blades and they give us stability at speed. Because the suit is so high performance, without those blades there would be danger of losing stability, inverting on to my back and spinning. So the blades give me that stability whilst I'm flying forwards." WIDE OF MACKENZIE BEING SUITED UP BEFORE HIS FIRST TANDEM SKYDIVE (SOUNDBITE) (English) RORY MACKENZIE, A BENEFICIARY OF 'SSAFA', AN ARMED FORCES CHARITY, SAYING: "I was blown up in an armoured personnel carrier in Basra in 2007. I was a combat medical technician and our vehicle was effectively contacted by a rather large improvised explosive device and it penetrated the vehicle and tore off my right leg, traumatically amputating it right then." WIDE OF RUNWAY / PAN TO CORSAN IN WINGSUIT AND MACKENZIE AND OTHER SKYDIVERS PREPARING TO BOARD PLANE CLOSE OF CORSAN PUTTING ON HELMET SKYDIVERS BOARDING PLANE CLOSE OF PROPELLER WIDE OF MACKENZIE HEADING TO PLANE FOLLWOED BY CORSAN CORSAN ABOUT TO BOARD PLANE PILOT IN COCKPIT WIDE OF PLANE PLANE TAXIING VIEW FROM INSIDE PLANE AS IT TAKES OFF VARIOUS OF PLANE BEGINNING IT ASCENT
- Embargoed: 30th May 2017 14:22
- Keywords: world record Fraser Corsan skydiving SSAFA Project Cirrus wingsuit
- Location: WILTSHIRE, ENGLAND, UK / UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION
- City: WILTSHIRE, ENGLAND, UK / UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Science
- Reuters ID: LVA0026H38T3V
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A British wingsuit pilot has soaring ambitions to break four world records by sky diving from 42,000 feet.
The high-intensity sport of wingsuit flying involves jumping from a height using a special suit with 'wings' fitted between the limbs to generate extra lift and allow the wearer to glide through the air.
Fraser Corsan, a 42-year-old former aerospace safety engineer, will carry out two wingsuit jumps as he attempts to break the records for the highest altitude jumped in a wingsuit, as well as the longest time and furthest distance flown.
"About the same speed as a Bugatti Veyron or a Ferrari F50, about 250 miles per hour," Corsan told Reuters, speaking about the first of the challenges he will undertake - becoming the fastest man in the world unaided by machinery.
Japan's Shinichi Ito set the record for the fastest horizontal speed reached in a wingsuit - 363 kilometres per hour (225.56 miles per hour) - in California in 2011.
One of Corsan's jumps, which will take place in the U.S. and Canada, will involve him leaping from a height of around 42,000 feet (12,800 metres) from a hot air balloon - shattering the existing record of 37,000ft.
"Commercial aircraft will actually be below us when I exit because they go up to 37,000 ft; we're going another 5,000 ft higher than them. So around 12,000 feet higher than Mt. Everest," he said.
The equipment used for the feat is highly specialised. Corsan wears a high-performance suit designed to enhance his aerodynamics, and equipped with inlets to inflate the wings in flight.
In addition to gear that is built for speed, Corsan will be equipped with heated gloves, several layers of thin thermal clothing and a balaclava to contend with freezing temperatures of between minus 50 and minus 70 degrees centigrade, before factoring in wind-chill.
Corsan's record attempts, dubbed Project Cirrus, will raise money for the SSAFA - the Armed Forces Charity, a British charity that helps veterans.
After completing his final practice jump last week, Corsan took one of the servicemen aided by the charity for his first tandem sky dive.
"I've done some crazy stuff in my life and (there's) been some hairy moments in my life but nothing comes close to that," Lance Corporal Rory Mackenzie of the British army, who lost a leg in an attack in Iraq in 2007, told Reuters after his jump.
Corsan's record attempts are scheduled to take place on May 22 and May 29, subject to weather conditions and air space clearance. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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