Stunning Video: Man Skydives Into 18,600 Cardboard Boxes — Without a Parachute!
- Posted on May 23, 2012 at 5:23pm by
Liz Klimas
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If you’re going to skydive without a parachute, something has to break your fall, but what? Maybe a runway made of 18,600 corrugated cardboard boxes is in order.
That’s at least how stuntman Gary Connery wanted to end his jump from a helicopter. Connery also wore a wingsuit to slow him down a little bit and control his direction.
(Related: See other stories on The Blaze about wingsuit athlete jumps)
BBC reported Connery saying before he jumped that he was “a bit scared” but still confident he could achieve such a landing. Watch this interview with Connery before his jump from the Daily Telegraph:
The jump, which occurred above Oxfordshire in the U.K., was from 2,400 feet, allowing Connery to reach a top speed of about 80 miles per hour.
Connery jumps from a helicopter above Temple Island Meadows in the U.K. (Image: YouTube screenshot)
His who 2,400-foot drop took about a minute. (Image: YouTube screenshot)
Although you can't see him in there, Connery has officially landed into the boxes. (Image: YouTube screenshot)
Connery sailed into the boxes lined up for him to cheers from the crowd. See the rather graceful landing for yourself:
According to BBC, this is the first time someone has jumped out of a helicopter without a parachute and lived to tell their tale:
”I feel incredible, just completely elated.
“I have been training and planning for this record attempt for many years now and I am so proud to have achieved a world first.
“I want to thank everyone involved for their support and belief in me because this really has been a team effort.
“Tonight will be all about celebrating with friends and family. Tomorrow I will be plotting my next daring challenge.”
The BBC reports the 42-year-old is well-experienced as a wingsuit athlete and skydiver with 880 dives and 450 base jumps under his belt. The Telegraph also states Connery was a former paratrooper and stuntman for films.
This isn’t the first time Connery has let boxes break his fall either. In February, he posted a video on his YouTube channel showing him jumping from a building at 60-feet-high onto the boxes:
[H/T Gawker]
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Comments (50)
HuckleberryFriend
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 8:38amThe boxes were important, but my guess is that the wing suit also had a lot to do with the success of the stunt.
Report Post »80mesh
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 6:34amkinda blows apart the old saying .. you only need a parachute if ya wanna skydive twice ….
i bet this stunt was a scale model of oh blameoh’s economy …yea thats it
Report Post »mdeputy7
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 8:40amAll these people on here are so cynical and attacking of others doing something they love. Why are you so hateful? It gives conservatives a bad name.
Report Post »rharvey23
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 10:49amI have to agree about the attacks. Sometimes it feels like I’m reading Daily Kos. Very repugnant at times.
Report Post »AverageBear
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 9:35pmIt’s a joke, people. You have to laugh every once in a while or you get Pelosiface.
Report Post »BehindBlueEyes
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 6:30amI think these guys answer to the moniker of jackass.
Report Post »sillyfreshness
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 2:30amPure insanity! That was a loooooong ways up to!
Report Post »davidwjohnson
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 12:42amThe extent of my thrill seeking is getting up at night to go to the bathroom in the dark and taking the chance the toilet seat is down. Talk about scary!
Report Post »jetmech807
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 11:07pmIf at first you don’t succeed………….so much for skydiving.
Report Post »Restored One
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 11:52pmThese look like OWS losers. I say they should all try this I just hope the boxes aren’t full of concrete. Ooops.
Report Post »TedsOfBeverlyHills
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 10:14pmPeople waste time and money on the stupidest things. Next thing you know we’ll try to build a station in space, and invite other countries to dock on it.
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 10:23pmAre you the same Ted that made his young daughter drive the rental while he hid in the back? : )
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 10:26pmTed Bell, right?
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 9:47pmTHAT WAS A TOTAL FAILURE!!!!
He didn’t even come close to knocking down all 18,600 cardboard boxes. : )
Report Post »Big Media Bias
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 9:45pmObviously he wasn’t thinking outside the box when performing this stunt.
Report Post »mikellyusabr
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 9:23pmMaybe he’s trying to be a real-life metaphor for the economy.
Report Post »Libertarian
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 10:47pmlol!
