Birdmen: The Original Dream of Flight
English Transcript

00:16
MAN (VOICE OFF)
I think, instinctually, when you’re standing on the edge of a cliff,

00:19
you’re faced with two different sides of your mind.

00:24
First of all, all humans are naturally afraid of heights.

00:29
Second of all, all humans kind of dream of flying.

00:34
I’m definitely scared, definitely a little bit nervous, definitely anxious.

00:40
MAN (VOICE OFF)
Fear is your friend. Fear keeps you alive. Fear makes you attentive.

00:45
Fear makes you check your ‘chute again and again.

00:49
WOMAN (VOICE OFF)
Your heart’s pounding, you can almost hear your heart.

00:52
You’re completely living in that exact present moment

00:54
and it’s very addictive to be that in tune with your body and everything around you.

01:00
MAN (VOICE OFF)
So you’re sitting there, and it’s wrong

01:03
but at the same time, you wanna do it.

01:06
The dream of human flight is overpowering for some of us,

01:10
and it’s far more important than the fear of the unknown.

01:16
CAPTION
Is life so dear that we should blame one for dying in adventure?

01:20
CAPTION
What kind of man would live where there is no daring?
Charles A. Lindbergh, Aviation Pioneer

01:31
TITLE
Birdmen : The Original Dream of Flight

01:37
OPENING CREDIT
Directed and written by Matt Sheridan

01:40
OPENING CREDIT
Executive producer
Proximity Productions

01:45
OPENING CREDIT
Produced by Team Thirteen

01:48
OPENING CREDIT
Principal Camerawork
Kevin Steen, John James, Matt Sheridan, Vinnie Urgo

01:53
OPENING CREDIT
Aerial Camerawork
Noah Bahnson

01:57
OPENING CREDIT
Edited by
Shane McFalls, Matt Sheridan

02:01
OPENING CREDIT
Music by
Milton Menasco

02:04
OPENING CREDIT
Narration by
Palmer Pattison

02:18
NARRATOR
In ancient times most cultures believed the sky was a domain reserved for demons, gods and mythical creatures

02:24
Countless stories were written about failed human attempts to leave their earthly domain, and enter the forbidden world of the air.

02:35
The most famous of these myths is the Greek story of Icarus.

02:37
His father Daedalus crafted wings of wax and feathers for himself and his son, to escape from the labyrinth prison they lived in.

02:44
Daedalus warned the young Icarus not to fly too close to the Sun, in case his wings might melt.

02:51
As Daedalus cautiously flew to safety, the youthful Icarus was overwhelmed by the exhilaration of flight

02:57
and carelessly arced upwards, toward the heavens.

03:02
His wax wings melted, and he plunged to his death.

03:06
And for eternity, the story has served as a warning to misguided dreamers trying to experience human flight.

03:12
Despite the obvious dangers, man has aspired to soar like a bird since time immemorial -

03:18
but without much success.

03:21
In written records that document early human flight, it’s difficult to separate fact from myth.

03:28
Only a few early designs had the potential to glide small distances,

03:31
and no flying machines could ever have achieved actual flight.

03:35
Until the end of the nineteenth century, man didn’t even understand the science of bird flight.

03:40
These misinformed pioneers were doomed to countless broken backs, limbs, or death.

03:46
But science continued to progress.
03:49
The first significant advancement in flight is owed to Otto Lilienthal, the glider king.

03:54
Otto studied bird flight and aerofoils extensively;

03:57
CAPTION
Reenactment

03:57
based on his studies he started to design six-wing gliders in 1891.

04:02
Otto was credited as the first successful aviator,

04:05
because his flights were actually repeatable.

04:07
From a running start on a hill top,

04:11
he made thousands of flights, some up to a thousand feet in length.

04:15
But in 1896 he broke his spine on a test flight gone wrong.

04:20
On his deathbed, he said, “Small sacrifices must be made.”

04:26
CAPTION
Otto Lilienthal 1848-1896        

04:27
CAPTIONS
Orville Wright        Wilbur Wright

04:27
NARRATOR
After reading about Otto’s death,

04:29
Orville and Wilbur Wright were inspired to research his work and begin their own pursuit of flight.

04:36
After designing a few questionable prototypes,

04:39
they eventually created a stable working model in 1903,

04:42
CAPTION
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina

04:45
NARRATOR
complete with a rudder that could make turns and glide hundreds of feet.

04:48
They felt confident they could add an engine and attempt flight from level ground instead of a hilltop.

04:55
After months of designing, building an airplane and waiting for perfect weather,

05:00
the first sustained human flight was achieved

05:01
December 14th, 1903

05:04
MALE VOICE - RADIO BROADCAST
On the windswept sands of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina,

05:07
was written the opening verse of a new chapter in the history of man.

05:11
They did not rest on their laurels;

05:13
the Wright brothers continued to improve and demonstrate their airplanes,

05:17
in the United States and abroad, for another five years

05:20
before the last doubting sceptic was convinced

05:22
that man had conquered the air.

05:24
To fly like a bird: for ages, that has been man’s ambition.

05:29
How often, during the unrecorded centuries of the past,

05:32
we have tried and failed, we do not know.

05:34
We do know that many courageous men

05:37
have given their lives

05:40
so that we might fly in safety and comfort.

05:44
NARRATOR
But the modern airplane was a far departure from man’s dream of flying effortlessly like a bird.

05:49
So, a select few continued to pursue man’s original dream of flight.

05:56
MAN’S VOICE – OLD RADIO BROADCAST
Army planes, roaring overhead at the National Air Races in Cleveland, Ohio,

05:59
thrill 40 000 spectators and the year’s biggest flying show,

06:02
with daring wing-to-wing formations.

06:06
NARRATOR
After World War One, pilots from the war put on airshows for massive crowds

06:10
throughout Europe and North America.

06:12
The finale of most shows was the new sport of parachuting.

06:15
The jumpers often tried to outdo each other, to grab audiences’ attention.

06:20
MAN’S VOICE – OLD AIRSHOW COMMENTATOR
Look, this fella’s in trouble too!


06:22
No, I guess not, he’s only spilling the air out of his ‘chute to speed his descent.

06:25
He’s alright.

06:26
Clem Sohn was one of these professional parachutists,

06:29
who travelled the country from airshow to airshow in the 1930s.

06:30
CAPTION
Clem Sohn

06:33
Like many dreamers before him, he was enthralled by the concept of flying like a bird.

06:38
So he came up with a simple design based on flying squirrels and bats.

06:44
Continuing to evolve the ancient tradition of constructing birdlike wings,

06:28
Clem stitched sailcloth to a metal frame.

06:51
His first flight with these wings was at an airshow in Florida in 1935.

06:55
He immediately went into a glide, and was successfully able to perform banking turns on his way down.

07:01
MALE VOICE – BRITISH NEWSCASTER
Clem Sohn, America’s birdman, takes off in his plane

07:05
to give one more demonstration of his marvellous powers of gliding down from 10 000 feet.

07:10
NARRATOR
After thousands of years of failed attempts at birdlike flight,

07:14
a small-town boy from Michigan had succeeded.

07:17
His flight made headlines around the world,

07:19
and suddenly, he was making thousands of dollars to perform at airshows.

07:23
Sponsors lined up, and a Clem Sohn “Birdman” doll for kids was created.

07:29
But Clem never saw himself as a novelty act.

07:32
He firmly believed he was advancing human flight

07:35
and continuously modified his wings to improve his flights.

07:40
In 1937, Clem was invited by the French government to fly at the Paris airshow.

07:45
But when he pulled his ‘chute, it malfunctioned.

07:48
MAN’S VOICE – BRITISH NEWSCASTER
And 200 000 people all but create a vacuum as they draw in their breath with horror,

07:52
when Clem’s parachute fails to open properly, and he hurtles down from 10 000 feet -

07:57
down, down, down, to his death.

08:01
NARRATOR
Despite his death, Clem inspired dozens of imitators

08:05
and started the birdman phenomenon that continues to this day.

08:09
But flying with heavy wings was not as easy as Clem had made it look.

08:13
Many copycat birdmen were seriously injured, or died going into uncontrollable spins.

08:19
One birdman described opening his wings in mid-air as “wrestling a tent in a hurricane”.

08:25
The successor to Clem was Léo Valentin,

08:27
CAPTION
Léo Valentin

08:27
NARRATOR
a famous parachutist from the French military.

08:31
Léo started flying with cloth wingsuits in 1950,

08:34
but after a few disastrous flights he gave up, thinking that rigid wings would be more controllable.

08:41
He was wrong.

08:42
It took years of modifying and testing until he had a working pair in 1954.

08:48
Léo claimed to fly over three miles on his first flight.

08:50
For the next two years, he became an airshow sensation,

08:54
but like most birdmen of the time, he tragically met his death.

08:58
At a festival in England, he was about to jump, when the wind sucked him out sideways.  

09:03
He struck the side of the plane, and his wings splintered.

09:07
For decades, no birdman attempted flight with rigid wings.

09:09
CAPTION
That yawning door opening into space is like the very jaws of hell.


09:12
CAPTION
We’re not birds.
Léo Valentin

09:17
NARRATOR
Eventually, the “Birdman” movement fizzled out in the 1960s.

09:21
And only a few skydivers experimented with wings -

09:25
until Patrick de Gayardon came along in the 1990s.

09:28
CAPTION
Patrick de Gayardon
Wingsuit Designer + Pioneer

09:30
Before experimenting with wingsuits, Patrick made a comfortable living

09:35
as a professional skydiver who dreamed up spectacular stunts to film,

09:39
such as sky-surfing over the North Pole,

09:41
and breaking the world record for the highest jump without oxygen.

09:45
He was also an avid basejumper,

09:48
which involves jumping off a fixed object

09:51
with a parachute designed for quick openings.

09:53
His next big dream was to extend his time in the air,

09:56
and a wingsuit was the obvious way to do this.

09:58
He designed wings that inflated using ram-air

10:01
which is the same system that modern-day parachutes use,

10:05
Ram-air systems use the air flow that forms around a body in freefall,

10:09
to pressurise the inside of a two-layered fabric wing.

10:13
This enabled Patrick to fly with wings similar to airplanes,

10:16
and, as a result, his wings were much more stable and safe

10:19
than the canvas wings of the past.

10:23
LOÏC JEAN-ALBERT
So Patrick de Gayardon was a very good skydiver,

10:26
CAPTION
French national skydiving team

10:27
and I met him when I was in the French team, living in Gap,

10:32
CAPTION
Loïc Jean-Albert
Wingsuit Designer + Pioneer

10:33
and he invented the modern wingsuit.

10:36,
that inflates, and that has a good performance compared to the old ones.  

10:41
Before Patrick, there were a lot of people – Léo Valentin, Clem Sohn,

10:46
all these guys – they made the mistakes that we didn’t make afterwards.

10:50
PATRICK DE GAYARDON
SUBTITLE
The limit is not always a technological limit, it’s a human limit.

10:56
SUBTITLE
But safety has improved nonetheless, because 35 to 40 years ago

11:02
SUBTITLE
the game was to pull (open parachutes) low. That was abandoned –

11:07
SUBTITLE
The people who opened their standard parachutes too low are all dead,

11:11
SUBTITLE
and now are no longer talked about… they all impacted.

