Blue Dots Partners

In our First Monday newsletter last November, I wrote about the life and death of alignment, when in 2006, 400 skydivers from 30 countries gathered in Thailand to break the world record for the largest free-fall formation ever built. You can see the amazing video here. I was making the point that meticulous planning and perfect alignment made the difference between success and a tragic outcome.

Ten years later, in Simi Valley, California, an amazing skydiver and experienced airplane and helicopter pilot named Luke Aikins decided to attempt a stunt called “Heaven Sent” that has never purposely been done before. A few weeks ago, on July 30, he leaped out of a small plane flying at an altitude of 25,000 feet to accomplish the highest jump ever done without a parachute. You can see the incredible video here.

Leveraging his amazing skydiving experience with over 18,000 jumps under his belt and armed with a simple GPS, Luke leaped out of the aircraft, breathing oxygen to avoid suffering from hypoxia and passing out during his fall. His target was a 100 feet by 100 feet net. His jump lasted a mere 2 minutes, compared to the 2 years it took him to meticulously prepare and train for the stunt.

His other big challenge, apart from hitting the net, was that he had to land on his back, because his body would dramatically bend as his fall was slowed down by the net. In order to accomplish that, just a brief moment before hitting the net at a terminal velocity of 120 miles per hour, Luke had to quickly roll on his back. You see Luke on his back moments before he made contact with the net on the picture below:

This is obviously an extreme example of precision alignment. I calculated that from the aircraft, the maximal angle deviation to miss the net was a mere 0.002 degrees. As we often tout at Blue Dots, alignment is truly everything. Without it, Luke would not be here, smiling and enjoying life with his wife and his children.