GOOD TO THE LAST DROP VETERAN STUNTMAN TRIES TRIPLE-THREAT FALL FROM A 20-STORY TOWER.

Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer

BOB BROWN looks like a pretty cool customer, considering he's about to be set on fire and then jump 20 stories out a high-rise building.

The veteran stuntman, who gives his age as ``43 going on 90,'' is getting ready for a world-record stunt, involving a never-before-attempted combination of fire, height and bursting through a safety-glass window. Pacing the stone courtyard of a Woodland Hills office complex, Brown watches the preparation of the 25-foot-wide Brand X air bag that will be his target.

Unlike most film sets, where dozens are idle for long periods, everything here is in motion. Camera operators on the roof and in various window and platform positions check their pivots, ensuring smooth, steady tracking of their blazing subject.

A team of four in protective gear runs drills with stopwatches, obsessed with shaving split seconds off the time it takes them to mount the 14-foot-high bag with fire extinguishers, in case Brown cannot roll off as planned. Six seconds. Can they do it a little quicker?

Now sitting off to the side in a director's chair, Brown sips an energy drink. His wife, Marta, comes over and gives him a kiss and a long embrace. ``I just want to get it done,'' she says, noting that strong winds have already forced a delay.

With scattered nervous applause, Brown heads into the building. The ambulance parked nearby is open, and paramedics have brought a stretcher out.

A short time later, Brown heaves a sandbag from a window three floors below the 210-foot position he'll use. Camera operators pan down with it, and it hits the X on the bag perfectly. That's a big improvement over the one that bounced off and hit the pavement in an earlier test during a gust.

Stunt work like this is a science. With a series of measurements and calculations of arc and velocity, the air bag's position has been worked out precisely by Brown's longtime friend and colleague, Jon Epstein. A stuntman - even an experienced stunt coordinator like Brown - leaves the planning to another expert so he can focus on his own role.

Brown, winner of three world high-diving championships, has been practicing for weeks on a training tower in Moorpark. Because he's falling 20 floors, a one-foot discrepancy on takeoff would result in a huge error on landing. He will appear to be flailing, but his movements are carefully planned rotations to keep the fire out of his eyes and th He admits that feats like this one - which will be his swan song of really high falls - are frightening.

``I'm the living physics project,'' he says. ``If you look around, there are tape marks everywhere. We do a lot of work, so when I go through that window, my percentages of living are really darn good. Because I don't want to get killed. I want to see my kids and everything. I'm terrified of this stuff. I just know if I do my job I can pull it off.''

Brown moves to the jump room. The regular glass has been replaced with darkened safety glass that will not cut him but will shatter effectively when he bolts through it.

Inside the vacant office, the walls, floor and ceiling are draped in protective fabric to keep the flames from catching there. Brown asks an assistant for a broom to remove some excess grit from the ramp leading to the window ledge.

He peels off his yellow pants and T-shirt to get into his costume. On his bicep is a Brand X tattoo, less an advertisement than a thank-you for the makers of that air bag. Across his back is a larger image - two adult birds and three chicks, symbolizing his family. ``They'll be flying with me,'' he says.

His assistants in the room already have on their fire-safe suits as they help Brown get into his. His wiry frame keeps him from looking like a gorilla in all those layers: special long underwear that had been soaked in a fire repellent, a snug-fitting rain suit to keep the repellent from being wicked to the outside and snuffing the flames, a Nomex black suit, a full hood, a mask and a wig.

Brown must be mentally ready to go before he gets dressed or he could face what they call the ``lobster'' effect: He would sweat heavily, and the fire would make the perspiration boil.

Marta stands alone on steps about 30 feet from the air bag. She's surrounded by good friends, but she does not really want a comforting arm around her shoulder right now.

Walkie-talkies blare last-minute communications. Whoever is using a flash camera, please stop. Bob doesn't want people watching from the adjacent rooftop.

Then, from inside the building, ``He's lit, he's lit!''

Brown waits between five seconds and an eternity for the fire to spread over his clothing, then sprints up the ramp to the window.

The glass shatters. The flames fan out around him like wings. He's falling. ...

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Stuntman Bob Brown checks the view from his high-dive platform in a Warner Center building. The stunt he performed - jumping through the window after lighting himself on fire - was taped for the World Stunt Awards on ABC.

(2 -- color) Brown checks the approach ramp.

(3 -- color) His protective gear gets an examination.

(4 -- color) Brown dons a fireproof jumpsuit.

(5 -- cover -- color) Lit afire, Bob Brown takes the plunge.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer