Gary Connery, who became the first man to ever land a wingsuit without deploying a parachute, officially announced today that he was flying at a combined speed of 70 mph when he hit the cardboard box rig in a farmer's field in Henley-on-Thames last week.

Unofficial reports over the last few days had suggested that the professional stuntman landed anywhere from 15 mph to 80 mph. During training Gary had been able to consistently fly his wingsuit at 55 mph. However data has now been retrieved from the Flysight GPS unit that was on his neck brace, which confirmed that he impacted the boxes at a combined speed of 69.7 mph.

Gary's flight from the helicopter at 2,400ft to the box rig on the ground took just 40 seconds. During his dive he reached a combined speed of 102 mph ( 84 mph horizontally and 59 mph vertically ) whilst having to deal with the air turbulence and continuously adjusting his steep approach angle to stay on target. 

At a height of 250ft, Gary levelled out but was still approaching too fast at 85mph. Once he flew over the front of the box rig, Gary was then able to 'flare' his wingsuit, maximising his air resistance, which brought his speed down to a ‘safer' 70 mph when he 'landed'.

After the landing, Gary and his wingsuit were inspected and no damage on either was found, much to the relief of his wife, Vivienne!

"It had been a life-long ambition to land without deploying a parachute", said Gary, 42, husband and father of 2, "from my first wingsuit flight 8 years ago I've known that it was possible to land a wingsuit. We've been testing and training intensively for the last 6 months and now it's finally happened. I still can't believe it's over and I've done it!

Jeb Corliss an American wingsuit flyer, who had much publicised his aim to be the first to land a wingsuit, said: "Because of movies, people don't really understand what they witnessed. It's monumental for a human being to land at those speeds. It took an enormous amount of courage."

That's not the end though; Gary's next challenge is to be launched encased as a human firework, which then goes off at 1000ft releasing Gary back into freefall where he then deploys a parachute! "I also have a couple of other things planned but they are staying firmly under here for now!" Gary says, pointing to under his cap.

-ENDS -

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About Gary Connery: Follow this link to Gary's IMDB:http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0175224

• Competed at national level in white water racing in kayaks as a teenager.

• Competed at international level in ski racing for five seasons, reaching 8^thin Britain

• Joined the Army, 3 Para, at 23 where he started military parachuting, skydiving and BASE jumping

• To date, has completed over 880 skydives and 450 BASE jumps

• First wingsuit jump over 8 years ago

• Joined the UK Stunt Register in November 1997 and became a stunt co-ordinator in 2003

Gary's most notorious falls/jumps include

• • "The Beach" starring Leonardo di Caprio doing a waterfall jump

  • Doubling for Gary Oldman on "Dead Fish" jumping from Tower Bridge into a moving boat

  • Falling from a car as it travels over a waterfall in "Indiana Jones",doubling for John Hurt

  • Doubling for Rowan Atkinson on "Johnny English Reborn"

  • BASE jumps of note include The Eiffel Tower, Nelsons Column, The London Eye, inside The Millenium Dome, Beachy Head on a BMX Bike and The Hilton Hotel Park Lane, London