Skydiving Without A Parachute

I heard about this on the radio this morning. Fucking stupid. If I were a betting man, I would think at the last second he realizes how dumb he's being.
 
Vesna Vulović - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vesna Vulović; born ca. 1950 is a Serbian former flight attendant. She holds the distinction of being the world record holder, according to the Guinness Book of Records, for surviving the highest fall without a parachute: 10,160 metres (33,333 ft).
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Other People that have fallen.
Ivan Chisov, Soviet Air Force Lieutenant who fell from his Ilyushin Il-4 bomber in 1942
Alan Magee, American, World War II airman who survived a 22,000-foot (6,700 m) fall from his damaged B-17F Flying Fortress in 1943
Nicholas Alkemade, British Avro Lancaster gunner who fell from his burning aircraft in 1944
Juliane Koepcke, sole survivor of LANSA Flight 508 Lockheed Electra break up who fell for about 3 km (1.9 mi) into the Amazon rainforest in 1971
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He's not the first to jump without a chute. That's been done numerous times though they all either acquired a chute in midair or were strapped to someone for deployment. He's also not the first to land without a chute. A Brit did it a few years ago with a wingsuit, landing in a huge pile of cardboard boxes. Unless the FAA is granting him a waiver he's obligated to jump with a TSO certified rig w/ some type of main and a TSO certified reserve. He would be the first to use a net and IF he has no parachute he'd be the first to land without a rig on his back.

Aikins is a beast, no doubt about that, but "first" needs some qualifications. The initial story I saw yesterday made it sound like he was breaking ground. At least the OP's link clarifies that it is the first into a net, not overall.

They've tested it and worked it out. There's obviously some risk, but he has the skill and experience to pull this off. I think it was Mark Hewitt who made the first skydive (not BASE jump) into Mexico's Cave of the Swallows. He dropped a dummy or two from a helo and both hit the edge of the cave. He said "screw it" and jumped successfully. Point is, even drop tests aren't 100% indicative of the actual results.
 
Florida173 said:
Vesna Vulović - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Other People that have fallen.
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Freaky stuff. Hopefully he has more than surviving as an objective. A lot of people survive stuff but they eat from straws.

It'll be interesting to see what equipment he actually has; ie how he steers, etc. especially as he approaches the target. He'll be at 118 mph +/- coming into the net. That's a bit different than lining up an approach under canopy.
 
Blizzard said:
It'll be interesting to see what equipment he actually has; ie how he steers, etc. especially as he approaches the target. He'll be at 118 mph +/- coming into the net. That's a bit different than lining up an approach under canopy.
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Pure speculation? I'd expect a tracking suit or standard freeflying suit if a wingsuit isn't used.
 
Ooh-Rah said:
Not really sure why this is a discussion - the great documentary, Point Break demonstrates non-parachute flying technique very well!
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A good friend of mine owned a DZ at that time and said the number of students blew up after the movie. Trivia: Patrick Swayze did his own jumps. He was still jumping as late as 1998. His brother is/ was a stuntman who was seriously injured in a BASE jump.

Blue skies.

P.S. The remake sucks monkey balls, harder than @pardus towards the end of the month.
 
lindy said:
Isn't skydiving without a parachute simply called falling?
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It depends on whether you make an attempt at style, i.e., gliding to your death with some semblance of aplomb; or screaming your lungs out as you tumble out of control.
 
Freefalling said:
I haven't jumped since 2007, but I think he'll live.
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I guess in more depth, (and I've never jumped) I am trying to determine how he can plan on being so accurate with no chute and no wing suit to guide him. Not a whole lot of room for error, and at that speed, what happens if he somehow lands feet or head first. Crazy.
 
Ooh-Rah said:
I guess in more depth, (and I've never jumped) I am trying to determine how he can plan on being so accurate with no chute and no wing suit to guide him. Not a whole lot of room for error, and at that speed, what happens if he somehow lands feet or head first. Crazy.
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A person can generate a bunch of forward movement, more so with something like a tracking suit. There's also math involved for something like this for the wind drift, throw of the airplane, etc. I seriously doubt he'll do the Mk 1 Mod 0 eyeball spotting like we used to do. As for controlling his body, that's "Easier" than you think. "Easy" for an experienced jumper, not so much for low time jumpers. He can probably make his body do whatever he wants and fly in any position he chooses. You'd be surprised at how much control one has in the sky.
 

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