World's largest human catapult unveiled in Slovenia

The world's largest human catapult has been built in Slovenia, launching two Red Bull BASE jumpers to 180 km/h in 2.15 seconds.

The launch took place on 5 November from Europe's tallest chimney, the 360-metre Trbovlje chimney. The athletes set two Guinness World Records during the project.

The participants were Frenchman Fred Fugen and Spaniard Dani Román. To launch them, a special 60-metre catapult designed by the Slovenian team of stunt performers and engineers DD Squad was installed at the top of the chimney.

The athletes accelerated from zero to 180 km/h in just 2.15 seconds, then left the launch capsule and kept flying vertically upwards. After reaching the highest point and experiencing a brief moment of weightlessness, they went into free fall, then opened their parachutes and landed safely.

As a result, Dani Román set the record for the greatest height reached by a person launched from a catapult: 100.36 metres. During their joint launch, the athletes also set a record for the greatest combined height of 151.72 metres, with Román reaching 75.97 metres and Fugen 75.75 metres.

The catapult was designed specifically for this project. It is built around a two-tonne multi-spring system capable of producing acceleration of up to 4.2 G. Building it inside the Trbovlje chimney took about two months.

Preparations for the launch took two and a half years. The first tests were carried out on a small catapult over water, after which the team used six-metre structures as part of the Ultimate Aerial Obstacle Course project. Later, a 12-metre version was built and tested on the Sass Pordoi mountain pass in Italy. These stages helped prepare the athletes for the loads of the final launch.

According to DD Squad CEO Gašper Novak, the main goal in designing the structure was not simply maximum power, but a controlled launch and the safety of the athletes.

Dani Román said that at the start the athletes first feel a powerful acceleration and then keep rising. At the highest point, the motion seems to slow down for a moment, and then the fall begins.

Fred Fugen noted that being launched from a catapult of this scale was a completely new experience, and that the skills they had built up and their trust in the engineering team helped them cope with it.