Pondering your first base jump? Perhaps you already have a pylon lined up and the parachute in the post. This nice person on youtube has filmed the experience for you. Draw your own conclusions.
No matter how skilled you are, no matter how many risks you take, no matter how much you spend on the sexiest hardware available, the one limiting factor in pulling off anything physical is the sack of meat your brain resides in.
And once you’ve accumulated years of experience, just as you feel your peak is reached, your meat sack starts creaking and it’s downhill into the grave. Thankfully a solution is slowly emerging. By the time your hips are titanium and your bladder lurks on the bedside table the Exoskeleton will have been perfected.
Raytheon Exoskeleton
The most famous Exoskeleton example has to be when Sigourney Weaver starts kicking xenomorph butt in ‘Aliens’. In 1986 it must have seemed 200 years in the future, but scientists are beavering away to make it happen right now and have been for several decades.
The General Electric Hardiman
The very first attempt was the Hardiman, built by General Electric in 1965. The project was intended to allow a person to lift nearly 3/4 of a ton, unfortunately the device itself weighed well over triple that and its movements were so violent that no person ever activated it whilst actually wearing it.
Since then there have been no shortage of remotely-operated limbs but the exoskeleton has proven to be a much tougher nut to crack. The technical obstacles are formidable. Power supplies haven’t been compact enough, sensors haven’t been subtle enough to interpret the wearers’ movements and the mechanical muscles themselves have been too crude – until now.
There are a variety of projects around the world attempting to make a viable proposition. Perhaps the most advanced is the HAL 5 from the alarmingly named Cyberdyne of Japan. Its primary purpose isn’t to destroy the human race, but to help the elderly and those with mobility problems.
HAL 5 - Judgment Day
The suit operates by sensing electrical impulses through sensors placed on the skin. Computers interpret these signals and activate the servos in the suit. It’s powerful enough to lift 10 times more than an unsuited human and the battery supplies up to 5 hours of superhumanosity. There are plans to introduce it into other arenas such as construction and rescue. At the moment it’s only available in Japan.
But what of the military? Surely they’d be itching to send legions of Iron Men across the battlefield. Correct.
So what does it all mean? You’ll be able to jog up Everest, execute that pesky 1080 McTwisty with a quick squirt from your booster rockets and if you do end up decapitating yourself whilst Extreme Ironing then something like the machine below will be waiting for your brain-in-a-jar.
Can’t wait.
Like everything else sporting, US motorsport tends to be at a slightly different angle to the rest of the world. Europeans have a habit of not paying much attention to series like Indycar and comprehension grinds to a halt when it comes to NASCAR.
Pikes Peak - Peugeot 405 T16
One event that kicks our scrawny, rotten-toothed arses into next week is the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, surely one of the most spectacular motoring happenings in the world and also one of the oldest.
Pikes Peak is in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. It rises to 14,115 ft. The man who it was named after, Zebulon Pike, swore that humans would never conquer it. He was somewhat wrong.
The first road to the summit was built in 1900. The first car, a Locomobile Steamer, took 9 hours to reach the top in 1901. The first competition event took place over a weekend in August 1916 to publicise the widening of the road to the top.
The winning time was 20 minutes, 55 seconds, set by Rea Lentz in the Romano Demon Special. The current record, on an almost unchanged route, is 10 minutes and 1 second set by Monster Tajima in a Suzuki XL7.
The Winners - 1916 vs 2007
The course is 12.4 miles long with 156 bends over a combination of tarmac, gravel and plenty of open drops. It rises nearly a mile from the start line at 9400 ft. The altitude change is so extreme that cars lose 30% of their power between the start and finish.
For years it was dominated by US drivers in the Open Wheel division – custom-built specials with huge V8s and huger wings. Some of the greatest names in motorsport such as the Unser family and Mario Andretti were winners.
Dallenbach Special - Open Wheeler
During the 80s it attracted the attention of international manufacturer teams and a foreign invasion brought new technology and higher speeds to the hill. Millions were spent custom-building specials like the Suzuki Escudo and Peugeot 405 T16, monsters with 1000+ bhp and every technological trick out there.
It’s not only for millionaires. There are several different divisions and often 150 competitors spread through the classes over the weekend’s racing. In addition to various car classes there are also bikes, quads and trucks competing.
PIkes Peak Competitors in action
All going well we’ll see you on the mountain at the end of June. There’s not much point in trying to convey any more with words, so we’ll leave it to the mountain masters.
Here’s some 2-wheeled artistry from BMX master Corey Martinez. Makes us wish we still had that Raleigh Burner.
Car manufacturers have a pretty dire track record when it comes to bicycle design. Their efforts are often overweight, fitted with indifferent components and outrageously priced.
Honda RN01
One honourable exception is Honda with the RN-01 which has to be one of the most dribble-inducing machines ever made.
Honda began by making motorcycles and after a reasonable amount of success in the motor trade they made their very first foray into the bicycle world in 2004 by forming Team G-Cross Honda.
