Here's a video of my first jumps in the spacesuit. It's a Russian high altitude Mig pilot's suit. The jumps were done at Hinton Parachute Centre in the UK. My thanks to Dougie, Geoff and Eammon for their help in making this happen. Also big thanks to Dave and Matt at Point Zero Rigging for their help, advice and modifications to the kit to make it jumpable.
The great difficulty in this suit is to keep the helmet from lifting up in freefall. After a foam inner chin pad that Dave made me it became a bit easier but still meant pressing my chin into the front of the helmet to keep in from moving. A strap was fitted to hold it down, as originally designed on this helmet. The original retainer strap was a skydiving hazard wih spring clips behind the helmet just waiting to catch stray rigging lines... so we cut it off. The new system means the helmet is attached to my waist belt making it very difficult to arch properly and relax in freefall.
This is exactly the kind of training and kit shake down that I'll be doing from now on to ensure the maximum possible preparation for the high altitude jumps.
Big thanks to one of the world's leading skydiving cameramen Andy Ford for shooting this great footage. Find out more about Andy Ford here www.infiniteskydiving.com
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