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shveddy

Holy Motherhucking Shitake (Luke Aikens no parachute project)

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normiss

It's got to mess with your mind to reach back there knowing there is nothing there.
:D



I wondered about that too... There was a camera dude that got on a load without thinking that he'd forgotten his rig, and nobody else noticed, so he takes his slot as rear float for his group, does the dive, then it's time to pull, and... "oooooh fuck" :o

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diablopilot

*********Maybe I just missed it... where's this going to be held?



California, USA. At the same time, he says he will NOT have ANY parachute on him. So, did they get the FAA exemption to do that?


Answer: Since he is not wearing a parachute, this is not a skydive and this part 105 does not apply. In fact, the FAA is not sure what to do with him. For now, the concept of not posing risk to persons or property on the ground as a result of throwing objects out of an aircraft in flight is the only rule that applies. Luke did get approval to pull low with a BASE canopy (2 parachute system) for his training.


Daily updates:

https://www.facebook.com/Luke-Aikins-998360006849439/?fref=ts

Do you have first hand knowledge, or are you just making things up?

I do have first hand knowledge. Luke Akins approached the USPA Board of Directors and was granted a waiver of BSR 2-1-H, Minimum Opening Altitude. The waiver was for a specific time frame, altitude, and location. A copy of the waiver request is attached.

Luke did not request any form of waiver for the actual chuteless jump as no waiver from USPA was required. According to USPA definitions, and FAA definitions, this was not a "Skydive" or a "Parachute Jump" or a "Parachute Operation" nor was he a "Parachutist" or a "Skydiver" on this fall from an aircraft.

From the USPA SIM Glossary:

SKYDIVE: 1. n. The descent of a person to the surface from an aircraft in flight when he or she uses or intends to use a parachute during all or part of that descent. 2. v. To jump form an aircraft with a parachute.

PARACHUTE JUMP: A parachute operation that involves the descent of one or more persons to the surface from an aircraft in flight when a parachute is used or intended to be used during all or part of that descent.

PARACHUTIST: A person who intends to exit an aircraft while in flight using a single-harness, dual parachute system to descend to the surface.

From FAA FAR 105 Definitions:

PARACHUTE DROP means the descent of an object to the surface from an aircraft in flight when a parachute is used or intended to be used during all or part of that descent.

PARACHUTE JUMP means a parachute operation that involves the descent of one or more persons to the surface from an aircraft in flight when a parachute is used or intended to be used during all or part of that descent.

PARACHUTIST means a person who intends to exit an air- craft while in flight using a single-harness, dual parachute system to descend to the surface.

So, under all of the definitions above from USPA and the FAA, this was not a "Skydive" or "Parachute Jump" or "Parachute Drop" and Luke was not a "Skydiver" nor a "Parachutist" and as such he did not need authorization, permission, or a waiver from the USPA, or the FAA, or anyone else to exit the aircraft without a parachute.

Congratulations to Luke on a stunt well planned and executed. And for anyone else that wishes to jump without a parachute, go for it. You do not need permission from anyone, just make sure that you do not endanger any person or property on the ground.

Mike Mullins
USPA National Director

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Halfpastniner

I'm thinking he was just goofing off. If he had a secret rig on- what would be the point of practicing a BOC pull (or EP's)? I think it would be kinda cool to reach back and feel nothing there to touch, yet not feeling like a dead man.



This.

I do it at idle moments during tunnel sessions, never realised people might freak out about it and accuse me of being up to no good.
--
"I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan

"You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

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What worries me is what the next skydive-related mega stunt will have to do in order to attract serious commercial sponsorship.

Luke's risk was extremely high. Perfection required, no plan B.

The next one will have to top Luke's stunt.

How far can it go before we see a fatal outcome?

Sure glad he made it.

377
2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

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377

What worries me is what the next skydive-related mega stunt will have to do in order to attract serious commercial sponsorship.

Luke's risk was extremely high. Perfection required, no plan B.

The next one will have to top Luke's stunt.

How far can it go before we see a fatal outcome?

Sure glad he made it.

377



How about wingsuiting without a rig onto an 18 wheeler trailer fitted with an airbag and open roof, going 80 mph or so on the salt flats where speed records are set? B|

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Sometime during the show they showed a guy releasing a balloon that I would assume was a weather balloon. When we tested at UPG and went above 18,000 ft. they would send balloons aloft and provide us with winds aloft for every 3,000 ft. The data would be no more than 30 minutes old at takeoff.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he did not have something similar.
My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

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They would have done that for sure...

