tom cruise wing walking

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Tom Cruise spotted dangling from airplane wing while filming 'Mission: Impossible 8'

"mission: impossible 8" will be released in 2023.

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Tom Cruise was photographed performing his own nail-biting stunt while filming " Mission: Impossible 8. "

Cruise, 59, climbed out of the cockpit of a 1941 Boeing B75N1 Stearman biplane at 2,000 feet and sat on the wing. He then dangled himself upside down from the wing. As Cruise hung upside down, the plane flipped upside down so that the actor was sitting upright on the wing.

Tom Cruise is seen rehearsing one of his most dangerous stunts ever as he hangs upside down on the wing of a war plane as it does a loop the loop 2000 feet in the air. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

Cruise was attached to the plane with a harness during the stunt.

The "Top Gun" actor has been taking flying lessons to prepare for the filming of "Mission: Impossible 8."

TOM CRUISE SURPRISES HIKERS AFTER LANDING HELICOPTER, PARACHUTING OFF CLIFF

Cruise began filming for "Mission: Impossible 8" immediately after wrapping up filming for "Mission: Impossible 7." Both films were announced at the same time, with one being released in 2022 and one in 2023.

The coronavirus did stall filming of " Mission: Impossible 7 ," which pushed the expected release date of "Mission: Impossible 8" to July of 2023.

Tom Cruise is seen rehearsing one of his most dangerous stunts ever. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

He hung upside down on the wing of a war plane as it does a loop-the-loop. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

The plane was at 2,000 feet. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

The Hollywood actor was spotted climbing out of the iconic biplane. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

He clung to the wing as it performed a nose dive. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

The stunt will appear in "Mission: Impossible 8." (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

The 59-year-old actor was seen sitting in the front of the 1941 Boeing B75N1 Stearman biplane. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

The pilot sat behind him as the plane took off from Duxford airfield in Cambridgeshire. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

Then at 2,000 feet Cruise can be seen climbing out of the cock pit. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

He then crawled onto the left wing of the plane as it flew through the sky. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

Cruise, who was attached to the 80-year-old plane by a harness, dangled himself upside down from the wing. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

At that moment the plane flipped upside down. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

The move left Cruise sitting upright on the wing. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

He then clung on as the plane did a dive and a loop-the-loop high above the Cambridgeshire countryside. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

Cruise then crawled back into the cock pit before the plane landed. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

The actor has been having flying lessons in the bright yellow plane for several weeks. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

Cruise has only just finished filming the seventh Mission Impossible. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

Filming for "Mission: Impossible 8" began immediately after the filming for the seventh movie ended. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

Cruise is known for performing his own stunts during his action-packed films. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

He once climbed the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

And he is known for the scene in "Rogue Nation" where he clings to the side of an Airbus A400M at 1,000 feet. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

Cruise has said that he enjoys doing his own stunts. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

"It’s obviously a highly skilled task but as usual he has no plans to cut any corners or bring in a stuntman," a source told The Sun. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

"Filming has only just wrapped on Mission: Impossible 7 but Tom has not given himself a break. And trying to film jaw-dropping scenes with an 80-year-old plane is particularly dangerous." (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

Cruise has a helicopter license and a fixed-wings pilot's license. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

Tom Cruise practices a stunt for "Mission: Impossible 8" in a yellow World War II era plane. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

Another plane flew alongside to practice filming the stunt for the movie. (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

Tom Cruise prepares to perform a stunt while filming "Mission: Impossible 8." (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

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Cruise is known for his stunts, including the time he climbed the Burj Khalifa, known as the world's tallest building.

Cruise recently reflected on his career and his decision to perform all of his own stunts in his action movies.

Tom Cruise prepares to perform a stunt while filming "Mission: Impossible 8." (Geoff Robinson / Terry-Harris.com - Splash News)

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"I am a very physical actor, and I love doing them," Cruise said during an appearance on "The Graham Norton Show." "I study and train and take a lot of time figuring it all out. I have broken a lot of bones."

"The first time of any stunt is nerve-wracking, but it also exhilarating," he added. "I have been told a few times during shooting a stunt to stop smiling."

