Croatian Plane Wreck

Soon Andy is heading out to Croatia with his friend and underwater cameraman Rich Stevenson to complete a photo project on a B-17 Flying Fortress airplane sunk off the Croatian coast.

Real Quidditch

During summer 2018 Andy will be putting together a team of expert skydiver and jumping out of a plane over Devon to attempt to play a game of real Quidditch just like in the Harry Potter films.

He’ll also be filming it for the BBC’s The One Show.

Underwater 360/VR Film

Andy is working with underwater cameraman Rich Stevenson to produce an underwater 360/VR film using a specialist filming rig and lighting system. They want to allow people to have an immersive experience in the sorts of environments they can’t normally reach. From inside deep shipwrecks to flooded mine systems and underwater caves.

The filming is on-going though 2018.

Blue Abyss

This pioneering centre will be the most comprehensive deep sea and space research, training and test facility of its kind in the world, unmatched in its breadth of configuration. Blue Abyss’ primary function is to enable extreme environment development, both human and robotic, ranging from the offshore energy industry through to the growing human spaceflight sector and adventure tourism.
Blue Abyss is scheduled to be fully operational in 2019.

Andy has been supporting and consulting for Blue Abyss since 2014 when it seemed to most as only the crazy dream of Founder and now CEO John Vickers. But Andy  spotted something visionary, bold and important. He could also recognise the determination and relentless work ethic of John from their first meeting.

To Find out more go to Blue Abyss

Speed Skydiving World Series 2018

This year Andy will be competing in the ISSA World Speed Skydiving Series.

The competition is run over 4 events, in Portugal, Germany, Italy and the UK and requires competitors to jump from a plane at 13,000 feet and dive, head-first as fast as they can towards the Earth. Their average speed is calculate between 2700 m 8858 ft (2.7km) and ending at 5577 ft (1.7km) above the ground.  There are a number of jumps taken over 3 days at each event.

UK’s Deepest Shore Dive

This summer Andy will attempt to complete the UK’s deepest shore dive. He is currently looking at 3 different locations around Britain, pouring over sea charts and surveys, in order to decide the best option.

It will see him dive over 130 metres deep to carry out some basic survey and recording of the seafloor and the biodiversity at that depth.

More updates to come.

Oceanworks ADS Hardsuit

The Oceanworks ADS Hardsuit is looks like an armoured spacesuit and acts like a wearable submarine. It allows the diver to spend up to 12 hours at 610m of depth without the need to decompress.

Andy had the chance to train on the suit out in Vancouver, Oceanworks base of operations, while he was filmed for his BBC series Beyond Bionic.

He has ideas and plans to use the suit for more film and scientific work in the near future.

The Training Shed

This timber-framed building, roofed using reclaimed slate from the renovation of his own house is Andy’s gym, gymnastics, martial arts and ropes training area and (eventually – hopefully by the end of 2020) bouldering wall.

Rocket Boots

As part of the first series of Beyond Bionic Andy had an idea to get even faster while Speed Skydiving with the use of external power. He tasked two engineer friends, Dr Angelo Grubisic and Mike Curtis-Rouse to create a system.

After an initial trial with jet-powered rocket boots, then jet-powered thigh mounts the team, which included senior skydivers from Skydive Buzz in Dunkeswell, eventually decided on thigh mounted EDF (Electric Duct Fans). These may not sound impressive but are effectively electric turbine engines and can generate some serious power.

Andy jumped these prototype engines, a world first, on his Beyond Bionic show. The system worked but there is always room for improvement and the team are currently working at ways to improve things to generate more power and control and discussing other applications.

Masters in Archaeology

Perhaps on a conventional project by Andy’s normal standards but he began studying in his ‘spare time’ for a Masters in Archaeology through the Distance Learning Programme at the University of Leicester. The course will take two years to complete and he hopes to write his dissertation on something as-yet un-studied due to the difficulty of the site to access so he can bring his other skills in diving and climbing to bear on the subject.