British Stuntman Becomes First to Make Wing-Suit Landing Without Parachute
UPDATE: Video below. Gary Connery, a 42-year-old UK stunt diver, has a résumé including Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Batman 
movies, and Downton Abbey. Today he’s the first man to jump out of a helicopter and plummet 2,400 feet to the ground without a parachute… On purpose… And emerge unscathed. He reached a speed of 75 miles an hour during his 40-second fall. This is a milestone in the annals of stunts, accoording to The New York Times which has a fantastic account of Connery’s feat and Reuters the photo. To accomplish the stunt, Connery wore a custom designed wing-suit from a Florida company. The rest was all courage:
They have stuntmen on Downtown Abbey?
Came here to ask the same. What scenes have they needed stunt people?
A you guys nuts? The backdrop of the second season was WW1.
Ah yes…most of the time was spent just wandering around the trench and ducking/wincing every now and then. Forgot about the part where they actually got off their asses and went to battle.
Interesting how everyone clapped when he landed. How did they know he was OK?
They clapped because he didn’t miss the boxes.
That was one puffy wing-suit (almost like a built-in parachute)….but I guess that was the idea.
I still dream of a base jump with a wing-suit where after an epic flight you pull up at the end into a light stall and drop a few feet to the ground -no piles of boxes…not technically possible…yet.
“I’m going to jump out of a helicopter without a parachute.”
“Why?”
“To see if I survive or not.”
“What a brilliant idea!”
Mission Impossible: Flying Squirrel Protocol
Brilliant.
Looked like he dropped and dropped to his death. How’d they know he landed alive?
“The rest was all courage:”
No, I think you meant, the rest was all balls.