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Tom Cruise practices insane stunt on the wing of an airplane

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It’s risky business being one of Hollywood’s biggest action stars.

Just ask Tom Cruise, who was spotted climbing onto the wing of a tiny airplane on Saturday while practicing a stunt for a film in these photos obtained by Page Six.

In the pics you can see Cruise, 59, hanging upside down as the plane itself flips over to perform a “loop-the-loop” mid-air so that it appears the actor is actually sitting upright. It’s easy to spot Cruise in the pics due to the plane being yellow and his protective bodysuit and headgear being brown.

A safety harness was worn by the the Scientologist to keep him from falling off of the plane as it whirled around the open skies with him moving along the wing.

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The plane being used for the stunt is a 1941 Boeing B75N1 Stearman biplane in which the pilot sits in the back. It took off from Duxford airfield to practice the wild stunt at 2,000 feet over the Cambridgeshire countryside.

The stunt is likely for the eighth installment of Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible” franchise, which has reportedly been filming throughout the United Kingdom for several months, according to the BBC .

Photos show that Cruise was sitting in the plane’s front seats before it took off. Once the plane was in the sky he appeared to crawl out of his seat and onto the wing to practice the terrifying stunt.

A second small plane can be seen following close behind Cruise’s stunt plane, likely to practice filming the stunt itself for the film.

Death defying stunts are nothing new for the actor who was also spotted filming another on a train earlier this year, as Page Six exclusively reported, for another “Mission: Impossible” film.

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Tom Cruise stuns fans by standing on biplane wing in MID-AIR while filming 'Mission Impossible 7'

MPUMALANGA, SOUTH AFRICA: Tom Cruise is shooting for yet another part of the renowned 'Mission: Impossible' series. Video showing Cruise, 60, reportedly performing a stunt for 'Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One' while perched atop a vintage World War II airplane that was flying over South Africa's Blyde River Canyon surfaced online.

In the video, which was allegedly shown at CinemaCon in April, Cruise said, "Hi everyone! Wish I could be there with you - I'm sorry for all the extra noise. As you can see, we are filming the latest installment of ' Mission: Impossible' , and right now we are over gorgeous Blyde Canyon in stunning South Africa."

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Cruise continues to say in the video that "we're making this film for the big screen for audiences to see in your wonderful theaters," but director Christopher McQuarrie, who enters the frame on a second biplane, interrupts him and tells him they must resume filming because of dwindling light and low fuel.

I just really love Tom Cruise okay pic.twitter.com/DTDk5erIsR — Stephen Ford (@StephenSeanFord) September 5, 2022

"Oh yeah, we gotta roll, huh? Low on fuel, that's not good. I'm sorry, we've got to go," Cruise says before McQuarrie cries "action!" and with Cruise still seated atop his red biplane, the two aircraft fly off at high speed. Cruise is widely regarded for the theatrical stunts he contributes to the film.

In August, Jason and Sarah Haygarth, a married couple dog-walking pair, noticed him filming a helicopter action scene in a "very remote" and "quite hilly" area of the Lake District National Park in northwest England. "Toward the end of the walk, last peak, we start seeing helicopters coming up a ravine and dropping people off the top... We were like, this didn't seem right," Jason spoke to  Extra.

"We found out the people, they were the cameramen," he added. "When we came to the peak, we got stopped by what must have been a production team member, saying, 'You can't go. We're going to land the helicopter off the top' So we took a selfie." It turned out to be the day when Cruise was in the midst of filming a risky stunt scene for the eagerly awaited 'Mission: Impossible film'.

Sarah and Jason soon encountered Cruise "strapping himself into a paraglider" after being given the all-clear to continue their climb. Sarah told Extra, "I could tell it was him straight away. By the time we got there, people were talking about Mission: Impossible was being filmed but I was expecting a stunt double."