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 9:04pmHats OFF1 This fella is doing what he enjoys and has an audience. Since he is forty-two I am reasonably sure he has passed his genes on. Without risk takers there would be no progress.
Report Post »daxbrady
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 7:38pmmatter of time before this fool takes himself out of the gene pool.
Report Post »woodyb
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 9:10pmAnd these people are allowed to reproduce!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »ALL4FREEDOM
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 7:29pmActually, this is a secret military beta test for the 82nd Airborne Division’s new training requirements that will be implemented after the military budget cuts go into effect. Obummer and Pannetta are delighted. The troops, not so much.
Report Post »chingachgook
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 11:52pmNo it’s been done before, WWII by the Russians. It did not have a happy ending.
Men destined to lead Russian partisan groups were dropped behind German lines. A legend held by the Red Army told of soldiers who were dropped from a low flying plane without parachutes as they were targeted at a large snow-bank!
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/paratroopers_and_world_war_two.htm
Report Post »Free_Man
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 6:56pmIf I’m gonna do something this stupid, I would at least take the time to film the damn thing right. Looks like it was filmed by a grade school video club. For christ sake at least invest in some high quality video if your gonna risk your life.
Report Post »Two Sheds
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 10:18pmAbsolutely! Where is the helmet cam?
Report Post »wisehiney
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 6:55pmThat’s nothing compared to the treetop dive I did at 15 years of age into a SC swamp. That was 35 years ago, and they still talk about that NC fool that nearly killed himself.
Report Post »sabrinacle
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 6:49pmIt is going to have military applications.Thats the point
Report Post »mycomet123
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 6:39pmWhat’s the point!!!! Some sadistic thrill on his part for publicity? Thank God he didn’t end up paralyzed or dead! What an IDIOT!! He needs to go visit some people that are paralyzed & would give anything just to walk again & maybe that would give him a reality check!!
Report Post »SgtB
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 7:03pmI think this guy has weighed out all the risks and made the decision on how he will make money while getting his thrills and you have nothing to say on the subject. If the entire world were full of people like you, there would be no space program, racing, skydiving, or anything fun. If he weren’t doing this for money and with endorsements, he would still be doing it for fun. So stop being beach and sounding so jealous of the guy.
Report Post »jetmech807
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 11:10pmLighten up Francis
Report Post »ThePostman
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 6:32pmUmmm, even with a wingsuit, you are still going just as fast as free-fall. I bet it still hurts too.
Report Post »SgtB
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 7:06pmNo, you’re not. The free fall speed depends upon the upward force of wind resistance which is directly proportional to your surface area. Sure, with a wingsuit on, you could reach terminal velocity just like anyone else; but as soon as you put your little squirrel arms out and stop diving head first, you will slow down.
Report Post »Wreck14me
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 6:30pmA guy in a Flying Squirrel suit impresses me when he is flying alongside mountain ridges. A guy skydiving without a parachute into a pile of boxes will only impress me if he is going at close to terminal velocity.
Report Post »6thdegreeblack
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 6:28pmWhy do you think the author chose not to notice the small drag chute trailing behind the skydiver? Watch how the package sent out just before the diver stays equal distant to him throughout the shot until the landing view. Come on now, his air speed was pretty slow guys… I’m surprised no one else noticed it.
Report Post »SgtB
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 7:07pmI’m betting that was another skydiver with a suit getting video from a gopro helmet cam. Not a drag chute.
Report Post »Lunertic
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 9:39pmAnd your absolutely correct SGTB. Look closer 6th ; )
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 9:43pmThe-Monk welcomes 6thdegreeblack to first day posting on The Blaze. : )
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 6:22pmI’ve heard of “thinking outside of the box” but, this type of “thinking” could have lead to “outside the box”.
Report Post »SovereignSoul
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 6:38pmIt also could have gotten him a spot inside the box.U
Report Post »piper60
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 6:03pmWhy are we giving this nut publicity?
Report Post »Baddoggy
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 5:55pmThe suit acted like a parachute…hell i would try that.
Report Post »OneTermPresident
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 5:42pmTakes guts… but beyond that, what’s the point?
Report Post »burnteye86
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 5:39pmWell sure, if you’re gonna wear a wing suit
Report Post »SHOOTnCRASH
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 6:00pmI know. False advertising! Still pretty cool tho.
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