3 years ago

World News Report Today
April 21st 2022!

Two Pilots Will Switch Planes Mid Air Live Sunday! First Attempt Ever!

Cousins to attempt never-before-seen 'plane swap' by flying, changing planes midair
Two cousins are looking to make aviation history this weekend in the Arizona skies as they attempt the first-ever "plane swap."

The duo, Luke Aikins, 48, and Andy Farrington, 39, are seasoned skydivers and pilots and are both part of the Red Bull Air Force aviation crew.

On Sunday afternoon, Aikins and Farrington will attempt the never-seen-before trick by flying their planes close together before going into a nosedive at 14,000 feet.

There, the plane engines will stop as a custom-made airbrake will "hold the planes in a controlled descent" at 140 mph. During the descent, each pilot will eject and skydive into the other's plane, gaining control before landing safely.

The plan is for all of it to happen in about 40 seconds, according to Red Bull.

"Plane Swap is the pinnacle of my career, and my goal is to inspire the world and show that anything is possible. You can set your mind on something that at times seems wild, crazy and unattainable, but through ambition and creativity, you can make it happen," Aikins said in a statement.

This won't be the first time either of the pilots will try for history. In 2016, Aikins became the first person to jump from 25,000 feet and land safely without a parachute, directing his body in free fall and landing on a 10,000-square-foot net.

The key to the mission is the custom-made airbrakes, made with the help of Paulo Iscold, engineer and professor at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. What the pilots needed was something to keep the planes steady because the pilots will enter through a door "about the width of a household refrigerator."

The brake was developed and tested multiple times over the air in San Luis Obispo, more than 150 miles north of Los Angeles. After all the test flights and modifications to various parts of the planes, Iscold said, the stunt is ready to go.

"It's literally all the work that I've been doing for a year is for 40 seconds of dive flight," Iscold said, adding that the project isn't meant to test the future of aviation but for fun.

"What we're trying to do here is to inspire people and to show people that no matter how big the problem ahead of you is, if you treat the problem well and if you eat the elephant piece-by-piece, you can always eat the whole elephant."

The stunt will livestreamed Sunday on Hulu at 7 p.m. ET.

https://news.yahoo.com/cousins-attempt-never-seen-plane-193845339.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

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