"He apologized first for the noise. 'Sorry, guys, I know we spoiled your walk with the noise,'" Cruise told them, according to Jason. Sarah added, "And then he said, 'I like your dog.'" Jason recalled, "We asked, 'What are you doing?' Then he said, 'I'm going to jump off.' I was like, 'You're going to do what?' Just before he jumped off, he said, 'See ya! Hopefully, this goes well,' and we said, 'Good luck, Tom.'" The seventh edition of the franchise, 'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1', is expected to be released in July 2023.

Simple Flying

How tom cruise held onto the side of a flying airbus a400m.

The actor is known for his love of high-octane stunts.

US actor Tom Cruise is known for starring in the action-packed Mission: Impossible film series. These movies often feature a range of daring stunts, with Cruise well known for performing these thrilling sequences himself rather than relying on the use of a body double. One of these saw him hang onto the side of an Airbus A400M in flight, but how was this done? Let's take a look and find out.

What is the Airbus A400M?

It is a scene in the fifth Mission: Impossible film, known as Rogue Nation , that involves an Airbus A400M 'Atlas.' This four-engine military transporter first flew in December 2009, before entering service with the French Armée de l'Air et de l'Espace (Air and Space Force) in 2013. According to its website, Airbus has produced 116 A400Ms from 178 orders (including prototypes).

The A400M is a versatile transport aircraft capable of landing on runways comprising all different kinds of surfaces, including gravel and sand. The German Luftwaffe is the largest operator of the A400M, which ranks between two of its fellow transporters, the Lockheed C-130 'Hercules' and the Boeing C-17 Globemaster in terms of size. For more on the aircraft, see our guide to the A400M .

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The Mission Impossible movie scene

In order to get an idea of the task at hand, let's start by taking a look at the finished version of the scene in question. The incredible sight of Cruise hanging off the aircraft surely had many viewers questioning just how such a shot could be filmed without a green screen.

Keeping Cruise safe

Film and aviation are two very similar industries when it comes to their focus on safety. As such, when the two worlds collided to film this scene, there were plenty of procedures in place to keep safety levels high. The film's Director of Photography, Robert Elswit, explained to The Hollywood Reporter that Cruise was securely fastened to the plane while filing the daring stunt. Specifically, he states:

" Tom was in a full-body harness, and he’s cabled and wired to the plane through [its] door. Inside the aircraft was an aluminum truss that was carefully bolted to the plane, which held the wires that went through the door, which held Tom ."

Get all the latest aviation news right here on Simple Flying!

You can also see at the end of the clip below that Cruise removes special contact lenses from his eyes after shooting the scene. Additionally, Elswit also noted that " if anything hit him at those speeds it could be really bad. They were very careful about cleaning the runway so there were no rocks ."

A limited window

What made the scene even more impressive was the limited amount of time that the team involved had in which to pull it off. Overall, there were just 48 hours at their disposal to perfect the shot using F-WWMZ, one of five A400M testbeds. According to ATDB.aero, it later bore registration EC-406. Today, ch-aviation.com shows that it remains in the hands of Airbus under the registration A4M006.

During this period, the aircraft took off with Cruise attached eight times before the team got the sequence that they wanted. The filming took place at RAF Wittering, where, at times, the plane was 5,000 feet above the ground. Elswit adds:

" They go up, get altitude, make a complete circuit, and land. I think it’s up in the air for about 6-8 minutes before it lands again. It had to be at least 1,000 ft. up ."

The final task was to digitally remove the harnesses from the shot. This gave the impression that Cruise was holding on to the plane with nothing more than his bare hands. Even with the harness, the daring stunt was one that no doubt even got experienced stuntman Cruise's blood pumping even more than those watching!

Carrying on with Top Gun

Of course, this was not Cruise's first or last move with aircraft feats and stunts. He is perhaps even better known for Top Gun in 1986. This went further with the sequel Top Gun: Maverick in 2022, which really demonstrates his love of aircraft. This sees Cruise fly in several different aircraft, including his own P-51 Mustang aircraft.

This saw Cruise, and other actors, flying in the F-18. For this, they undertook an intensive training program , with flying moving from Cessna 172 aircraft right up to fast jets. This was undoubtedly a success and makes the movie extremely realistic. Speaking to Simple Flying about the program, Kevin LaRosa Jr , he film’s aerial coordinator , explained:

“When I would watch the footage it would literally look like they were flying… In a way they were seasoned pilots from going through this training program. They knew where to look, how to talk. Without that training, I don’t think the footage in the movie would look like it looks today... I think that training was the right thing to do, and we all see it when we watch the movie.”