11:14
CAPTION
Mike Steen
Wingsuit Pilot

11:14
MIKE STEEN
Patrick was definitely headed towards more performance –

11:16
he was making the suits slightly bigger;

11:18
he was streamlining them, to make them more efficient,

11:20
and he was definitely looking at trying to get more performance and more glide out of the suit.

11:30
PATRICK DE GAYARDON
SUBTITLE
Well I think the limit for me it’s my bones, the end will be when pain and arthritis stops me.

11:37
SUBTITLE
But for the moment it’s OK. I passed 10,000 jumps last month, and it’s OK.

11:47
SUBTITLE
In the following years. That’s accelerating a bit more, now.

11:51
SUBTITLE
We are more and more organised for jumping.

11:59
NARRATOR
In 1998, Patrick died when his parachute malfunctioned,

12:04
after he modified it in an attempt to streamline his parachute with his wingsuit.

12:08
It was a devastating blow to the skydiving community.

12:12
Yet his death did not deter others from continuing his work with wingsuits.

12:16
CAPTION
Gap, France

12:19
Soon after Patrick’s death, a handful of skydivers, including Loïc Jean-Albert,

12:20
CAPTION
S-Fly Wingsuit Headquarters

12:24
began to make their own wingsuits.

12:27
Loïc designed one of the first wingsuits available to the general public,

12:30
called the Crossbow.

12:33
LOÏC JEAN-ALBERT
Since I was a little kid, I liked to build toys for what I need.

12:37
When I saw the first wingsuits of Patrick, I had some ideas about how to improve it,

12:41
CAPTION
First prototype circa 1998

12:42
LOÏC
and that’s how I got into building the suits –

12:45
I built the first one because I wanted my toy, you know,

12:49
and then people started asking to have toys also.

12:55
so that’s when we started building suits for other people.

12:58
MATT GERDES
He had a wingsuit that was far more comfortable, and with far better performance,

12:59
CAPTION
Matt Gerdes
Author “Great Book of Base”
Wingsuit Pilot

13:04
MATT GERDES
than any of his competitors, for the first five years that he was making them.

13:10
LOÏC
We made bigger suits with more surface.

13:13
But also they are more stable, and more manoeuvrable.

13:16
NARRATOR
The only way to learn how to fly a wingsuit is through skydiving.

13:20
Many skydiving operations offer wingsuit-flying instruction,

13:24
but, a minimum of 200 regular skydive jumps are recommended before attempting a wingsuit flight.

13:31
Today’s wingsuit designs allow experienced skydivers to easily pilot the suits through the air for several minutes.

13:42
LOÏC
I grew up in an airport, because my parents were skydiving instructors.

13:48
As soon as there was room in the plane, I was hopping in.

13:52
I started skydiving when I was 15.

13:55
I got into basejumping, wingsuit flying, all these things,

13:58
and I started flying light planes, bigger planes, and I fly helicopters also.

14:05
I’m just interested in everything that flies.

14:11
MATT
My introduction to wingsuit flying came at Gap in France, at Loïc’s drop zone, using his suits,

14:18
within his circle of friends – so I’m kind of from Loïc’s family of wingsuiting.

14:22
LOÏC
I think wingsuit flying is the closest you can get, in terms of what birds might feel –

14:29
but there are a lot of interesting things in other flying machines – possibilites that you don’t have with wingsuiting.

14:35
So I like mixing them, to show that they can fly together, and they are all fun.

14:42
CAPTION
Ellen Brennan
Wingsuit Pilot

14:42
ELLEN
We all went to Gap to go skydiving, and fly our wingsuits next to Loïc,

14:46
who’d be flying his airplane next to us,

14:49
and our goal was to be able to see if we could fly our wingsuits at the same level as his airplane.

14:55
LOÏC
The few times I’ve done this was with one person in a wingsuit,

15:00
and this time it was in a group, which is even more nice,

15:03
because you have to set up everyone together, and it’s not too easy.

15:07
LOÏC
I will turn around, like this, anyway.

15:08
MIKE
OK.

15:08
LOÏC
So as you see me turning around, you just follow like this. OK?

15:12
MIKE
OK.

15:13
LOÏC
Try and keep a fast pace, huh?

15:16
MIKE
For sure.

15:18
ELLEN
I’ve flown wingsuits a lot like Mike and Matt, and I knew that we were able to fly together

15:22
- that wasn’t gonna be a challenge for us –

15:25
but to fly with an airplane was something that we’d never done before.

15:32
CAPTION
Noah Bahnson

15:33
NARRATOR
Jumping with the three is Noah Bahnson, an aerial cameraman.

15:56
ELLEN
We’re flying, and all of a sudden I look down

15:58
and I see Loïc flying his airplane up and behind us

16:02
- just seeing this huge airplane, that’s able to fly right up next to us,

16:05
is breathtaking, really.

16:11
LOÏC
It’s a very nice visual, and I always like to fly with wingsuit flyers and planes.

16:19
Mixing both disciplines is really fun.

16:25
NARRATOR
In the mid-1990s, as news of Patrick and Loïc’s wingsuit flying spread throughout the skydive world,

16:31
basejumpers recognised the incredible potential for wingsuit flights from cliffs.

16:37
Basejumping is a high-risk sport by any measure,

16:40
but adding a wingsuit makes it even more dangerous.

16:44
Only the most experienced and elite basejumpers don wingsuits,

16:47
and today, the most progressive and advanced flight is happening in the wingsuit/basejumping environment.

16:53
MATT
Skydiving definitely helps prepare you for wingsuit basejumping,

16:56
and, in fact, it’s one of the most important things that you can do.

16:59
Every wingsuit basejumper has to skydive as much as possible.

17:02
Now, it only helps for certain things:

17:05
it helps you fly the suit, it helps you become stable in the air,

17:08
and it helps you develop the foundation that you’ll need to perfect your glide performance later in the basejumping environment.

17:15
Modern wingsuits are relatively easy to fly.

17:17
In fact, if you just relax, and sort of lay on top of them,

17:21
they’ll fly straight all by themselves.

17:24
All you have to do is learn how to give gentle inputs.

17:27
and work with the suit instead of fighting it.

17:30
Clouds are the ultimate training tool.

17:33
Clouds allow you to pick a point of reference,

17:36
and set up, and try and fly as close as you can to the edge of it, without hitting it.

17:40
Turning in a wingsuit is very intuitive.

17:45
MIKE
It can mean the difference between rotating your shoulders a little bit,

17:49
maybe changing the angle of your feet, and even just moving your head

17:53
and having your body follow which way your head’s going.

17:57
The movements that we’re making are very small,

17:59
but learning how to fly – not only relative to other people while skydiving –

18:03
but flying around clouds and that sort of thing,

18:06
is what breeds the skills to be able to fly a long train, making turns.

18:12
MATT
But skydiving doesn’t prepare you for the exit. It doesn’t prepare you for learning how to get your suit flying as soon as possible,

18:20
and that’s one of the most crucial aspects of wingsuit basejumping.

18:22
That’s one thing that you need to learn while in the base environment,

18:25
and your first few jumps need to be from an object that’s very forgiving,

18:29
with a very long, vertical rock drop,

18:31
so that you have time to figure out how to get your wingsuit flying soon.

18:36
Later, more experienced basejumpers can move to objects with shorter starts,

18:40
where you throw a rock and maybe it only freefalls for 6 or 7 seconds,

18:45
so those short starts are reserved for the most experienced wingsuit basejumpers.

18:50
ELLEN
Jumping off a cliff adds a whole new aspect that most people don’t consider –

18:54
a lot of people don’t think about how the winds are affecting the mountain,

18:58
which is gonna be pushing you in one direction or the other,

19:01
they don’t think about what’s gonna happen if they pull a little bit lower and have line twists –

19:05
in a skydive, that’s not a big deal, but in basejumping these are things that you have to be absolutely dialled in.

19:10
People who don’t practise these things often tend to get hurt,

19:13
and most of them die.

19:20
[bell ringing]

19:25
CAPTION
Dent de Crolles Peak

19:27
The Dent de Crolles in France is a really classic base jump.

19:31
For a long time it’s been a test piece for wingsuit basejumpers.

19:36
It’s something that I saw for the first time about six years ago,

19:39
At that time I’d only heard of one other jumper that was jumping it at the time,

19:42
and that was Loïc.

19:44
There’s a mandatory performance obstacle that happens to be a giant ledge, with a town on it.

19:50
If you don’t clear that, you need to land in a field that’s on it.

19:54
If you make the decision too late to try and land in one of those fields,

19:58
you probably won’t have enough altitude to deploy your parachute safely

20:02
If you’d asked me if I thought I’d be able to jump that, and clear the town,

20:06
I would have said no – maybe even up until a year or two ago.

20:11
MIKE
No way.

20:13
ELLEN
So we’re gonna be flying past that entire village, down to that big town – is that what we’re trying to do?

20:16
MATT
Yup. All the way over the plateau, and down to the bottom of the valley.

20:20
ELLEN
Holy crap.

20:23
MATT
It’s a bit of a glide to the soccer field afterwards, but it’s definitely possible.   

20:28
Otherwise, there’s plenty of options to the left, but we can’t see them from here.

20:32
ELLEN
Okay. So I’ll just make that call when I go around the corner, I guess.

20:34
MATT
Yes. And once you get to the edge, you’ll see lots of options.

20:37
ELLEN
We should be able to make it, right?

20:38
MATT
I think you can pass it, but if you feel like you’re not going to

20:41
you have three bailout fields – below on the right – and those are your only options for landing.

20:45
MIKE
It does look like a really long glide. I’m sure it’s gonna be fine, but…

20:50
MATT
I’m sure you guys’ll make it.

20:52
MIKE
Cool.

21:14
ELLEN
3, 2, 1…

21:21
My plan in my mind was: okay, I’ll shoot for the plateau in the valley.

21:25
If I get to that spot and realise that I’m high enough to make it through the canyon,

21:29
then I’ll go to plan B.

21:31
But I don’t really intend to fly all the way to the very bottom, because

21:34
I know if I have that in my mind, I might make the wrong decision.

21:51
MATT
It’s super cool to fly my wingsuit over the town

21:53
that I was once looking at up the cliff, going “that’s impossible and insane!”

21:58
It’s funny how your perspective changes, not only based on the suits, and the progression with materials and technology,

22:03
but also with your skill and comfort level.

22:05
Those things are the recipe for innovation,

22:07
and that’s what’s happening right now –

22:09
we’re flying in ways that we never thought we’d fly, it’s truly amazing.

22:15
[laughs]
MATT
Crazy…

22:17
ELLEN
Awesome…

22:18
MIKE
Nice…

22:19
MATT
When wingsuit basejumping first came to be,

22:22
it was really exciting, because all of a sudden we could fly ourselves away from the object

22:26
and that was just mind-boggling – because here we’d been, for decades,

22:30
freefalling right next to the cliff, with everything rushing just behind you.

22:34
It wasn’t really flying at all, it was falling.

22:36
And then wingsuits came along, and all of a sudden

22:38
people were able to fly not just hundreds of metres, but even kilometres

22:42
or miles away from the cliff.

22:44
I mean, that was so impressive.

22:46
And so in the beginning, the holy grail of wingsuit basejumping was distance and glide.

22:50
Who could fly furthest away from the cliff?
 
22:53
How far could you make it from point A?

22:55
MIKE
Typically, most of the jumps that we’re doing these days

22:57
are anywhere between 4 and 6 thousand feet vertical.

23:00
What that translates to is most of the time we can fly twice as far as we are high.

23:06
So if I’m one mile high, I can jump off that cliff and fly for at least two miles

23:10
before I have to deploy my parachute.

23:13
MATT
We don’t need a 6000ft sheer wall.

23:15
We just need 500 little feet of vertical, near the top of the mountain,

23:19
and then we have the entire mountain to play with after we get our wingsuits flying.

23:22
LOÏC
Jumping with a wingsuit does offer a lot more possibilities

23:26
in terms of where you can jump, in terms of flights that you can do,

23:30
so it changes the face of basejumping.

23:35
MATT
As wingsuits got better, and pilots got better,

23:37
we could fly so far away from the cliff

23:39
it almost feels like you jumped out of an airplane.

23:41
It became too much like skydiving.

23:43
You know, here we are, 2 miles away from the cliff, and thousands of feet over the ground -

23:47
that almost got to be a little bit boring.

23:59
NARRATOR
In 2003, Loïc performed the first documented proximity flight, which is a wingsuit flight in close proximity to the ground.

24:07
LOÏC
I did a lot of other proximity, but not the same and not as close.

24:12
I think this video did open eyes for a lot of people on the possibilities of a wingsuit.

24:22
MATT
The images of him flying his wingsuit close to the snow slope in Verbier totally blew my mind.

24:29
Loïc was literally 5 or 6 years ahead of everyone else in the sport,

24:32
and this is a sport that evolves a huge amount in 1 or 2 years.

24:36
So, years before everyone else, he was doing this over and over again,

24:40
and to a level that, even today, is barely matched.

24:47
All of a sudden the exciting thing to do was not to fly as far from the cliff as possible,

24:51
but to fly as close to the cliff, and as close to the terrain, as possible.

25:04
MIKE
Being able to see and judge glide is very important.

25:08
Being able to recognise that – while you’re doing 100 miles an hour, close to terrain –

25:14
I think that’s one of the hardest things to learn,

25:16
because there’s no real way to learn that without doing it.

25:20
MATT
It’s always a difficult decision when you feel like you’re ready to start flying close to something –

25:25
everybody wants that as soon as possible, they don’t wanna wait – they want it now.

25:29
The slowest progression possible is the best, and the safest -

25:32
and, what a lot of wingsuit basejumpers nowadays aren’t doing is starting slowly.

25:36
To be totally honest, I can’t say that I started slowly either

25:39
even though I was in the sport for 6 years before I really even flew close to anything at all.

25:52
You have to balance your desire with a slow enough progression to stay alive.

25:58
CAPTION
Lester Keller, PhD
Sports Psychologist; US Ski and Snowboard Team

25:58
LESTER KELLER
In most of these kinds of sports, there’s a very small elite group that participates in them.

26:06
CAPTION
Italian Dolomites.

26:06
LESTER KELLER
Very few people have the ability to do it – have the courage to do it –

26:11
to do something that’s really challenging, and really risky, and to succeed at that,

26:18
there’s certainly a reward for people to do something that other people can’t do or won’t do.

26:24
I think that drives you to overcome that aversion that most people have.

26:31
Motivation for some of these kinds of activities, or things that happen by accident,

26:37
is that they’re life-altering experiences

26:39
and once you’ve done that, and you’ve had that feeling,

26:42
I think if it was that profound and that rewarding, you want to do it again.

26:50
MIKE
So we’re just getting to bed here at the refuge – we’re at about 8600 feet.

26:55
Tomorrow morning we’re gonna get up early

26:57
to go do one of the longest, coolest wingsuit basejumps of my life.

27:06
MATT
A lot of the new exit points that are just being opened up are now expanding into different areas of the mountains.

27:12
Getting into these areas can be more technical,

27:15
and we can end up having to do even multiple-day ascents,

27:19
so it’s important that you’re comfortable in a high alpine environment.

27:25
The jump in the Dolomites is about 6000 feet from where we exit to where we land.

27:30
It’s in a pretty remote area.

27:33
MIKE
It got jumped for the first time 2 summers ago,

27:35
and because it’s a pretty high jump and the access isn’t super simple,

27:39
it hasn’t seen a lot of basejumpers, actually.

27:41
So it’s relatively new and fresh, and I don’t even know of any other Americans who have been up there.

27:46
I think we’re pretty much the first.

27:56
MATT
I’ll give the count.

27:57
MIKE
Which way are we exiting?

27:58
MATT
Straight out, turning left.

28:00
MIKE
Okay.

28:01
MATT
Ready?

28:02
MIKE
Ready.

28:03
MATT
Here we go, have fun.

28:04
MIKE
Right.

28:08
MATT
3, 2, 1, see it.

28:22
LESTER KELLER
People that don’t approach that level of activity in their own lives

28:28
tend to look at these sorts of things as odd.

28:31
They are risky; they are dangerous.

28:34
But these guys are as normal as you or me –

28:37
they just have a higher level of need to achieve a goal,

28:40
a different kind of goal.

28:43
They’re trying to challenge themselves,

28:47
they’re seeking something they can’t get watching the football on television

28:50
or driving a car fast.

28:53
They feel more alive for having done this.

28:58
Maybe the risk, the high rate of injury or death

29:02
makes life more attractive to them.

29:06
MATT
Oh, man.

29:09
That was amazing, that was totally incredible.

29:15
MIKE
[laughs]
Good…

29:24
It was the only thing that had sun on it. We had a little sun on us at the exit,

29:29
and below us there was just this golden rock outcrop, accentuating your death.

29:32
MIKE
Aaaargh!

29:33
MATT
But it’s all good, and then we went away.

29:36
Not all wingsuit basejumpers are crazy.