The team signed Greg Minnaar, the 2003 world downhill champion, as the lead rider for their assault on world class downhill races. They brought an F1 level of detail to the proceedings and a budget that ran into the millions.
The bike they used was specially developed by Honda’s motorcycle R&D engineers. The R stood for Racing and the N stood for Natural Force. The 01 signified that it was Honda’s very 1st bike. Every component was custom built. Showa was responsible for the unique suspension, but the main point of interest was the Honda gearbox which was one of the very first on a mountain bike.
RN01 gearbox
The Honda team guarded their secrets zealously. The box was removed and placed in a case after every run and screens were erected around the machine when servicing took place. Not much has since been revealed about the design, it hasn’t emerged elsewhere, but it’s known that by placing the freewheel in the bottom bracket the riders were able to change gear without pedaling.
The RN01 at work
The Honda team had a successful run with over 20 international wins until the plug was pulled in 2007. It was cited that plans for production would never be profitable so there was no more reason to race.
What became of the bikes themselves? As they were prototypes they followed the motor industry protocol of being crushed for liability reasons. As far as we know a couple were gifted to riders, a stolen frame washed up on Ebay minus all the cool components and that’s about it.
Honda is still sitting on the technology they developed. Quel dommage.
When was the last time you felt serious G-force? The most likely case is a car crash, in which case you probably don’t remember it. If it was for fun then a roller coaster probably offers the leisure seeker the highest G out there. In sports Luge riders can reach up to 5 times their bodyweight, and air racers hit 9G in tight turns.
The effects of any sustained G-force aren’t particularly fun – blackouts, tunnel vision, inability to move the limbs at all, unconsciousness and death are all possibilities. People believed that the human body could only take so much. One man set out to explore the limits of G tolerance, and in the process saved a huge number of lives by endangering his own.
Colonel John Stapp
Colonel John Stapp was a USAF flight surgeon who dedicated his career to transport safety. In the late 1940s he was assigned to the Aero Medical Laboratory’s most pressing research – the effects of deceleration on humans.
At the time it was assumed that no one could survive more than 18G and planes were being designed to this specification. Evidence gradually emerged that pilots were surviving higher G impacts only to be killed after the structural failure of their aircraft.
It became clear that research was necessary to measure what the human body could tolerate. The initial plan was to use a 13 stone dummy named Oscar Eightball, the reasoning being that if 18G was fatal it would be ridiculous to subject a live subject to anything approaching that.
Dr. Stapp inspected Oscar and announced that he had done the calculations and he himself would eventually be the test subject, despite warnings that he would be turned into a sack of jelly.
To simulate the forces in a crash a rocket sled was used. It was located at Muroc Army Air Field (now Edwards Air Force Base – the home of the X planes and The Right Stuff) on a track originally built to test captured V2 rocket motors.
The Gee Whiz
The sled was designed to replicate aircraft landing velocities followed by the violent deceleration of a crash. Rocket motors brought it up to 200 mph over a 2000 ft railed track and metal scoops plunged into water generated the effects of a sudden slow down.
In December 1947 after 35 test runs with Oscar, Stapp rode the rocket. His first ever run simulated 10G which he described as ‘exhilarating’. Over a period of time speeds and impacts increased and Stapp made a nonsense of existing theories, taking up to 35G, forcing designers to start making helmets, harnesses, seats and cockpits much stronger.
His list of injuries began to grow as the experiments progressed. He cracked collarbones, ribs, broke his wrist twice, burst blood vessles in his eyes and went temporarily blind on several occasions, but his dedication never wavered.
Research moved on to the effects of ejecting at high speeds during the 1950s and Stapp was once again the willing test subject. A new rocket sled named ‘Sonic Wind’ reached 632 mph and came to a dead stop in 1.4 seconds to replicate ejection at 1800 mph. Stapp experienced 46G and survived.
Stapp in action
He was soon dubbed ‘The Fastest Man on Earth’, ‘The Bravest Man in the Air Force’, around the base itself he was known as the ‘Careful Daredevil’, a B Movie was made about his exploits, but Stapp was only interested in using his newfound celebrity to push the issue of car safety as he realised his findings were just as applicable to the road.
By demonstrating to the Air Force that as many pilots were dying in car crashes as plane crashes, he persuaded them to build one of the very first car crash test facilities and it became a cause he dedicated the rest of his life to. He brought together manufacturers, legislators and researchers to act on his results and to this day the Stapp Car Crash Conference is one of the world’s leading forums in improving crash safety.
Next time you put on your seatbelt you know who to thank.
In these days of FMX madness it’s easy to forget that once upon a time there was a sports called Trials Riding. The sport itself seems to have been slightly lost in a wave of blaring music and roaring 250s, but its delicacy and skill make for an amazing watch.
Julien Dupont, is one of the people bringing new avenues to the sport. A French trials rider, he has has applied the Parkour art of traversing any obstacle to two wheels.
If you’re unsure as to how that manifests itself then here’s the man himself to demonstrate. He may pop up at an unlikely location near you soon.
