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| Stuntman Gary Connery will attempt the leap from 2400 feet without the use of a parachute |
A stuntman, Gary Connery, is set to leap from a helicopter 2,400ft above the
ground as he attempts to safely land on a pile of boxes without using a
parachute.
The 42-year-old daredevil will make the death-defying plunge before landing in
an area containing 18,600 cardboard boxes.
The father-of-two, a veteran of 880 sky dives, 450 base jumps and dozens of
film and television roles, will jump this afternoon above Ridge Wood, Bucks.
If successful, he will become the first person who has jumped from such a
height, not deployed a parachute, and lived.
The entire flight of nearly a mile will take less than a minute but was only
given the green light because the weather conditions were “perfect”.
Mr Connery, from Henley-on-Thames, Oxon, will drop for three seconds before
reaching speeds of more than 80mph in a specially developed wing suit that
will "start to fly".
He will then attempt to land on a strip measuring about 350ft (100m) by 45ft
(15m) - and at its highest point 12ft off the ground - at Temple Island
Meadows, on the Buckinghamshire and Berkshire border.
In order to survive the audacious stunt, he must flare his wing suit about 200ft from his target in order to bring his gliding speed down to 50mph and his vertical falling speed to 15mph.
On Wednesday afternoon final preparations were taking place as officials monitored the wind.
Mr Connery, whose films include Die Another Day, The Beach, Batman Begins and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, insisted he would survive, as performing stunts was "his life".
But he did admit to being “a bit scared”.
“I'm 100 per cent confident I can achieve this jump,” said the former paratrooper, who has trained for the jump in the Swiss and Italian alps.
“I know I can fly, I know I can hit the target, I feel I've assessed the risk that I'm presented with and I've put everything in place to minimise that risk.
"This stunt will get great recognition and will be a post in the runway of aviation history. I'm sure plenty of people will think I'm bonkers but that's OK, I take that as a compliment."
He added: "Now we have the green light, I can't wait to go for it.
"The last few days have been a whirl of activity making sure everything is in place for flight.
"There has been so much interest in my world first attempt and a huge amount of support from the British public."
He admitted his wife Vivienne, and children Kali, 15 and Lydia, 19, were worried.
Mrs Connery, 45, who owns a cafe in Henley, added: “Doubts – maybe not, but I am feeling anxious about the project and the reality of what he is going to be doing.”
He made his first parachute jump as an Army recruit at the age of 23 and has since become a professional stuntman.
He has leapt from the top of London’s Tower Bridge, the London Eye, Nelson's Column and the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Patrick De Gayardon, the French aristocrat inventor of the modern wing suit, died when his parachute malfunctioned over Hawaii in 1998.
In order to survive the audacious stunt, he must flare his wing suit about 200ft from his target in order to bring his gliding speed down to 50mph and his vertical falling speed to 15mph.
On Wednesday afternoon final preparations were taking place as officials monitored the wind.
Mr Connery, whose films include Die Another Day, The Beach, Batman Begins and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, insisted he would survive, as performing stunts was "his life".
But he did admit to being “a bit scared”.
“I'm 100 per cent confident I can achieve this jump,” said the former paratrooper, who has trained for the jump in the Swiss and Italian alps.
“I know I can fly, I know I can hit the target, I feel I've assessed the risk that I'm presented with and I've put everything in place to minimise that risk.
"This stunt will get great recognition and will be a post in the runway of aviation history. I'm sure plenty of people will think I'm bonkers but that's OK, I take that as a compliment."
He added: "Now we have the green light, I can't wait to go for it.
"The last few days have been a whirl of activity making sure everything is in place for flight.
"There has been so much interest in my world first attempt and a huge amount of support from the British public."
He admitted his wife Vivienne, and children Kali, 15 and Lydia, 19, were worried.
Mrs Connery, 45, who owns a cafe in Henley, added: “Doubts – maybe not, but I am feeling anxious about the project and the reality of what he is going to be doing.”
He made his first parachute jump as an Army recruit at the age of 23 and has since become a professional stuntman.
He has leapt from the top of London’s Tower Bridge, the London Eye, Nelson's Column and the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Patrick De Gayardon, the French aristocrat inventor of the modern wing suit, died when his parachute malfunctioned over Hawaii in 1998.
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