29:38
Sure, there’s a couple – but we come from all walks of life –

29:42
I mean, I’ve jumped with nurses, doctors, airline pilots, psychologists –

29:46
all sorts of normal people.

29:48
I wouldn’t say that there’s a particular personality type that suits wingsuit basejumping.

29:52
There’s people who use a surfer mentality – who feel the line, feel the technique –

29:56
and there’s people who crunch the numbers on their computers.
29:59
And both work.

30:02
LESTER KELLER
In sports like wingsuit basejumping,

30:07
I think you find more meticulous people.

30:10
I don’t think you find many yahoos out there doing this kind of thing,

30:15
because it takes a tremendous amount of commitment, and time, and money, and effort.

30:22
If you don’t take this kind of care and caution, and pay this kind of attention,

30:27
then you’re making an evolutionary decision about natural selection.

30:37
ELLEN
People basejump because it is really exciting, and you get a huge adrenaline rush.

30:41
But it’s also about getting out in the mountains, and exploring, and enjoying nature.

30:48
One of the main reasons I like to do this sport is because I’m able to be up in the mountains where few people ever go.

30:54
I’m seeing things from an angle that no-one ever gets to see them from, or very few people get to see them from.

30:59
MATT
I try to pretty much only basejump from cliffs,

31:03
because for me it’s all about the mountain experience.

31:06
I love being in the mountains, in the back country, away from civilisation.

31:09
LOÏC
Base wingsuit flying is really cool, because you walk in the mountains, you know,

31:14
be cool and calm. It’s a different aspect of wingsuit flying.

31:19
MIKE
Once we’re on the edge, and we get to the exit point, we have to gear up.

31:23
MATT
To be honest, the wingsuit isn’t super comfortable.

31:25
It’s sort of tight in the wrong places, and baggy in other places.

31:29
You don’t really feel like you’re in your natural environment. You sort of feel out of place.

31:33
And so once you’ve got the wingsuit on, your natural environment becomes the air.

31:37
And you just wanna fly.

31:39
It’s only when you leave the cliff, and you start flying, that you feel at home.

31:44
ELLEN
Before you jump off the cliff, you’ve got a million things racing through your mind.

31:48
Then you count down “3, 2, 1” –

31:51
and then, nothing.

31:53
It’s completely silent.

32:00
MATT
The first 2 seconds after jumping are totally calm.

32:03
There’s no wind noise.

32:05
That moment of freefall lasts so much longer than any other moment of your life,

32:09
It’s incredible.

32:11
Then gradually everything sort of speeds up.

32:13
The terrain comes at you faster and faster; the wind noise increases.

32:15
ELLEN
You’re completely living in that exact present moment, and it’s very addictive.

32:21
MATT
3, 2, 1…

32:32
MIKE
All the way up here, to sit in the white room you can see behind me –

32:37
that’s where I’m supposed to be jumping.

32:40
Hanging out in a cloud, on a mountain in Switzerland.

32:44
Worse things; worse places.

32:48
All right? 3, 2, 1, Gypsy Pearson,

33:00
Woohoo!

34:06
MIKE
How was that?

34:08
ELLEN
That was awesome.

34:10
MATT
Good flight, man.

34:12
ELLEN
3, 2, 1…

34:18
MATT
Ellen’s pretty interesting –

34:20
there aren’t that many women in our sport doing this fringe stuff, proximity flying…

34:27
ELLEN
Pretty much all of my spare time that I’ve had has been rock climbing, paragliding, going to the gym, running, hiking…

34:33
All of that is focused towards making basejumping a more productive sport for me.

34:40
Living in the States, it’s very hard to go wingsuit basejumping –

34:43
there aren’t very many places that are accessible.

34:47
So in all of my spare time – even if it’s just for a week – I fly out to Europe

34:51
and every time I come out, I meet new people to wingsuit with,

34:54
because it’s such a small community.

34:56
It’s really great to be able to connect with everyone.  

35:00
The relationships you make in basejumping are a lot stronger than any other relationships you have,

35:05
because you’re able to share something that’s so unique,

35:08
and few other people understand the feelings that you get from basejumping.

35:12
People who don’t do these same sports don’t really understand how I work.

35:15
I will drop anything if it’s a calm, beautiful morning, and go off and jump off a cliff

35:20
and a lot of people just can’t understand why I need to go do that.

35:23
But it’s something I need.

35:28
Wahoo!

35:36
NARRATOR
Jeb Corliss has joined the group in the Swiss Alps for a group jump called flocking.

35:42
While common in skydiving, flocking is very rare in basejumping,

35:45
due to the complexity of multiple pilots jumping together, and flying near the terrain.

35:50
MIKE
Jumping with Jeb was special.

35:52
There were definitely a lot of people that were involved in the progression of wingsuits,

35:56
whether it was wingsuit basejumping, or skydiving with wingsuits.

36:00
He’s one of the people that’s been in the sport for a long time.

36:03
And I have looked up to him for a number of years,

36:05
and so actually being able to do a jump with him is pretty cool.

36:10
Jeb, an icon of the sport, purchased his first wingsuit in the late 90s.

36:14
To this day, he continues to push the limits of wingsuit flying

36:18
and is one of the most experienced wingsuit basejumpers alive.

36:25
ELLEN
I feel really comfortable flying with my friends, because I know what their skill level is.

36:29
I’m very particular about who I choose to jump with,

36:31
especially if I’m going to be sharing the airspace with them –

36:34
it’s gotta be somebody I really know and trust.

36:37
MIKE
With that many people on an exit point, which can be the size of a picnic table,

36:41
it’s kind of a challenge in itself.

36:44
If somebody slipped, if somebody bumped somebody else on exit –

36:46
you really have to know who you’re jumping with.

37:00
Being with somebody else in the air, close to the terrain –

37:04
by far one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever known.

