Nobody like Red Bull to create original and risky events that simply leave us speechless. They did it in 2012 with Red Bull Stratos and Felix Baumgartner’s jump from 39,000 meters and with David Coulthard’s spins in his F1 on the helipad of a luxury hotel in Dubai. Magnetic events that we cannot stop looking at and that also make us aware of the brand that presents them.
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Well, Red Bull is about to strike again. The new happening is called Plane Swap (change of airplanes) and has been planned for the last ten years. Pilots Luke Aikins and Andy Farrington will attempt to switch planes mid-flight. Pilots, each in a different aircraft, will soar to a height of 14,000 feet (4,200 meters) before shutting down their engines, dropping vertically and ditching at the same time. The pilots will pass each other in the air and try to get into the cockpit of the other plane to control it before it’s too late. A perfect mix of speed, adrenaline and precision to show that the laws of physics can be tamed and raise the brand name.
Both planes have been equipped with planks that function as brakes to slow down acceleration and make the act possible.
Aikins and Farrington are two experienced pilots and skydivers who are part of the Red Bull Airforce Team. In 2016 Aikins jumped from 25,000 feet without a parachute into a huge net in the middle of the desert that stopped his fall. For his part, Farrington has made more than 20,000 parachute jumps in his career and has been an extra in various Hollywood mega-productions such as Iron Man 3 and Transformers 3 .
The Red Bull Plane Swap will take place on April 25 and will be broadcast live on the Hulu streaming platform.