Luke Aikins

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Luke Aikins
Born (1973-11-21) November 21, 1973 (age 51)
Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S. [1]
Occupation(s)Skydiver, pilot, stuntman, photographer
Years active1985–present
Known forFirst person to intentionally skydive and land without a parachute or a wingsuit and survive
SpouseMonica Lee Aikins [2]
ChildrenLogan (son) [3]

Luke Aikins (born November 21, 1973) [1] is an American professional skydiver, BASE jumper, pilot, and aerial photographer. He is the first person to intentionally dive from mid-tropospheric altitude and land safely without a parachute or a wingsuit and the second skydiver to intentionally jump and safely land without using a parachute. [4] [5] [6]

Contents

Aikins is affiliated with Red Bull. [7]

Sky diving

Aikins has coached United States Navy SEALs and NASCAR's Brian Vickers, and has advised the military on skydiving techniques. [8] [9] He is also a safety and training advisor for the United States Parachute Association. [9] [10] He is also an aerial photographer and his photos have been published in major magazines and newspapers. [1] He has completed more than 18,000 jumps since he started skydiving at age 12. [11]

In 2012, he helped skydiver Felix Baumgartner jump from a helium balloon in the stratosphere at 120,000 feet (36,576 m). [12] [13] Aikins also worked on stunts in the film Iron Man 3 . [14]

In 2020, he helped David Blaine with his Ascension stunt.

July 2016 jump

External videos
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Heaven Sent Stride Gum Presents Heaven Sent: A Mad Intense Jump
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Local news interview Luke Aikins 25,000-Foot Freefall [15]

On July 30, 2016, Aikins jumped from an aircraft without any parachute or wingsuit at an altitude of 25,000 feet (7,620 m) above Simi Valley, California, watched by a live audience. After about two minutes of free fall he successfully landed in a 100-by-100-foot (30 by 30 m) net just outside of Simi Valley, California. [16] [4] Aikins reached a terminal velocity of 120 miles per hour (193 km/h) during the fall. [14] The net was made from Spectra, a high-density polyethylene cord. [17] It had four compressed air cylinders designed to gently slow him down after impact. [17] The first skydiver to intentionally jump and land without using a parachute was Gary Connery in 2012 who wore a wingsuit to aid his landing. [18]

Although several news articles headlines describe Aikins achievement by focusing on the fact that he jumped and went to freefall without parachute, many others have jumped from aircraft without having a parachute when they departed the plane – they were either handed a parachute by a fellow jumper while in freefall or maneuvered to a container carrying a parachute, with first successes dating back to 1965. [19] Others have jumped out of an aircraft and returned to the same or another aircraft without making use of parachute. [20] [21]

Red Bull plane-swap stunt crash

During the highly publicized stunt staged as a Hulu On-Demand special event, he and his cousin Andy Farrington attempted and failed to swap planes mid air, resulting in the total loss of one plane. [22]

Aikins and Farrington had been denied permission to undertake the stunt by the Federal Aviation Administration, and subsequently had their pilot licenses revoked by the FAA. [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BASE jumping</span> Sport of jumping from fixed objects using a parachute

BASE jumping is the recreational sport of jumping from fixed objects, using a parachute to descend to the ground. BASE is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antennas, spans (bridges) and earth (cliffs). Participants jump from a fixed object such as a cliff and after an optional freefall delay deploy a parachute to slow their descent and land. A popular form of BASE jumping is wingsuit BASE jumping.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wingsuit flying</span> Variant of skydiving

Wingsuit flying is the sport of skydiving using a webbing-sleeved jumpsuit called a wingsuit to add webbed area to the diver's body and generate increased lift, which allows extended air time by gliding flight rather than just free falling. The modern wingsuit, first developed in the late 1990s, uses a pair of fabric membranes stretched flat between the arms and flanks/thighs to imitate an airfoil, and often also between the legs to function as a tail and allow some aerial steering.