What do you make of Tom Cruise's A400M antics, or his flying in Top Gun? Do you know of any other similarly thrilling plane-related movie stunts? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Sources: Airbus , ATDB.aero , ch-aviation.com , The Hollywood Reporter

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Yes, That Really Was Tom Cruise Hanging From an Airplane

Paramount UK tweeted this is indeed one of the biggest movies stars in the world hanging off a plane

We weren’t positive yesterday, but Paramount UK has confirmed that the crazy guy hanging off an airplane was indeed Tom Cruise. Performing one of his signature stunts for the fifth Mission: Impossible film, Cruise was suspended 5,000 feet in the air from an Airbus A400M — while wearing a tailored suit and wingtips, naturally. Newly released photos from September show the actor hanging from a dual safety harness on the door of the military plane, which was flown over the British countryside with the movie star attached.

Cruise’s Ethan Hunt dangles from the tallest building in the world for Ghost Protocol

This was a risky stunt even for Cruise, who free-climbed the cliffs of Dead Horse Point, Utah for Mission: Impossible 2 and dangled from the world’s tallest building , the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, while shooting Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol. Basically, Cruise has used his role as super-spy Ethan Hunt as an excuse to indulge his inner daredevil. “I’m always thinking of different stunts,” Cruise said in 2010 . “I look at buildings and think, how could I climb it? How could I jump out?… When I was a little kid, I used to go up on a roof and jump off the roof into the snow and do flips and stuff, and now I get to do it in movies.” Jumping into the snow, hanging from an airborne plane — it’s all the same when you’re Tom Cruise. We’ll get to see his outdoor airplane ride next December when Mission: Impossible 5 hits theaters.

Photo credit: @FAMEFLYNET PICTURES, Paramount Pictures

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NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

Tom Cruise casually hangs upside down on airplane wing as he rehearses most dangerous stunt yet

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Tom Cruise ’s thirst for adrenaline truly knows no bounds as the actor was spotted rehearsing arguably his most dangerous stunt yet – hanging upside down on the wing of an airplane mid-air. 

The Mission: Impossible star took to the skies in Cambridgeshire in a yellow 1941 Boeing B75N1 Stearman biplane. 

After departing the Duxford airfield, Tom, 59, ascended to the dizzying heights of 2,000 feet, at which point he obviously decided to climb out of the WWII plane. 

The Hollywood star had been sitting in the front of the aircraft with the pilot in the back, then proceeded to climb out of the cockpit before crawling onto the left wing. Tom was harnessed to the 80-year-old plane and was seen dangling himself upside down from the wing. The plane then flipped upside down so that Tom was sitting upright on the wing. 

Then the real adrenaline kicked in as the two-seater aircraft took a dive – with Tom still clinging on for dear life on the wing – as well as a loop-the-loop. The movie star, clad in a brown jumpsuit and black helmet, then crawled back into the cockpit as the plane descended to land. 

It’s not known what project Tom was rehearsing the stunt for as he recently wrapped up filming the upcoming Mission: Impossible 7, but it’s rumoured an eighth instalment of the franchise is in the works. 

Tom is renowned for performing his own stunts with each becoming more death-defying than the last. 

Some of his most famous include scaling the world’s tallest building, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, while he also clung to the side of an Airbus A400M at 1,000 feet in the opening scene of Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation. 

The actor’s co-star Rebecca Ferguson recently teased what’s in store for M:I7, and told Metro.co.uk at the Dune premiere: ‘It’s just darker, gruesome, character driven. Oh my god – things changing, the status quo – it’s chaos. 

‘And incredible stunts – but we all know that. It’s just more. More, more, more.’ 

Top Gun star Tom is a keen flyer and boasts both a helicopter licence and a fixed-wings pilot’s licence, which should stand him in good stead as he masters an 80-year-old aircraft.

