Skydiver Aims To Land Without Parachute

        A stuntman will attempt to make aviation history later by becoming the first skydiver in the world to land without the use of a parachute. Gary Connery, 42, from Oxfordshire, will leap from a helicopter a mile above Henley then glide towards a field using a specially adapted wing suit which will allow him to fly. Moments before reaching the ground he will "flare" his suit to slow his descent to land safely on a "runway" of 18,000 cardboard boxes.

To prepare for the jump he has undergone weeks of intensive training in Switzerland and Italy, leaping from mountains and cliffs to perfect his wing suit glide angle. Mr Connery will approach his target at a glide-ratio of two-to-one - for every metre he falls, he flies forward two metres. The landing strip will be 350ft-long, 40ft-wide and 12ft-deep. If he miscalculates his approach he will have a split second to abort the jump and deploy an emergency parachute. If the jump goes wrong and he fails to react in time, he will miss the boxes and hit the ground. But Mr Connery insists he will be successful.

He said: "I'm 100% confident I can achieve this jump. 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." As part of his training, Mr Connery studied the flight of kite birds and how they use their tail to control their flight direction.              
             "Kites steer by twisting their tail one way or another and I'll be doing the same," he explained. Mr Connery said his wife, Vivian, was a tower of strength while he was preparing for the jump. She said she was excited about the attempt."Doubts - maybe not," she said. "But I am feeling anxious about the project and the reality of what he is going to be doing." Mr Connery made his first parachute jump aged 23 after joining the Army. He went on to become a professional stuntman, completing 880 skydives and 450 base jumps. He has acted as stunt-double for the likes of Gary Oldman, John Hurt and Rowan Atkinson and appeared in films such as The Beach, Die Another Day, Batman Begins and Indiana Jones. He also leapt from the Eiffel Tower, Nelson's Column, Tower Bridge and the London Eye.
             "This stunt will get great recognition and will be a post in the runway of aviation history," Mr Connery. "I'm sure plenty of people will think I'm bonkers but that's OK, I take that as a compliment." Landing a wing suit without a parachute has been a dream of skydivers since the modern wing suit was invented in 1997 by French skydiver and aristocrat Patrick De Gayardon. The unique design of his suit enabled "pilots" to barrel-roll, swoop and fly in formation. Tragically, Mr De Gayardon died a year later in a skydiving accident in Hawaii after a modification to his suit caused his parachute to malfunction. US skydiver Jeb Corliss planned to become the first to land a wing suit without a parachute but his plans were suspended after he was seriously injured during a recent jump in South Africa.

Source : www.news.sky.com