<i>The Skydivers</i> 1963 film by Coleman Francis

The Skydivers is a 1963 American crime film produced by Anthony Cardoza, and written and directed by Coleman Francis. It stars actors Kevin Casey, Eric Tomlin, Cardoza and Marcia Knight, with a performance by influential guitarist Jimmy Bryant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Booth</span> American actor

Bill Booth is an American engineer, inventor, and entrepreneur in the skydiving equipment manufacturing industry. His invention of the 3-ring release safety device has enhanced skydiving safety. He founded the companies United Parachute Technologies and Complete Parachute Solutions, which had 150 employees as of 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felix Baumgartner</span> Austrian skydiver, daredevil and BASE jumper (born 1969)

Felix Baumgartner is an Austrian skydiver, daredevil and BASE jumper. He is widely known for jumping to Earth from a helium balloon from the stratosphere on 14 October 2012 and landing in New Mexico, United States, as part of the Red Bull Stratos project. Doing so, he set world records for skydiving an estimated 39 km (24 mi), reaching an estimated top speed of 1,357.64 km/h (843.6 mph), or Mach 1.25. He became the first person to break the sound barrier relative to the surface without vehicular power on his descent. He broke skydiving records for exit altitude, vertical freefall distance without a drogue parachute, and vertical speed without a drogue. Though he still holds the two latter records, the first was broken two years later, when on 24 October 2014, Alan Eustace jumped from 135,890 feet with a drogue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zephyrhills Municipal Airport</span> Public Airport in Zephyrhills , Florida, U.S.

Zephyrhills Municipal Airport is a public use airport in Pasco County, Florida, United States. It is owned by the City of Zephyrhills and located one nautical mile (2 km) southeast of its central business district. This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility.

In the United States, skydiving is a self-regulated sport, which means skydivers, in the US, voluntarily follow a set of basic safety requirements established by the U.S. Parachute Association. Federal requirements can be found in the Federal Aviation Regulations. Most of the regulations concern the aircraft, pilot and rules of flight. However, 14 CFR Part 105, "Parachute Operations" regulates when and where jumps may be made and designates the requirements for parachute equipment and packing. For example, 14 CFR Part 105 requires the person packing either the main chute or the reserve parachute to be a certificated rigger, which means he or she has taken an FAA-approved training course and has passed rigorous FAA testing.

Grand Haven Memorial Airpark is a public airport owned and operated by the City of Grand Haven located 2 miles (3.2 km) southeast of Grand Haven, Michigan. The airport is uncontrolled, and is used for general aviation purposes. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021, in which it is categorized as a local general aviation facility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parachuting</span> Action sport of exiting an aircraft and returning to Earth using a parachute

Parachuting and skydiving are methods of descending from a high point in an atmosphere to the ground or ocean surface with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or multiple parachutes.

Perris Valley Airport is a privately owned and operated airport open to public use and located one mile (1.6 km) southeast of Perris, serving Riverside County, California, United States. It has one runway and is used for general aviation and extensive skydiving. The airport operates from dawn to dusk daily year-round.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roberta Mancino</span>

Roberta Mancino is an Italian skydiver, BASE jumper, wingsuit flyer and international model. She has participated in more than 12,500 skydives and won several awards and world records. She has gone on four skydives while completely naked, and on five occasions her parachute did not open in mid-jump. In 2010, Mancino was named the World's Sexiest Female Athlete by the magazine Men's Fitness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luigi Cani</span>

Luigi Cani is a Brazilian stunt performer and cinematographic producer. He is a well known athlete in parachuting.

Gary Connery is a British skydiver, BASE jumper, and professional stuntman. Connery has performed stunt-work in numerous films. He has also acted as the stunt-double for Gary Oldman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Rowan Atkinson, and John Hurt. He is acknowledged as the first skydiver to land after a wingsuit jump without using a parachute. He made his first parachute jump at age 23, as part of his army training.

Trevor Daniel Jacob is an American Olympic athlete, snowboard cross competitor, extreme sports athlete, YouTuber, and light aircraft pilot. He represented the United States in snowboarding in the 2014 Winter Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skydive Empuriabrava</span> Parachuting in Spain

Skydive Empuriabrava is the brand that has been commercially operating Empuriabrava Aerodrome since 1985. Since it began operating, its main activity has been skydiving although it also offers photo flights, aerial and tourist advertising, and runs a school of aviation for private pilots.

