Posted on 07/30/2016 2:50:28 PM PDT by 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..
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalgeographic.com ...
Could be the ultimate, “hold my beer and watch this.”
Good luck guy.
5.56mm
Well, if he doesn’t get it just right bet he wont try it again.
Well when he’s fired from the Cowboys, he has a bright future as the St. Joe’s Mascot.
I saw a documentary about people who “fly” with wingsuits. They all seemed to expect to die pursuing this “sport”.
I don’t think he’s considered the gravity of the situation.
It’s been done before with a wingsuit and no GPS https://youtu.be/c2yDAiwfsrA
Never encourage people who try to get attention performing dangerous stunts - it only drives them on to more dangerous stunts, and quite frankly seeing an idiot indulge his idiocy is only entertaining up to a certain point.
Ted Cruz?
Hey Pal, if you’re really that bored with life, and want to re-invent yourself again, there are other less drastic ways to approach it. Plenty of divorce lawyers around. I think the Peace Corps is still in existence. I would be sad if my spouse told me this is what they wanted to do.
You could train people to teach others. You could even buy a puppy, a parakeet or even a plane of your own.
Something’s dreadfully wrong if you need this much action before you feel any sort of excitement. Get yourself checked out for long term depression.
What Cessna has a service ceiling of 25,000 or higher?
Yes.
From what I understand, he will attempt to land in a dumpster full of cardboard boxes.
I read on an aviation blog that the FAA is making him wear one
three days after impact
I want to hear about this afterwards.
Big deal, I’ve jumped out of a Cessna without a parachute before... of course it was parked on the ground at the time.
Well, they make jets and turboprops don't they?
Trisham, I thought that too. Some kind of emotional sadism going on here.
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