Nutter of the week

[Alf W]

BBC News - Gary Connery to jump from helicopter without parachute

A stuntman is preparing to leap from a helicopter at a height of 2,400 ft - without using a parachute.

Gary Connery, from Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, will attempt the stunt this week, weather permitting, wearing a specially developed wingsuit.

The 42-year-old will make the jump above Ridge Wood in Buckinghamshire and land in an area containing a stack of 18,600 cardboard boxes.

"No one has ever attempted this before, but I will do it," he said.

This is going to end in tears.

[OwlHoot]

BBC News - Gary Connery to jump from helicopter without parachute


This is going to end in tears.

goo

[doodab]

Mr Connery, who will have an emergency parachute in case the stunt doesn't go to plan, admitted to feeling "scared" ahead of all his jumps.

"It's part of what keeps you safe."

I don't think he's completely stupid.

[BrilloPad]

I have met him once and spoken with him on the phone a couple of times. Tremendous amount of bottle - he will be fine.

[wim121]

This is going to end in tears.

Why?

He has a reserve chute in case anything goes wrong. Wingsuits nowadays are very advanced and can slow someone almost as well as a small parachute, well that is up to debate of course.

[TimberWolf]

...gliding speed down to 50mph and his vertical falling speed to 15mph

That's almost into roller-skate landing territory (15mph is like falling from a height of 2.2m), which would be very cool. Motorcyclists manage to skid pretty well to a stop from a lesser height just sliding on their arse. Still, plummeting headlong into cardboard boxes is a very promising start.

Also, it would be tempting to add a little bit of mechanical support to the wing allowing it to have a larger surface area than available with outstretched limbs. That may seem a cheat, taking it into hang glider, etc territory, but you can't realistically bail out of an plane wearing a hang glider.

[OwlHoot]

If a wingsuit is as good as that, and not too bulky, it would be handy to have under your desk if you were based at a clientco in a skyscraper and worried about a repeat of 9/11 or Towering Inferno etc.

Mind you, even if the suit curbs most of the vertical velocity, gliding along a street at 50 MPH when not surrounded by a car seems pretty dangerous in itself.

[TimberWolf]

If a wingsuit is as good as that, and not too bulky, it would be handy to have under your desk if you were based at a clientco in a skyscraper and worried about a repeat of 9/11 or Towering Inferno etc.

Mind you, even if the suit curbs most of the vertical velocity, gliding along a street at 50 MPH when not surrounded by a car seems pretty dangerous in itself.

A small emergency parachute would be safer. The guy wasn't kidding when he said "Everything to do with the jump is about precision and timing". He's got to flare at exactly the right moment or it's literally his 'terminal' velocity. Plus he using cardboard boxes.

Almost tempting to think it's just a stunt, one of those where the intention is to fail all along and get publicity, but this guy appears to have track record in actually doing stuff. I think he's the one we CUKers watched the other Moon flying down a mountain side, seemingly skimming over ridges.

[Alf W]

About an hour away. Wonder if Sky News are going to show it live.

Wingman: British Stuntman Gary Connery To Skydive Without Parachute | Strange News | Sky News

[TimberWolf]

About an hour away. Wonder if Sky News are going to show it live.

Wingman: British Stuntman Gary Connery To Skydive Without Parachute | Strange News | Sky News

Thanks for the heads up. This is of some interest, insane and a milestone moment if it works out, fingers crossed.

How do you know it's an hour away?