mid air transfer

[tartare]

Anyone able to help with this question?
Several years ago I saw a sequence in a film of hi-jackers transferring from a biz-jet to an airliner, in flight, along a long, slack piece of line, using some sort of harness type arrangement.
The a/c concerned were flying in formation, and it looked very much like it was a stunt that was actually performed... not computer graphics.
Having read about devices like the Fulton Skyhook, which sound insanely dangerous, but do actually exist - and are used to extract special forces and others from the ground to an a/c in flight...I wonder if anyone knows if this is a technique that has been tried to get a person from one a/c to another in flight?

[mention1]

Was it Executive Decision? "Oceanic Airways - The fun is getting you halfway there!".

Or maybe Airforce One with the 74 and Herc?

Or maybe the best: "Airport 75" from the Helo to the 74. Classic in many interpretations of the word!

[tartare]

Have researched it and realised what it was I was remembering.
The scene in `Cliffhanger' involving aerial stuntman Simon Crane.

In 1993, Crane performed the dangerous-looking aerial transfer for the film Cliffhanger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliffhanger_%28film%29), for which he earned an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness_Book_of_World_Records) for the costliest aerial stunt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stunt) ever performed. Crane was paid $1 million to perform the aerial transfer scene, where he crossed between two planes at an altitude (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altitude) of 4,572 m (15,000 ft).

Jeez. They actually did it. I think the bizjet was a Falcon. You'd have to be flying v. close to the stall...

[David Eyre]

The aircraft involved were a Douglas DC-9-32 and Lockheed JetStar.

There's a photo on the IMDB website:
http://www.imdb.com/gallery/hh/0938103/rearendplanes.jpg.html?path=gallery&path_key=0106582&seq=2

The stunt was a filmed from a Learjet with a periscope camera system, a B-25Mitchell bomber with 3 cameras, cameras in the Jet Star and DC-9 and a camera in a helicopter. The stunt was a year in planning, cost one million dollars to rehearse and shoot and was performed near Durango, Colorado in November 1992.

From Anecdotage.com:

Cliffhanger Stunt

During the production of Cliffhanger (1993), famed stunt coordinator Simon Crane was enlisted to perform the greatest one-man aerial stunt in cinema history. His assignment? To exit the tail of a DC-9 at 15,000 feet and slide down a wind-buffeted connecting rope to the open door of a smaller JetStar getaway plane.

"During one rehearsal, flying at 140 knots (any slower and the engines could have stalled), Crane was winched out from the tail of the DC-9, briefly hit a patch of dead air, and was twice slammed into the plane's tail, forcing him to release from the rope and deploy his parachute.

For the actual filming of the stunt high over the Rocky Mountains, that part went off as planned, but when he neared the JetStar, the weighted end of the rope looped around its wing, hindering Crane's ability to hook up with the rescue winch being manned by someone inside the smaller plane. Suspended midair for more than a minute, Crane was growing fatigued in the subzero wind when the pilot chose to steer the plane toward him.

Miraculously, Crane made it inside the hatch, getting the all-important shot, but was immediately yanked back outsilde. As the crew listened to him sliding along the top of the plane, he released, missed being sucked into the roaring engine by about six feet, and blew over the tail into the wild blue yonder. He parachuted down and was picked up by a helicopter — his balls approximately 84 percent bigger than before the stunt."

Here's a photo of the actual DC-9 used in the movie - N1295L (formerly with Delta, and repainted for then movie):
http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?cnsearch=47525/631&distinct_entry=true

Not sure about the identity of the JetStar or what happened to it...

Regards,
David

[tartare]

Thanks David... v. interesting.

[Lasiorhinus]

Those patches of 'dead air' are dangerous, arent they. Hope there's none of that close enough to the ground for people to breathe in..:mad:

[Runaway Gun]

Hang on, how big were his Kohunas before the stunt?

I hear that Sly paid extra money from his own picket for the stunt to go ahead, as the story line wasn't as exciting without this part taking place.

[Torres]

"..Fulton Skyhook, which sound insanely dangerous.."

Hmmmph! I resemble that remark!!!

:{

[27/09]

"During one rehearsal, flying at 140 knots (any slower and the engines could have stalled

Wonder what sort of engines they had that stalled at 140 knots? :confused:

[tail wheel]

Probably this one........

http://www.flightglobal.com/assets/getAsset.aspx?ItemID=14424

http://www.flightglobal.com/assets/getAsset.aspx?ItemID=14419

:} :}

[Lasiorhinus]

If its about to stall, you can always just push the clutch in. That'll stop it.

[18-Wheeler]

If its about to stall, you can always just push the clutch in. That'll stop it.

In the 747 we also use rich mixture and sometimes carby heat.

[Kiwiguy]

Airport 75 predated CGI visual effects. I would bet even money that a guy was filmed winching down from a Super Stallion to the 747 in that.

[AlJassmi]

There was an episode in the tv series "The Unit" where a character was lifted out with (i think) a Fulton Skyhook. Looked pretty cool. Don't know how technically accurate it was or if it was an actual stunt rather than CGI.

[I wish]

Hi all,

My first post :)

Then there is this kind of air to air - no rope :eek:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZNhQUHQZcI

Cheers

[tartare]

I'd heard about this from a skydiver I used to work with... but seeing it... man, that guy is just nuts!
See this, by the way... the Fulton system in action...

http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=PErEsNhDmo8

[Chippie Chappie]

I Wish

Old hat, been done before. Seen James Bond do it in Golden Eye but that was off a dam wall using a motor bike without a parachute. Much harder :}

[scran]

IIRC - the Fulton system was used in the 70's movie "Green Berets", when Duke Wayne and his boys snuck behind enemy lines and kidnapped a VC General, and used a Herc to snatch him away before they exfiltrated......
All together now


Fighting soldiers from the sky
Fearless men who jump and die
Men who mean just what they say
The brave men of the Green Berets



:ok:

[compressor stall]

I am pretty sure that a French guy with a wing suit jumped from an aircraft and flew back towards and got back into the same aircraft with NO parachute about 6-7 years ago. He was killed a few years back in a normal jump.

[criticalmass]

Patrick De Guayardon (I think) was the French skydiver who went into freefall and re-entered the aircraft he had jumped from (A Pilatus Turbo Porter I believe). I think he did wear a parachute for the stunt, but it may not have required re-packing afterwards. The cameraman who did the filming was also a pretty hot skydiver.

[compressor stall]

Hmm, a quick google and it makes no mention of the parachuteless air to air. I stand corrected. :oh: