Professional stuntman, Gary Connery, is going to be embarking on a stunt that has never been tried before; he will be jumping from a height of 730m without using a parachute. He will be utilising a specially designed wingsuit to slow his rate of fall and will be landing in a strip of 18,600 cardboard boxes to soften his landing.
The stunt is the culmination of his efforts for Mr. Connery who has been working up to this event for many months now in Switzerland, America and Italy as he works on his technique and the precision of the wingsuit. Gary has been training by flying very close to cliffs and treetops on his jumps in order to experience and familiarise himself with ground rush.
This is a stunt that is all about precision and timing as the entire flight will only last 50 seconds, in which time Gary has to slow his vertical speed to less than 15mph using only the air resistance generated by his wingsuit. The stunt is sponsored by Bremont watches, a brand that understands the necessities of accuracy and precision particularly when it comes to aviation.
With the amount of preparation that has gone into calculating a safe jump, the conditions on the day of the event have to be perfect. We need a clear, sunny day with zero wind to stop the cardboard boxes blowing away explained Gary in a fairly nonchalant way considering the boxes make up his landing strip.
Gary expressed some trepidation in the lead up to the jump claiming that it is this fear that keeps him safe because “you look out for all eventualities and deal with them before they arrive. Despite this trepidation, he is certainly experienced enough for the task, with 18 years of experience in base jumping and skydiving; he has completed over 880 skydives and 450 base jumps in that time.
The skill involved in a stunt like this is incredible when it comes to the accuracy with which he has to fly his wingsuit. According to Gary Everything to do with the jump is about precision and timing making Bremont an ideal sponsor for such an event. Gary is equipped with an emergency parachute just in case anything goes wrong and he is overjoyed to have the opportunity to attempt this record breaking stunt.
For more details read the BBC coverage of the lead up to the stunt this month, or check out this video of Gary's earlier flight through The Crack in Switzerland.