This Man Will Jump Out of a Plane With No Parachute

National Geographic ^ | PUBLISHED JULY 29, 2016 | By Andrew Bisharat

[granite]

Picture of Luke Akins during a training run View Images Luke Aikins is training his body to be able to maneuver through the unpredictability of the wind. PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDY FARRINGTON By Andrew Bisharat PUBLISHED JULY 29, 2016 Luke Aikins, 42, has deployed a parachute around 18,000 times over the last two and a half decades of his skydiving and BASE jumping career. But this Saturday, he’s going to find out if he can get away without one.

After two years of training, planning, and preparation, Aikins plans to jump out of a Cessna airplane at 25,000 feet (7,620 meters). With him will be a GPS, a communication device, and an oxygen tank. What he won’t have is a parachute, a wingsuit, or anything else that might help him stop or slow his descent.

“My whole life has been about air, aviation, flying, jumping, all that stuff,” said Aikins, a third-generation skydiver, during a television interview with Q13 FOX, the network broadcasting Aikins’ stunt, with a five-second delay, on July 30 at 8 p.m. ET (National Geographic Partners is a part of Fox Network Groups). “I’m out here to show that there are ways to do things that people think are insane and aren’t able to be done.”

As a TV audience tunes in to witness the spectacle—dubbed Heaven Sent and billed by the corporate sponsor and producer, Stride Gum, as the “most dangerous stunt ever shown live”—Aikins’ friends and family, including his wife, herself a skydiving instructor, and their four-year-old son will be on location..

[FES0844]

I agree. Selfish.

[TheNext]

Safe as an airplane so long as the stunt uses redundancy.

Then I will jump right after him at the right price.

[NYAmerican]

“Missed it by THAT MUCH”

I don’t think Max would have tried it. Remember, he had 99 waiting at home for him.

[trisham]

I don’t know. I don’t want to watch it.

[Balding_Eagle]

Thanks, I’m not sure that was the one I read about in the Readers Digest years ago.

I think the one I read about landed in a haystack.

‘Course it was a long time ago that I read it, longer than I care to admit!

[minnesota_bound]

So stupid. Parachutes were invented for a reason.

[Chickensoup]

What are the spears for, shish kebab?

[Molon Labbie]

No funeral necessary. He will bury himself when he augurs in. Very efficient.

This is what the Army calls a HANO Jumper...

[Hot Tabasco]

There was a segment on this this morning and what isn't stated in the article is that the stunt was performed either 25 or 250 times without error before it was approved by whatever agency approves stupidness............

So it ain't like he's never done it before..........

[Huskrrrr]

No problem, Wile E Coyote missed the net all the time and walked away.

[al baby]

"With him will be a GPS, a communication device, and an oxygen tank. I hope he didn't purchase his equipment from ACME Corporation."

Or the extended service plan

[Baynative]

"The net, dubbed the “Fly Trap,” is indeed designed to provide Aikins with that life-saving soft catch—assuming he actually strikes the 28-by-28-foot (8.5-by-8.5-meter) “sweet spot” in the center of the net. The net will be suspended between the tops of four 200-foot (61-meter) cranes. The netting itself is constructed from Spectra, a high-density polyethylene cord that is twice as strong as steel, but also completely inelastic. Once Aikins’ plummeting mass strikes the net, four compressed air cylinders, which are connected to the netting via ropes and pulleys, will slow Aikinsdown down in the same way that you might catch an egg in your hand—by decelerating it gently over a distance.

Aikins will wear an oxygen mask for the first 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) of descent, then pass it off to a member of his support team, who will be skydiving next to him (with a parachute, of course). Aikins will rely on two indicators to make certain he’s falling directly over the Fly Trap: his GPS and four specialized lights that will provide the visual confirmation that he’s on track to strike the sweet spot in the netting. When he’s around 200 feet (61 meters) above the netting—or, a little more than one second away from impact, as he’ll be falling at around 176 feet (53.6 meters) a second—Aikins will roll and tuck his chin, so that he lands on his back.

If he pulls this off, the next guys who try to outdo him will really be coming up with bizarre stuff. I wonder if anyone has jumped with no chute and guided themselves into another plane - a "catch plane" with a big side door.

[sailor76]

It’s been done before with a wingsuit and no GPS

I have made hundreds of jumps over many years (exact #s are classified! :)

This jump has been the talked about for a very long time...long time, but why was it never done before?

IMHO, until fairly recently, skydiving was inherently dangerous; but gear improvements over the last 25 years have made it safe. A friend of mine has made over 4,000 jumps and never had a malfunction. Secondly, nobody had the money to get a circus tent, or had the balls to try this jump.

My money says the guy will do it without breaking a sweat.

[Mr Apple]

"We have to do what we can while we can."

22 posted on July 29, 2016 at 5:59:30 AM CDT by Travis McGee

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To:
All Free Republic members -there is one Key thing we can all do to help Mr Trump win in November. And that is, every morning we all need to - - call in to C-span and if it's busy, keep trying. The program is called 'Washington Journal' (Cspan will have the Call In phone numbers -on the screen- right after they've spent a few minutes discussing the first topic for the morning)

When you get through the first thing you will hear is something like this:

"Cspan, where are you calling from?"
And then they'll probably say: "What do you have to say / or what is your question?" (just say you have comments about the coming election)

You'll then be placed on Hold and you'll be able to hear the live broadcast while you are on hold.

.Then, when it's your turn, they'll probably say this:
"Caller, what is your name and where are you calling from?"

And you tell them your state you live in.

Then they'll ask you "...what is your question this morning?"

- ....you can start by saying something like this:

"For everything having to do with politics and the coming election, I log on to freerepublic.com".
(make sure to pronounce free republic.com slowly and speak slowly) - -

Then you can say: I'm voting for Trump because....(and elaborate about Mr Trump and how you like his plan for this or that, etc.)
You'll probably be allowed about 2 minutes to talk.

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It's all that simple. No big deal. :)

From 1999-2001 we fr members back then were constantly calling C-span and after redialing a couple times, we were all easily able to get through three to four times each month during those two years. (so that was about 12 calls in to Cspan by fr members each month back then)

And unlike back in those early days, there are now no long distance charges. You can call while having coffee, while sitting in your backyard, while watching tv, while walking down the sidewalk, etc.

If enough fr members call Cspan in the mornings, many of us should easily be able to get through.

And like Travis McGee has stated above:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> "We have to do what we can while we can."

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Cspan call in lines are open every morning 6AM to 9AM EST
(Mr Robinson, if I'm out of line by posting this Sir, I'll stop immediately)

[Mr Apple]

(no comments on my Cspan idea are needed here, just wanting for everyone to see this, thank you)

[RetiredTexasVet]

And if he fails .... will he try it again? /s/

[Riley]

As soon as his airplane takes off, his jerk friends will replace the net with a giant trampoline.

[central_va]

One of the crane operators will go on strike.

[Mr Apple]

Secondly, nobody had the money to get a circus tent

Do you think he can land within the borders of the net?

[Strac6]

If he tries this in US, their is actually an FAR against jumping from an A/C without a parachute!