Rex Pemberton holds tightly to the grab bar above the helicopter cabin door. His feet are firmly planted on the skid below as the rotor blade screams just inches above his head. Beneath him, 10,000 feet of air to the sandy scrub of the Baja desert beckons below. The carbon-fiber wing attached to Rex’s back transforms him into a human rocket, and for all intents and purposes, he is. “I had to pinch myself a thousand times before I jumped out of the helicopter,” says Pemberton. “I asked myself, ‘What the hell are you about to do?’ It was ridiculous. It’s like you’re flying your own body.”
Rex is feeling good and he’s ready to go. His gut is telling him everything is OK. But he doesn’t always feel this way. A year ago, just as he was about to leap ...
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