Viewers tuning into this week’s episode of SABC3’s reality show, the BAR-ONE Manhunt, on Wednesday, 17 February at 8.30pm, will see the remaining 11 contenders parachuting (attached to skydiving instructors) and doing aerobatic manouevres in stunt aircraft.
One of the contenders, Collen “Chubster’ Mphuthi, had never been in an aircraft before last week’s Kilimanjaro trip. He took up the challenge for this week’s episode and agreed to jump out of one aircraft and be hurtled around the skies in another one.
The contenders’ day at the Rustenburg Skydiving Club began with a thorough briefing on their tandem skydive before they did the 3,000 metre jump.
In the afternoon, the contenders climbed into the passenger seats of Extra 300 aerobatics aircraft piloted by ace stunt aviators, Ian Billings and Barrie Eeles, to indulge in a series of breathtaking stunts in four-minute flips, without G-suits to help their bodies cope with the G-forces. With forces of between +6G and -3G, the BAR-ONE Men endured rolls, loops, stall turns and inverted flying.
“All of our contestants lived up to the ethos of the BAR-ONE Manhunt, and took on the day’s challenges with gusto,’ says series producer Francois van Wyk. “I think it’s also fair to say that they had a whale of a time, judging by the way they whooped and hollered after each of the challenges.’
