Jumping out of an aircraft without a parachute is universally recognized as an act of suicide. With a typical human hitting terminal velocity (maximum attainable speed) of about 120-ish miles per hour, there is very little time to figure out a way to save your ass, unless a friend brings you a parachute in the sky. Several people have successfully performed this act, notably Travis Pastrana, but he was nowhere near the first to do it.

In 1965 Rod Pack hopped out of a Cessna 206 and into history as the first chuteless skydiver, with Bob Allen handing off the parachute at 10,000ft AGL (above ground level). Bill Cole did the chuteless jump twice, once in 1969 and again in 1972. He also wrestled a Bengal Tiger for a promotional stunt and parachuted into a nudist camp, so let it never be said that Cole isn’t the brave, adventurous type.

But what about us, you may ask? There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell we’d jump out of a plane with a parachute ON, let alone without one. Pack, Cole, Pastrana and anyone else who has performed this act have our respect for having titanium nerves, brass balls and that slightly psychotic edge to push the envelope.

Click the videos below to watch no-chute skydiving, both then and now!

(Rod Pack picture courtesy of ParachuteHistory.com)