http://news.sky.com/home/strange-news/article/16233460

A stuntman has entered the history books to become the first skydiver to land safely without using a parachute.

Gary Connery, 42, leapt 2,400ft from a helicopter while wearing a specially made "wing suit" and swooped towards a "runway" of 18,600 cardboard boxes in an Oxfordshire field.
Five seconds before he hit the target he flared his suit to decrease his descent and glide angle before plunging into the boxes to break his fall.

I'm not sure it's quite ready to become a sport yet, but those wing suits are starting to make ridiculous things possible!

How long before he gets rid of the cardboard boxes?

japie said...

Don't think it is my cup of tea, miss the boxes and gravel rash here we come.

More like death here we come

doggie said...

japie said...

Don't think it is my cup of tea, miss the boxes and gravel rash here we come.

More like death here we come

You're right, but the gravel rash would come first!

Skid said...

I bet Jeb Corlis will be pissed to see this. He was making plans to be the first....

He did , just with a slightly less desirable outcome

The video is very funny. Fly, fly, fly. Glide. Glide. Land ... Nothing. Glen? Glen? You in there somewhere? Man steps out of the boxes.

For something so spectacular you'd think they would have had a few more cameras. Follow cameras on parachutes. Helicopter hovering over the boxes etc.

reckon should be the next 'sport' at the Olympics..

There is a few people I would like to see go skydiving with no parachute....

Folks this is BS cos I've done it before... I crashed landed on my ass... oh wait I get, he walked away that makes it a first.

I walked away 6 weeks later... still not walking right thought.

To be fair if I have 50/50 percent chances I would rather like to land on the moon , not on the carton boxes
www.theguardian.com/science/2012/may/23/neil-armstrong-accountancy-website-moon-exclusive

What damage did you do Flysurfer?

I got involved in the aftermath of a skydiving incident south of Perth about 6 years ago, the jumper was well experienced but chose to come in low and fast, accidentally clipping the top branches of a tree, his canopy collapsed and he plummeted to the ground, 15-20 metres maybe.

I saw his first x-rays up on the light box and he'd smashed pretty much everything down one side of the body and most on the other side. His ribs looked like a game of pick-up-sticks on the x-ray. Myself and the ambos then stood by whilst the two doctors argued over treatment and when they should call for the rescue helicopter to get him up to Perth. One doctor wanted to call for it now knowing it would take time to get on site, the other doctor wanted to stabilise the guy then call for it.

We were about to sneak off and call for the medivac without the doctors knowing, but they finally got their stuff together. As far as I know the guy survived, not sure how though.

More videos:

www.itv.com/news/2012-05-24/head-cam-footage-shows-danger-of-stuntmans-jump/

Chris6791 said...

What damage did you do Flysurfer?

Fractured bottom right 2 ribs, T4 and T5 (back)
Shattered L2... they removed the pieces and put a cage in... that's what really screwed me up... pun intended.