@DocHoliday: From the looks of that design it looks like they might have gone with Option #2. Those things sticking up on the ramp are some kind of launch arms right?

kevjohn

I have done this (scale models) 2 ways. You can use a breakaway ramp at the edge that launches the front wheels up then collapses so when the rear passes over it is flatter giving the back a more forward trajectory. The same principal applies to a vehicle mod where the front wheels are not in a line with the rear so each set of wheels can launch off different angled ramps.
I wonder if a lowrider with a powerful enough hydraulic kit could launch the front end?

DocHoliday

Am I in the minority hear that thinks that if he doesn't make it it won't be good television.

I can hardly watch replay footage of Jake Brown, and he is back on a board.

Hell, I can hardly watch the old Joe Theismann footage, so what do I know.

92BuickLeSabre

He's not drinking Red Bull, he's drinking Red Balls (Chapelle Show).

fsusmithc2

Wow i cant wait!!!! will it be LIVe on the internet also?!?!? Cant wait to see this maniac fail miserably, or accomplish something astonishing. ;)

Simpsons-Movie-ruled

Didn't you guys already cover this story? [gizmodo.com]

Hiphopopotamus

He so CRAZAY!

Guess I'll have to tune in.

strider_mt2k

Wow. I can only aspire to have the testicular fortitude that dude has.
Sure makes climbing mountains seem like kiddie tricks.

s017jrs

Neat trick...

Turning your spine into a broomstick.

DustyButt

HUGE HUGE BALLS

adrunkenmonkey

I wonder what the Geico rate is on that truck :). The RedBull Flugtag [www.redbullflugtagusa.com] is the most incredibly fun thing ever.

froggy

@strider_mt2k: Going old school with the "Way Out Space Nuts" reference.

EBone

"I said lunch not launch!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

strider_mt2k

Any way you want to calculate the physics of the jump take off, he has to have some sort of landing ramp. If he's thinking about landing on solid ground, whether he lands on the buggy's wheels or roof will probably make no difference. The injuries sustained from that kind of impact will most likely be fatal.

And his giant balls will probably explode.

EBone

I don't think the problem is with the launch, since that can probably be achieved with a proper ramp. But I think landing correctly is going to be the main problem (isn't that always the case?).

Usually you would shift your weight forward as you approach the landing to come out of the flip, but with a truck your weight is negligible, so that no matter where you move in the truck it's still going to continue spinning. What's going to happen is that the truck will just continue to flip backwards and crash pretty badly.

indy360

somebody just doesn't want to live in 2008

Sunatic

@m4ximusprim3: I was thinking they jerk the front wheels skyward and the back wheels could continue along on the regular ramp. In my vision the front wheelbase is wider than the rear.

kevjohn

@kevjohn: You think those arms actually launch the back wheels?

I would imagine that if it was mistimed at all, things could go all wiley-e-coyote on them in a hurry.

m4ximusprim3

I want to write Rhys off as a dumbass for attempting this but part of me wishes I had a set of cojones like that

Munch

"You have balls. I like balls."


There are some driving skills involved when it comes to flying through the air with a fullsized vehicle. By gassing and breaking the driver can actualy stablize and correct the car midair. This is achieved by the spinning and stopping of the tires.


On another note. How does one practice for this sort of stunt?

j4sk868

This story has generated a disturbing interest in sack size.

frigg

Oh, sorry.

balls!

strider_mt2k

If I had balls this big... well, I'd probably be dead by now. Good luck to Rhys though - I hope he lands it.

acarr260

Some people on this planet just have a death wish. I'd say please let them. 6 billion on this planet, we can spare a few.

jabber

No respect from me. The reason why backflips on all the other forms of transportation is actually ballsy is because there is a significant chance that the machine lands on you - theres no protective rollframe. Even if this guy lands wrong, if he's properly strapped in (and his safety apparatus is well designed), he's not going to get hurt. And on top of that it isnt taking physical strength or coordination to actually do the flip - the ramp will do it for him! He might as well test the flip remotely with a equally weighted dummy in the drivers seat until he gets it right, then hang on for the ride.

