Brisbane wingsuit man Luke Rogers aims high as he plummets to Earth
Updated
Luke Rogers says hurtling toward the ground at speeds of up to 300 kilometres per hour is the ultimate adrenaline rush.
"Basically what we're trying to do is in a 1,000-foot zone we see who can go the fastest, who can go the furthest and who can stay in the window the longest," he said.
The 35-year-old Brisbane soil technician, who quit his day job to become a professional wingsuit competitor, is tipped to become an Australian champion at next week's national titles.
He is one of 200 competitors heading to Perth next week for the National Parachuting Championships.
Mr Rogers started wingsuiting in 2015 and spent the past 12 months training with the world's best in the United States.
"It's akin to watching aircraft go through the sky — we really do match through the sky and it'll be something spectacular to see.
Robert Libeau from the Australia Parachute Federation said a range of disciplines would be on show during the national titles, including free-flying and wingsuiting.
"It takes a little bit to learn what to do, especially when you're flying at speeds of 250 to 260 kilometres per hour," he said.
"Getting the moves right and understanding how your body moves and how flight works, it's a pretty speccy thing to do.
"It's not just a bucket list thing, you can actually skydive for a hobby, you can have fun with it and there are career opportunities."
The Gold Coast recently won the right to host the World Parachuting Championships next year.
Mr Rogers said he hoped the international event would encourage more people to take up the sport.
"It's just going to be out of control because we're going to have the best of the best in the world come over to the Gold Coast and it's going to be a massive event," he said.
"You've got all these guys coming in that are going to show world-class skydiving and it's going to boost the tourism over here.
"It's just going to be the biggest thing since sliced bread for us guys in Australia."
Topics: people, clubs-and-associations, travel-and-tourism, brisbane-4000, surfers-paradise-4217, perth-6000
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