Podcasts in English

Richard: For this week's podcastsinenglish.com we're talking about a man who jumped out of a helicopter without a parachute and survived. So Jackie, you actually saw a video of this, didn't you?

Jackie: Yes. It was absolutely amazing.

Richard: So who is this guy and what did he do?

Jackie: His name is Gary Connery, as in Sean Connery, and basically he jumped from a helicopter without a parachute and landed.

Richard: [laughs] There's more to it than that. He didn't just jump out just wearing... what... well, what was he wearing?

Jackie:  He was wearing this special outfit called a wingsuit which basically has got material between the arms and the body and between the legs so you look something like a flying squirrel.

Richard: Oh yes, I know the flying squirrels. And how high up was he?

Jackie: Well, as you said he was in a helicopter and it took him up to 2,400 feet which is about 730 metres.

Richard: He didn't just fall down straight, did he? He must have glided like one of those foxes*.

Jackie: Probably, yes.

Richard: So why was it so special then?

Jackie: Now this was a sky diver doing a... sky diving which... which he's done hundreds and hundreds of times before, the only difference is that usually when people skydive towards the end they use a parachute and the big thing about this is the first time that someone landed without using a parachute.

Richard: And how long was the flight then?

Jackie: Um... it wasn't very long it was less than a minute, about 50 seconds.

Richard: Oh right, really quick then. So how fast was he going then?

Jackie: Well, because he... because it was quite a short flight and because he was wearing the special suit he didn't go that fast. It was about um... 80... 80 miles an hour. About 120 something kilometres an hour.

Richard: [laughs] He wasn't going 80 miles an hour when he hit the ground though was he?

Jackie: No, I think he gets up to speeds of that but he was going pretty fast when he landed.

Richard: How did he land?

Jackie: Well, that's the main question really. How to do it without using a parachute? How to land without killing yourself, basically.

Richard: How to stop slowly.

Jackie: Exactly. You can't land on the water, you're gonna die. So people have been thinking for ages and ages how to stop yourself dying on impact.

Richard: And?

Jackie: [laughs] The answer was cardboard boxes.

Richard: Well, of course. Of course he landed on a cardboard box, did he?

Jackie: No. There were 18,600 boxes.

Richard: [Both laugh] Did they have to go looking for him in these boxes then?

Jackie: Yeah

Richard: And how did he feel?

Jackie: Well, apparently he was just completely over the moon, completely elated.

Richard: I think I've seen that before on stunts, I think. They land on cardboard boxes, yes. It's supposed to be... break your fall, doesn't it?

Jackie: Yes, exactly. You want to break your fall without breaking a leg.

Richard: And I presume he landed okay did he? Did he hurt himself at all?

Jackie: No. He was absolutely fine, he walked away from it.