37:37
JEB
Very good work, guys, that was awesome.

37:41
MIKE
It was really really fun – that was actually…

37:42
JEB
It was my most fun jump here so far.

37:44
MATT
I think mine too, honestly –

37:45
JEB
Yeah! That was my most fun!

37:46
MATT
it’s just so much cooler seeing people around you.

37:49
JEB
It really is. The visual of other humans, in the sky, flying, is so… awesome.

37:58
I can see the feeling there – I can see the feeling at the same time!

38:09
MIKE
My family definitely has concerns, like any family would,

38:11
about what I do, and my safety.

38:15
Their feelings do affect me, but I think they understand

38:18
that this is something that I need to do.

38:20
If I’m not doing this, then I’m not who I am.

38:24
LESTER KELLER
If you deal with the reality of the consequences of a mistake,

38:28
99 times out of 100 you’re not going to walk away from that accident.

38:33
Somewhere you’ve come to an accommodation of that fact.

38:39
MIKE
At that speed, if you clipped a tree or touched the ground it’s game over – lights out.

38:45
You’re done, for sure.

38:46
I mean, it’s hard to hit anything at more than a hundred miles an hour without dying.

38:52
I’m scared every time.

38:53
What is pushing that fear down are the skills, and the time, and the energy

38:58
and everything that I’ve put into getting to that point.

39:01
LESTER KELLER
But you have to have a high level of expectation that this could end badly today.

39:08
I would suspect that they’ve accepted that this is the real risk.

39:12
This is really part of the deal.

39:15
ELLEN
Because it is such a calculated sport, you need to be able to take a lot of things into consideration.

39:21
The most important thing is, you need to be able to know when to say no, and to hike back down.

39:26
MATT
It’s a very unforgiving sport, because once you make the decision to basejump,

39:30
you become subject to all the variables, all the conditions,

39:34
so really, the only way to guarantee that you stay alive is to not jump.

39:42
MIKE
I’ve had 3 or 4 fairly close friends die, wingsuit proximity flying.

39:50
It’s something that is a reality.

39:52
LOÏC
I was still taking a pretty high risk when I had my two kids,

39:57
then I broke my back, and in the end of 2007 and, you know,

40:00
when you’re lying in bed for a few months,  

40:05
you have time also to think about, you know, life in general.

40:08
It was really fun, I’m really happy with everything I did,

40:11
but I don’t think I want to take that risk any more.

40:16
I’ve done enough. I’ve spent a lot of time doing it,

40:19
and I’ve lost a lot of friends also.

40:22
When you do this type of thing, you know all the guys who are doing this type of thing,

40:28
you have a lot of friends that die doing it.

40:31
Skill does help, but it does not erase the risk.

40:42
MIKE
It’s really cool to watch how Matt is progressing in the sport.

40:45
He lives over here, and he’s getting to jump a lot,

40:48
and having the precision and the control to be able to fly through two objects that are no more than 20 feet apart

40:56
is really cool to watch.

40:58
VOICE OFF
3, 2, 1…

41:12
MATT
Our generation grew up with all of these fantastic sci-fi movies in the 80s.

41:17
I’ll never forget the image of ewoks speeding through the forest on their speeder bikes,

41:21
or Luke Skywalker diving in the canyons on the death star,

41:24
or even just the classic image of Superman, flying headfirst.

41:27
To me, wingsuiting is like all of those things rolled into one –

41:29
it’s like the ultimate dream of flight, realised.

41:33
It’s definitely the ultimate rush –

41:35
flying your body close to something, and having control over where you’re at, is the ultimate.

41:41
It’s what we’ve been dreaming about forever.

41:49
NARRATOR
One of the most technically challenging wingsuit basejumps is called “The Crack”.

41:54
It requires the pilot to fly nearly one mile out,

41:57
before swooping down between two trees no more than 20 feet apart.

42:01
This leads to a long, narrow canyon, which the pilot must fly through

42:05
before having enough time to safely deploy his parachute.

42:12
MIKE
So there’s really just a handful of wingsuit pilots in the world who are flying their wingsuits at this level.

42:18
But what we’re gonna see in the next few years is that number explode exponentially,

42:23
because wingsuits are becoming more comfortable to fly,

42:25
and their performance is increasing every year.

42:27
MATT
It’s very difficult to say what the future of wingsuiting will bring,

42:30
because, five years ago, I think that a lot of wingsuit basejumpers never imagined

42:36
that we would be doing the type of flights that we’re doing now.

43:08
NARRATOR
After decades of development through trial and error, and after many deaths,

43:12
the wingsuit has evolved into a spectacular vehicle for human flight.

43:17
While wingsuit designs will continue to be modified to make flying safer and easier,

43:22
cloth wingsuit performance will always be limited by the framework of the human body.

43:27
The wingspan is dictated by the pilot’s size,

43:30
and the length of the flight is completely dependent upon our limited human muscle strength,

43:35
which usually becomes exhausted after three minutes of flight time.

43:39
Yves Rossy believes he has found a solution to these natural restraints.

43:42
He’s gone back to Léo Valentin’s idea of a rigid wing,

43:47
and utilises mini turbine engines to achieve airplane-like flight,

43:51
essentially turning himself into a jet aircraft.

44:08
LOÏC
There are some possibilities, on hard wings, to take off and land, safely, with engines

44:14
and also you can fly with your body, which gives the feeling of flight.

44:19
I think that’s quite cool, it’s quite interesting.

44:23
MIKE
The technical skills you have to have

44:25
to be able to strap two jet engines to your body, jump out of something and fly,

44:30
is pretty far out there.

44:32
I think being a rocket man will happen for a select few,

44:35
but it’s definitely not gonna be something mainstream,

44:38
even in the wingsuit community.

44:41
NARRATOR
A more realistic future for birdmen is combining technology with a traditional nylon wingsuit.

44:47
In Switzerland,

44:48
CAPTION
ETH ZURICH
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology

44:48
NARRATOR
significant progress has been made in this field in the last couple of years.

44:54
CAPTION
Raffaello d’Andrea, PhD
Dynamic Systems and Control Professor

44:54
RAFFAELLO
My name is Raffaello d’Andrea, I’m a professor of dynamic systems and control at ETH Zurich.

45:01
Geo was a PhD student
 
45:03
CAPTION
Geoffery “Geo” Robson
PhD Student at ETH

45:03
RAFFAELLO
and we wrote a paper together on longitudinal stability of wingsuits.

45:07
It was the first time anyone had ever written a paper about wingsuit flying.

45:13
GEO
You’re looking at the luckiest man in the world

45:15
because I have managed to combine this recreational interest in wingsuit flying

45:19
with my professional and academic background in engineering and mathematics.

45:24
Alright.

45:26
RAFFAELLO
I mean, Geo had the talent and the courage to be a wingsuit flyer.

45:29
He was also a scientist.

45:31
What’s the probability of having both of those aptitudes in one human being?

45:35
And Geo really had them.

45:36
And it was interesting to see how scientific he was.

45:39
He was very rigorous.

45:42
He wanted to be able to write mathematical models,

45:45
and to use those models to figure out how to make humans fly better.

45:49
The paper covered the dynamics of wingsuit flying,

45:53
showing that these models that are used for airplanes also apply to human beings.

45:58
and showing that it is feasible to fly with thrusters,

46:01
CAPTION
Zurich Minds Conference

46:03
RAFFAELLO
although you’re prone to instabilities

46:05
and that you can control these instabilities.

46:08
GEO
Our plan, which we describe in our paper,

46:10
is to use steerable nozzles, vectored thrust,

46:13
and an onboard computer,

46:16
and basically, a fly by wire cruise control system to stabilise the flight.

46:20
NARRATOR
Raffaello and his students have developed complex algorithms used in modified quadricopters,

46:25
which can keep a rod perfectly balanced.

46:28
While a human manoeuvres the quadricopter with a remote wand,

46:31
it balances the rod upright autonomously.

46:35
Since these human-controlled manoeuvres are random and not pre-programmed,

46:39
the quadricopter is designed to learn how to balance the rod by itself.

46:44
Geo visualised a similar system to keep a pilot perfectly balanced during flight,

46:49
while the pilot chose whichever flight path he desired.

46:53
RAFFAELLO
So a human being wouldn’t even know that there was a computer system doing all this fine control.

46:57
As far as the human being is concerned, they’re just flying

47:00
and they wanna turn right, they turn right,

47:03
and the system would react to what the human being wanted to do,

47:06
and make the vector thrust do what it’s supposed to do.

47:11
GEO
Perfect exit point.

47:13
And this opens up a world of opportunities.

47:15
Instead of flying down steep mountain slopes,
47:18
you could actually fly over flat ground,

47:20
which would be amazing.

47:23
SUBTITLE
All right c’mon Geo. Let’s do this.

47:26
SUBTITLE
I’m just going to fly straight across there, and around there.

47:36
RAFFAELLO
He always used to say,

47:38
“If something ever happens to me, it’s gonna be because of equipment failure –

47:41
not becauses I miscalculated.”

47:44
MATT
Geo was a very analytical basejumper

47:46
and, using calculations, he had decided that it would be possible

47:49
to fly his wingsuit through a col in South Africa,

47:53
and, like many pioneers that came before him,

47:56
his attempt at pushing the limits ended badly,

48:01
and it’s totally unfortunate, because he was a brilliant mind

48:03
and a really nice person.

48:05
I mean, generally speaking, people as smart as him

48:08
are way too smart to get into wingsuit basejumping

48:11
so he was definitely a rarity.

48:16
GEO
About a century ago, the Wright brothers thought they’d started human flight.

48:21
It’s ironic that it’s taken another hundred years

48:24
for us to start to look at the type of birdlike flight that our ancestors would have dreamed of.

48:33
It’s a magical and life-changing experience,

48:36
just stepping off a cliff, spreading your arms, and flying like a bird.

48:40
You really do feel like a bird.

48:43
That’s my research on this – I’m a very lucky man.

48:55
MATT
He was, without question, a pioneer in our sport,

48:58
and it’s really sad that we lost him, because he was definitely taking it in a direction

49:00
GEO
Holy fucking crap!

49:04
that few of us can even imagine, let alone conceptualize.

49:08
GEO
That was a new exit point. I’m loving it.

49:11
RAFFAELLO
I think what happened was, the adventurer in him came out,

49:16
and he just wanted to push the boundary,

49:18
and he tried something that maybe he shouldn’t have tried,

49:22
but he easily could have cleared it as well,

49:25
and we’d all be talking here about it.

49:27
It’d be a different story.

49:31
GEO
Oh yeah! Life is good.

49:37
NARRATOR
Geo died a week later, attempting a different flight from the same exit point.

49:41
His flight path required that he fly over a ridge line that he wasn’t able to clear.

49:46
Geo’s ground-breaking work has not been continued by anyone to date.

49:56
Thousands of years after humans first leapt into the unknown,

50:00
a select few of us have achieved the very kind of flight that our ancestors have been envisaging for aeons.

50:07
Perhaps the transformation into true birdmen is not yet complete,

50:11
but, as technological innovations lead to newer designs,

50:15
the boundaries of human flight remain wide open for the adventurous and courageous spirits

50:20
who long to fly like birds.

50:32
CAPTION
Dedicated to all those who lost their lives in pursuit of the dream.

50:40
CLOSING CREDIT SEQUENCE