Like planning the exit point for a cross country, take the wind speed and direction at different altitudes (we were able to do that at 1000 ft increments based on weather balloon data), and plot them on a map, then take the mean speed and direction from that to fix an exit point.

From 25 grand you could get a lot of FF drift. I'd be surprised if the wind was 7 knots all the way to altitude. Even exiting right over the top via a GPS spot, I'm sure they would have calculated the wind conditions all the way up pretty precisely.

On the last cross country jump I planned, opening at 12 grand:

With winds ranging from 15 knots at ground level to 60 knots at 12000 ft, and winds coming from varying directions all the way to altitude, an exit at 12 grand and 12 miles from the DZ saw 5 jumpers out of 6 land right on the target. The other jumper deviated from the plan, went off on his own, and landed about a mile away. As it turned out we could have gone another couple of miles upwind.

Of course canopies are going to be influenced by the wind more than someone in FF, but the same principles apply.
My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

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BrianSGermain

Luke did get approval to pull low with a BASE canopy (2 parachute system) for his training.


Yep, but from the USPA, ref. opening at 1000'. The FAA doesn't care what altitude we open at, if at all. The rig was a standard Infinity, no AAD, of course, and I believe he was using a Spectre, but I could be wrong. I'll ask next time I see him. :)

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JerryBaumchen

Hi Pat,

Quote

they are as honest as they come



100% agree. I first met these folks back in the mid-60's at the various competitions here in the NW. Lenny ( RIP ) and crew were known as the Thun Field Bunch back then.

The addition of Geoff Farrington to the mix just made it even better.

Jerry Baumchen

PS) And their facility at Shelton is as good at it gets IMO.
I gotta agree with your opinion. B|

Don't you wish Lenny could have been around to see this? Sounds like something he would have loved to try back in the day. Miss that guy. :)

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mjosparky

Sometime during the show they showed a guy releasing a balloon that I would assume was a weather balloon. When we tested at UPG and went above 18,000 ft. they would send balloons aloft and provide us with winds aloft for every 3,000 ft. The data would be no more than 30 minutes old at takeoff.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he did not have something similar.



Would have been nice to have one of these to provide real time winds aloft data:

http://www.detect-inc.com/profiler.html

http://www.ofcm.gov/r14/pdf/chap2.pdf


For a while the Navy had something similar operating at Marina CA near the Skydive Monterey Bay DZ. Its results were posted live online and were quite useful.

377
2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

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JerryBaumchen

Hi John,

Quote

The rig was a standard Infinity



It had been modified just for those practice jumps.

Jerry Baumchen




you seem pretty intent on bragging about knowing something we dont know Jerry.
Jump more, Bitch less.

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H jf951,

Quote

you seem pretty intent on bragging about knowing something we dont know Jerry.



I truly would hope that no one would ever consider me to be a braggart. John Mitchell said that it was a 'normal skydiving rig.' Kelly F and I share a fair amount of info on some gear ideas/subjects. One of the mods falls under this category.

Since Kelly built the rig & did the mods, I feel it is not my place to announce what he did. He can & does speak for himself on here quite often.

Jerry Baumchen

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So what is the reason for doing the jump at 25K?
Seems like doing it at half the altitude would have avoided the bother of O2, and made spotting simpler.
"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

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ryoder

So what is the reason for doing the jump at 25K?
Seems like doing it at half the altitude would have avoided the bother of O2, and made spotting simpler.


Spectacle and Drama
You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

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ryoder

So what is the reason for doing the jump at 25K?
Seems like doing it at half the altitude would have avoided the bother of O2, and made spotting simpler.



You know the name of the event right? Heaven Sent..

The111 informed me, that is where heaven starts.
My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

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hookitt

***So what is the reason for doing the jump at 25K?
Seems like doing it at half the altitude would have avoided the bother of O2, and made spotting simpler.



You know the name of the event right? Heaven Sent..

The111 informed me, that is where heaven starts.

Hell Bound was deemed by the network to be a much less desirable (albeit much more metal) name.
www.WingsuitPhotos.com

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