H. Truesdell Smith—known variously as "H. T. Smith", "Henry Truesdell Smith", "Harold Truesdell Smith", or "Daredevil Smitty" but best known as "Smitty the Jumper"—was an American exhibition parachutist and skydiver of the 1920s and 1930s. He made periodic returns to skydiving starting in the late 1950s, jumping in every subsequent decade until his death, becoming widely known as "the oldest living skydiver", a title he claimed until his death in 1995 at the age of 96.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Provenzano</span> American professional skydiver (born 1976)

Jeff "Jeffro" Provenzano is an American professional skydiver, wingsuit flyer, BASE jumper, HALO jumper and stuntman. He is a member of the Red Bull Air Force, and is considered to be a pioneer of the skydiving discipline of swooping.

Vincent Reffet was a French BASE jumper, skydiver, wingsuit flyer, and jetman.

On August 27, 1967, eighteen skydivers mistakenly parachuted into Lake Erie, four or five nautical miles (7.5–9.3 km) from Huron, Ohio, United States, after jumping from a civilian North American B-25 Mitchell. Sixteen drowned. The plane's pilot, unable to see the surface through heavy cloud cover, had relied on guidance from the Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center, which had incorrectly advised him that he was over Ortner Airport—actually twelve to thirteen miles (19–21 km) away. Jumping through cloud cover in violation of Federal Aviation Administration rules, the skydivers were unaware that they were over water until they punched through the clouds at 4,000 feet (1,200 m). Despite efforts by many to shed heavy gear, only two were able to stay above water for long enough to be rescued.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Luke Aikins". Red Bull . Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  2. ↑ Dunlap, Tiare (July 26, 2016). "Meet the Husband and Father Who's Skydiving from 25,000 Feet Without a Parachute". People . Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Skydiver Luke Aikins makes parachute-free jump". CBS News. July 30, 2016.
  4. 1 2 Rogers, John (July 31, 2016). "Skydiver becomes first person to jump and land without chute, a net was used". The Washington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Skydiver to jump from plane without a parachute on live TV". The Guardian. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  6. ↑ Rogers, John (August 4, 2016). "Skydiver becomes first person to jump and land without chute". Herald-Review.com. Archived from the original on August 4, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  7. ↑ Pool, Michael Clark (October 26, 2021). "Luke Aikins". Red Bull. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  8. ↑ "Contracting Profile: Para Tactics LLC Shelton WA". govtribe.com. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  9. 1 2 "Skydiver becomes first person to jump and land without a parachute". Mashable. Associated Press. July 31, 2016. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  10. ↑ Staff. "Profile – Luke Aikins | D-21189". parachutistonline.com. Archived from the original on August 5, 2016. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  11. ↑ Astor, Maggie (July 30, 2016). "Skydiver Survives Jump From 25,000 Feet, and Without a Parachute". The New York Times. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Luke Aikins". Red Bull Stratos . Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  13. ↑ Levine, Aaron (July 18, 2016). "Graham's Luke Aikins prepares for 25,000-foot jump without a parachute". KCPQ . Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  14. 1 2 "World first: Skydiver plummets 25,000 feet – with no parachute". CNN. July 31, 2016. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Daredevil survives 25,000-foot jump without chute over Simi Valley | Video". Ventura County Star . Associated Press. July 30, 2016. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Skydiver Luke Aikins Lands History-Making Jump From 25,000 Feet – With No Parachute or Wing Suit – For "Stride Gum Presents Heaven Sent"" (Press release). Mondelez International. July 31, 2016. Retrieved July 31, 2016– via PR Newswire.
  17. 1 2 "This Man Jumped Out of a Plane With No Parachute". National Geographic. Archived from the original on August 1, 2016. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  18. ↑ Cooper, Charlie (May 23, 2012). "Gary Connery lands safely after 2,400 ft helicopter jump without parachute". The Independent . Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  19. ↑ "Jumping without a parachute". The Washington Post. August 23, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Plane to Plane Exchange" . Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  21. ↑ "Wingsuit History". Archived from the original on May 13, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  22. ↑ "F.A.A. Revokes Pilot Licenses After Midair Plane-Swapping Stunt". The New York Times. May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  23. ↑ Mendoza, Jordan. "Pilots who unsuccessfully attempted first-ever 'plane swap' have licenses revoked by FAA". USA TODAY. Retrieved November 13, 2023.


Records
Preceded by Highest jump without a parachute (7.620 km)
July 30, 2016 – present 		Succeeded by
Current record
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