Former Navy Seal Andy Stumpf, from San Diego, California, set out to break the world record for absolute distance covered in a wingsuit jump, which includes the distance traveled after the chute has opened. And he did it with flying American colors! The previous winged flight record was held by Shin Ito from Japan, who in 2012, traveled 17.83 miles before touching down. Well, Andy Stumpf bested that record by gliding for seven minutes to cover 18.26 miles, and in the process, he raised one million dollars for the Survivor Support Foundation which provides vital services to families of fallen warriors.
The amazing thing about this jump is that Andy had only been doing wingsuit flights since January. For Stumpf though, it was more about the fundraising target than it was about breaking the world record. When the opportunity arose to raise funding and bring attention to his beloved charity, he began intense training for a record-breaking attempt. With the help of Skullcandy CEO, Hoby Darling, Stumpf performed mini-jumps in order to fine tune the mechanics of the flight. Fitted with sensors, his level of oxygen saturation and heart rate were monitored, to give him a systematic approach in targeting fatigue points in his body.
From an incredible starting point of 36,500 feet, Stumpf glided at 140 mph, in frigid troposphere air, where the temperature can be around 60 degrees below zero. The jump was extremely successful. Watch the full video below for this record breaking wingsuit flight in action! With hard work and a worthy cause, you never know what you can achieve.
To support Andy and his mission you can donate at GoFundMe.com
