theonlyski 8 #101 July 31, 2016 ryoder Something else that occurred to me: If I was going to be hitting a net at terminal velocity, some dense padding on my back might be welcome. Kinda like the padding of a base rig? Either way, dude still landed without a parachute, that's fuckin' amazing."I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890 I'm an asshole, and I approve this message Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JerryBaumchen 1,354 #102 July 31, 2016 Hi ski, Quotelanded without a parachute From an Associated Press article in this morning's newspaper: "The stunt, broadcast live on Fox for the TV special 'Stride Gum Presents Heaven Sent,' nearly didn't come off as planned when Aikins revealed just before climbing into his plane that the Screen Actor's Guild had ordered him to wear a parachute to ensure his safety. A few minutes before the jump, one of the show's hosts said the requirement had been lifted. Aikins left the plane without the chute." Jerry Baumchen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
verticalflyer 11 #103 July 31, 2016 Awesome job, looking at the shape on his back it looked exactly like a sports bikers spinal protector which would make a lot of sense for something like this. I failed to spot the wheel barrow that was clearly required for his Cojones seriously impressive mind of matter.Dont just talk about it, Do it! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pat007 0 #104 July 31, 2016 All you naysayers just kill me. In one of the videos or photos in the days before the jump Luke is shown with some of the instrumentation to be used on the jump strapped to his body. Remember from the jump that he was communicating with the ground on the ride up. He also was transmitting his pulse rate and probably other physiological indicators that weren't displayed. His camera was transmitting video to the ground. That had to go on him somewhere. I've been around Luke and his family at Skydive Kapowsin the majority of weekends for 3 years and they are as honest as they come. I have full faith that what they say happened actually did. Even if he had some sort of lifesaving device under his jumpsuit, he never used it. Never had to. That's enough for me. How many of you could pull that off or would even try? As for the lights - you likely didn't notice them because they were all white, confirming that he was on target. There were 4 lights on the perimeter of the net, and others signaling the bulls eye. If he was off, they would have been red. Those lights were key to him pulling this off.My Dad used to ask me if someone jumped off a bridge would I do that too? No, but if they jumped out of an airplane, that's a different question... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Maxx 1 #105 July 31, 2016 This Aikins dude is legendary! What an achievement - congrats to everyone involved, planning and executing this! My question: As you can see, he was way off-center on one side. My (really uneducated) guess from the frame grabs is, that he was about 20-25ft away from the edge. On the other side he had about 80-75ft of spare net. On the other axis he was more or less center. Because I didn't hear it in any of the post-jump interviews (btw: are there any at all, except the one with: "The words I want to say I can't even get out of my mouth"?): Is my impression that this was a really close call correct? Did he or the people around him make any statement regarding that? I know, every landing you can walk away from is a good landing, but we are skydivers, we want to have more facts How did he feel? Any side effects from that massive decelaration? Whiplash, concussion anything? Is this repeatable for a normal person? Felix (you can think about him what you want) was very honest talking about the stratos-jump and the fact he nearly fucked it up regarding the rotations he was getting into, his goggles malfunctioning, he had to pull higher, etc.. All my questions aside, this is a massive achievement for mankind! Thumbs up Luke! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JerryBaumchen 1,354 #106 July 31, 2016 Hi Pat, Quotethey are as honest as they come 100% agree. I first met these folks back in the mid-60's at the various competitions here in the NW. Lenny ( RIP ) and crew were known as the Thun Field Bunch back then. The addition of Geoff Farrington to the mix just made it even better. Jerry Baumchen PS) And their facility at Shelton is as good at it gets IMO. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hookitt 1 #107 July 31, 2016 It was a spine guard. I'm 100% sure of this because I stood there when he took it off. He jumped without a parachute.My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The111 1 #108 July 31, 2016 Maxx Is my impression that this was a really close call correct? By definition the stunt is a really close call. He used up about half of his available margin. That's not great, but not horrible either. It really says he picked just about the right size of net to use. Though, one thing worth noting is that a square has a non-uniform margin. The margin along the diagonals is much larger. He was off-center in the direction of his roll, which is not surprising. But this might suggest that it would have been better to do the roll along a diagonal axis, in which case he would have ended up the same distance off-center, but not as close to any edge. But, I'm sure this was all considered, and there are probably other considerations that make it a good idea to approach the net as a square rather than a diamond (a few I can think of are: possible wind direction alignment, a square being mentally easier to line up with, and the net's forces maybe being better aligned with the body in the square direction). I also wonder if he intentionally offset in the other direction before the roll, and if so by how much. Kind of like how Gary Connery was aiming a bit "short" of center on his line of boxes before he started his flare... but by the time he finished the flare he was quite a bit beyond center. Must be really hard to decide on those things.www.WingsuitPhotos.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KrispyKreme 0 #109 August 1, 2016 theonlyskiDid anyone see the VASI/PAPI type lights? I didn't see them in the video, but the logic made sense to me. I didn't see a good sense of "ground rush" on the video either. I was hoping to see what that must be like, since most people who experience it don't live to tell. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KrispyKreme 0 #110 August 1, 2016 And what the heck was that segment early in the show where two black dudes took credit for coming up with the stunt, and "scripting it", in order to brand their product (the chewing gum?). Are they taking credit for Luke's stunt, or did they really think of it first, and go to Luke to perform it? It was just weird. A skydiver was putting his life on the line for this stunt, and they were just gleeful about the promotional aspect of it. It left me wanted to scream; "Who the frick are you guys?" