14 
Surely by now you’ve heard someone say “Man, with balls that big, I’m surprised Felix Baumgartner even fit into that capsule.” You can’t deny it, he’d need some serious balls jumping from the stratosphere is just as insane and frightening as it is awesome.
But maybe some you of think “frightening” and “insane” is actually “exhilarating” and “something I totally want to do.” So, that being the case, what would it take for you plunge to Earth at supersonic speeds? Would someone have to pay you a million pounds? Would you pay someone a million pounds? If given the option of jumping or dying in the fetal position, I think I’d reluctantly choose the latter. How many of you out there think you would have the guts to try it?
Thought-Controlled Quadcopter Takes to the Skies
Freesat's Taking Sky and YouView Head-On With the Help of Netflix
First Ever British-Born Drone "Mantis" Takes to UK Skies
I definitely think that I would go for it!
I imagine a similar scenario to when I did a bungee jump. I wanted to jump but my hands would not let go of the rails, eventually I just asked for a push. Obviously it adds complications too the mission if they have to send a second person up just to push the first one off. Maybe snap off handrails and a retracting step could be built in instead.
Me and Mrs Guppy were strapped together for our bungee jump, so I had to haul her off too. She reckons she wouldn’t have done it on her own, I’m not sure how I would’ve reacted if I was on my own.
I’m always up for crazy stuff once though, it’s when it become a habit (like wreck diving) that I start to get to get the heebie jeebies, because I know that things don’t tend to go wrong for the first timers, it’s the guys who have done it hundreds of times before; maybe the kit is getting old, maybe the safety checks are getting a bit cursory, maybe it’s overconfidence, maybe it’s just over-exposure to the the dangers that makes them statistically more probable to have an incident…
Look on the brightside then, you are unlikely to get to do this kind of jump so many times that it becomes a habit.
Also, re: you and Mrs Guppy. Were you face to face, back to back or some other combination?
Face to face, It was a Lover’s Leap wedding present from the people I worked with.
In the end, it was all a bit Errol Flynn, as we were trussed up and pitched over board…
was this before or after the wedding, not a good start to the marriage if one of you is screaming/vomiting/wetting yourself in fear over the other.
True dat. It was given to us before the wedding (I think, or maybe it was on the wedding day), in any case, I managed to stay dignified on that particular occasion and it was months later before I revealed to my new wife that I had it in me to jump off a crane with her tied on…
I was pretty scared doing mine too. Took maybe 20 mins before hand to decide to do it before strapped up. Coming to do it I waited after him to countdown a 2nd time and you’re meant to fall forward but I kinda jumped off instead
. It was in a nice location though. As for if I’d do what he did… I’m not sure, maybe for a LOT of money and drugged, lol.
I’d do it (and if someone wanted to give me a million pounds that would be fine with me).
In my head I would love to do it, but my brain’s survival function kicks in and tells me there is no way in hell it would allow me to jump.
I would love to go up in the capsule though and see the view for myself. That I could do.
I agree, I would love to do it, but deep down I think I would chicken out!
I would seriously pay to do this. I was on the edge of my seat throughout the whole thing, it was absolutely incredible to watch.
Drugs. Lots and lots of drugs.
Did I mention drugs?
id love to do it, i would say id do it tomorrow but then id probably die due to no having the 1st clue how to recover from a spin or how to fly a parachute, felix has many years experience behind him, but yeah i love stuff that scares the crap out of me
Years of training and a lot of expensive equipment.
Hell yeah. Teach me how to do it and pay for all the (ridiculously expensive) stuff I’d need and I’ll jump out of space all day long.
In principal I would do something like this, but it takes skill to pull of a jump like that. When he was tumbling down, spinning in all directions, at 700mph, that’s probably when it took all his skill to pull out of that spin, and I’m sure most sky divers couldn’t do that.
I think it’d be far easier to jump than some may think as at that altitude there is so little sense of scale. Having said that though I would still make a large mess in my space suit once I realised the full impact of breaking the sound barrier with my face.
I’d need to be on the verge of suicide to do this. As much as I think it would be awesome and would love to do it I am a born p***y and would chicken out. Like someone else mentions, most peoples survival instincts wouldn’t let them do this.
i would LOVE to..
it would take my life!