Minotaar

LONG LIVE THE KIWIS!!!!

nuttykiwi

Attention Emergency Rooms across the land…ready yourselves for a swarm of ball-busting copy-cat compound fractures brought to you by Mountain Dew and Extreme!!11!1one!1! Doritos. > insert wicked fast guitar solo here <

Frank

Seems like Red Bull is really reaching to stay an "Extreme" brand. I don't their marketing team will be happy until they actually start killing people. What's next? The Red Bull Russian Roulette contest or how about Red Bull Extreme Executions? I agree with EBONE, if that truck lands cage first on the dirt that guy will be severely injured or dead.

matt448

man, if you wanna kill your self just jump thru the 3ist floor building

amiash

I don't understand the insistence that he's got gigantic balls. Usually, when people do something that's incredibly stupid, it's because they have a tiny/damaged brain.


Not the same at all!

HitScan

@Minotaar: Minotaur, I'm going to have to disagree with you. I cannot think of a safety harness or system that is going to protect the occupant of that vehicle from impact-shock caused internal injuries and compound fractures severe enough to cause death should the stunt be designed to land the vehicle on solid ground.

The only thing that would offer the occupant protection is some form of ramp on the other end to land on that would allow the vehicle to decelerate. If not a ramp, then landing in water or perhaps collapsible cardboard boxes similar to ones used on stunts on Fear Factor.

EBone

If their is a passenger seat, I want in. :S

Shane

Ace Ventura: "Lets see that, in an action replay!"

aelver

its stunts like this that make me happy I have a DVR.

bobide

@EBone: Landing in water = BAD NEWS!!!

j4sk868

Some people just don't get over their Hotwheels jump set.

The best stunts aren't stunts, but well choreographed and rehearsed. This doesn't mean things may not go wrong, but they have the highest chance of not going wrong, and if they do go wrong, they provide the greatest chance for survival of the monkeyoid.

If all this guy is doing is building a ramp, moding a truck and driving it, he's an idiot.

DeadWriter

@Sunatic: That is JUST *NOT* TRUE AT ALL> he wants to die a few moments into 2008.

oo0cyst0oo

The interesting thing about this stunt is that rectangular prismatic objects flip neatly on their longest axis, and their shortest axis, but not their middle axis.

Try this with your phone, or a video cassette, or whatever you can find. Throw it up in the air, trying to flip it on its different axes. You will see it behave oddly on the middle-length axis.

A car will roll well, i.e., like a barrel roll, and it will spin well (like a car spinning out), whether on the ground or in the air.

But if you do a front or a back flip in a car (or with your phone), the physics makes it want to start twisting in addition to doing the back flip.

I wonder if they are adding weight to the truck (like a really heavy bench seat?) to make it spin cleanly?

raeraerae

@92BuickLeSabre:
"Hell, I can hardly watch the old Joe Theismann footage"

Dude, you are really dating yourself there....
I remember when that happened, they showed the replay 10 or 15 times, and the sound!!!!
That was what put it over the top for me, the sound of that leg snapping is the stuff of nightmares

godwhacker

Looks like the "arms" might swing around and hit the rear wheels after the truck launches... Something will have to give the truck some spin, otherwise it's just going to plow into the ground rear end first, or maybe on it's roof. It's not like a motorcycle where you can affect the bike by pulling on the handle bars or gunning the engine. I hope his seat is well padded ;-)

xj_4x4

@ajile: or NEED FOR MADNESS FTW!!!

ajile

Actually I heard somewhere that when stunt drivers do the jumps on ramps they control the car using angular momentum, To increase the car's angle to the ground they increase the throttle, and to lower the front of the car they apply the brakes. With a specially modified ramp and some precision timing with braking and throttling, he might actually do it.....wooooooooooot

ajile

I kinda wish he wouldn't make it.. but that means I would wish a madman to get either killed or totally having his life ruined, so I wont wish for that... instead, I wish for "good TV" (everyone decides for themselves what that means)

Bash_

have you ever heard of Dominique Julienne. He was the first to attempt this years ago. He could have made it if he had split the cable connected to the car to prevent it from twisting.

[www.youtube.com]

ugh138