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jclalor 12 #111 August 1, 2016 JerryBaumchenHi Pat, Quotethey are as honest as they come 100% agree. I first met these folks back in the mid-60's at the various competitions here in the NW. Lenny ( RIP ) and crew were known as the Thun Field Bunch back then. The addition of Geoff Farrington to the mix just made it even better. Jerry Baumchen PS) And their facility at Shelton is as good at it gets IMO. I completed my SL training with the Farringtons in 82, while I was stationed at Bremerton. They would give me a free jump for every new student I would bring out, I must have brought out about twenty from my aircraft carrier. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Squeak 17 #112 August 1, 2016 HapHazard ******So, if he wasn't wearing a parachute, how come he was doing practice pulls on the way down? How do we know he didn't have a base rig underneath that floppy shirt... Oh,, and won't the FAA yanks the pilot's license for letting someone exit his plane without a dual parachute rig? You are awfully quick to questions the man’s integrity. Once again no facts. You didn't answer the questions... Here's an answer, the guy has a gazillion tandem jumps and he did a tandem handle check like he does on every jumpYou are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky) My Life ROCKS! How's yours doing? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Halfpastniner 0 #113 August 1, 2016 Squeak *********So, if he wasn't wearing a parachute, how come he was doing practice pulls on the way down? How do we know he didn't have a base rig underneath that floppy shirt... Oh,, and won't the FAA yanks the pilot's license for letting someone exit his plane without a dual parachute rig? You are awfully quick to questions the man’s integrity. Once again no facts. You didn't answer the questions... Here's an answer, the guy has a gazillion tandem jumps and he did a tandem handle check like he does on every jumpI'm thinking he was just goofing off. If he had a secret rig on- what would be the point of practicing a BOC pull (or EP's)? I think it would be kinda cool to reach back and feel nothing there to touch, yet not feeling like a dead man.BASE 1384 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toggle 17 #114 August 1, 2016 theonlyski While that was a hell of a jump, I'm not entirely convinced that he didn't have a base rig under the jumpsuit. It looks like there may be one (a pretty flat spot or two on the back of what appears to be a loose fitting jumpsuit but I don't see how the canopy would deploy through the jumpsuit.). I don't understand why it is so hard for you to understand this. Luke jumped without a parachute. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GoneCodFishing 24 #115 August 1, 2016 Anyone know wha the winds aloft were on the jump? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
altrisk 0 #116 August 1, 2016 Toggle ***While that was a hell of a jump, I'm not entirely convinced that he didn't have a base rig under the jumpsuit. It looks like there may be one (a pretty flat spot or two on the back of what appears to be a loose fitting jumpsuit but I don't see how the canopy would deploy through the jumpsuit.). I don't understand why it is so hard for you to understand this. Luke jumped without a parachute. Exactly!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pchapman 279 #117 August 1, 2016 GoneCodFishingAnyone know wha the winds aloft were on the jump? Was wondering that. I wouldn't want to commit to a certain time and then find there's a strong low level shear. We skydivers don't normally have to maneuver relative to the ground in free fall ... One might get good practice having to add in some judicious use of forward or backslide to stay line up, despite inertia not allowing instant full drift. Anyone know how many practice dives he had been doing? Was he doing low pulls with two canopy BASE rigs or what? Admittedly I haven't checked out all the preparatory videos. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
diablopilot 2 #118 August 1, 2016 BrianSGermain******Maybe I just missed it... where's this going to be held? California, USA. At the same time, he says he will NOT have ANY parachute on him. So, did they get the FAA exemption to do that? Answer: Since he is not wearing a parachute, this is not a skydive and this part 105 does not apply. In fact, the FAA is not sure what to do with him. For now, the concept of not posing risk to persons or property on the ground as a result of throwing objects out of an aircraft in flight is the only rule that applies. Luke did get approval to pull low with a BASE canopy (2 parachute system) for his training. Daily updates: https://www.facebook.com/Luke-Aikins-998360006849439/?fref=ts Do you have first hand knowledge, or are you just making things up?---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
altrisk 0 #119 August 1, 2016 Interesting pic. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydiverek 63 #120 August 1, 2016 pchapman Anyone know how many practice dives he had been doing? Was he doing low pulls with two canopy BASE rigs or what? Admittedly I haven't checked out all the preparatory videos. He did approx 200 practice jumps for that stunt. Approx 40 to 80 of them opening at 1000 feet above the net, with FAA approval. Normal skydiving rig with Epicene canopy in it, I believe. Some info on Luke's Youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/pilotjumper/videos ...and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Luke-Aikins-998360006849439 https://www.facebook.com/luke.aikins Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jumpwally 0 #121 August 1, 2016 'm hoping there will be a behind the scenes planning type show later one..would love to see how they worked on the variables and all the planning,,also would like to know what plan " B " was,,,one of the jumpers with him had some type of loop in his hand,,what was that to hook to ? Who were the other Team jumpers,,,etc...i'm sure i'm not the only one that likes that type of syuff,,,,smile, be nice, enjoy life FB # - 1083 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dthames 0 #122 August 1, 2016 Toggle ***While that was a hell of a jump, I'm not entirely convinced that he didn't have a base rig under the jumpsuit. It looks like there may be one (a pretty flat spot or two on the back of what appears to be a loose fitting jumpsuit but I don't see how the canopy would deploy through the jumpsuit.). I don't understand why it is so hard for you to understand this. Luke jumped without a parachute. That was also my guess that touching all three handles was a joke that only skydivers would get/notice.Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!” Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
normiss 798 #123 August 1, 2016 It's got to mess with your mind to reach back there knowing there is nothing there. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shveddy 0 #124 August 1, 2016 normiss It's got to mess with your mind to reach back there knowing there is nothing there. Kinda like the first time I flew in a tunnel, but 1000000 times more intense... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JerryBaumchen 1,354 #125 August 1, 2016 Hi skydiverek, QuoteNormal skydiving rig It was a special built rig; it had some unique changes to it. I won't go into details, the mfr can comment if they want to. Jerry Baumchen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