A source recently told The Sun : ‘Tom had started to learn to fly a Boeing Stearman biplane earlier this year for a major stunt scene in Mission: Impossible 8.

‘It’s obviously a highly skilled task but as usual, he has no plans to cut any corners or bring in a stuntman. 

‘Filming has only just wrapped on Mission: Impossible 7 but Tom has not given himself a break.’ 

Mission: Impossible 7 is set for release on September 30, 2022.

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Meet Christopher McQuarrie, wingman to Tom Cruise’s death-defying maverick

This article was published more than 6 months ago. Some information may no longer be current.

Christopher McQuarrie attends the U.K. premiere of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, on June 22, in London. John Phillips/Getty Images

If Tom Cruise is the Maverick of defying death, undertaking increasingly ludicrous and often sky-high stunts in his action-heavy blockbusters, then Christopher McQuarrie is his wingman.

The director might have got his start in the industry making small-scale thrillers (writing Bryan Singer’s Public Access and The Usual Suspects , directing The Way of the Gun ), but ever since 2008, McQuarrie has been all-in on the Cruise canon. After working together on Singer’s 2008 Second World War thriller Valkyrie – Cruise starring, McQuarrie writing – the pair have almost exclusively worked with one another. McQuarrie has now written eight Cruise projects and directed four of them, including the latest instalment of the Mission: Impossible series, Dead Reckoning Part One .

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The film features easily the most ambitious stunt of either men’s careers: a motorcycle ride off a cliff that turns into a BASE jump that turns into ... something not to be spoiled. Shot without green screens or stunt doubles, the adrenaline-fuelled moment represents the high point of Cruise’s go-big-or-go-home relationship with the man he calls McQ.

Ahead of Dead Reckoning ’s release July 12, Cruise’s partner in crime spoke with The Globe and Mail about his own many impossible cinematic missions.

You’ve talked about how from the moment Dead Reckoning began filming in 2020, you knew there would be a moment when Tom Cruise drives a motorbike off a cliff. But you weren’t yet sure “why.” Is that typical of the set-pieces constructed for your Mission: Impossible movies – that set-piece concept comes before the narrative structure?

Sometimes. Not always. I tend to view plot and story as two entirely separate things. Plot is merely the reason or reasons why things need to happen. Story is what happens when character and plot collide. Reasons and motivations tend to be quite fungible and can change as we make discoveries about the characters. Reasons of plot tend to be very general (I have to get to X before Y happens, for example). Reasons of character tend to be very specific (I care deeply about this person, yet I cannot tell them the truth). You end up with a movie where the characters are discovering the story much in the way the audience is. That’s a massive oversimplification, but that’s the gist of it.

Dead Reckoning has had one of the most complicated production periods in contemporary Hollywood history thanks to the pandemic. How do you manage the vision of the final film that you might be holding in your head as you’re encountering one challenge and delay after another?

Very simple. There is no vision of a final film. I find the entire notion to be limiting. The pursuit of a specific vision, in my experience, cuts me off from genuine discovery. Dead Reckoning Part One represents a complete surrender to the process of discovery. Given the conditions, there was no other way. Every shot, every angle, was one dictated by time, place, varying constraints and the needs of the ever-evolving narrative.

Has there been a moment working with Cruise that crystallized the idea that, yes, this is the man who I want to dedicate years of my career to?

I met Tom out of sheer curiosity at a time in my career when I was ready to quit the film business. We just talked about our mutual love of movies. Our first film together, Valkyrie , evolved naturally out of that conversation. I fully expected to hand the script over and walk away. When I was asked to stay on as a producer – something I had never done before – I fully expected to be promptly fired. I assumed every day was my last. I never took my position for granted. Sixteen years later, I still function that way.

Has Tom ever had an idea that was just too complex, something that you had to tell him, “no”?

We always come up with things that are too complex to execute. We usually discover this after we’ve committed. Rather than back out, we push on. In Africa, while shooting a sequence for Dead Reckoning Part Two , he came up with an idea that I told him could not be done, simply because no camera rig existed that could capture it. By that afternoon, our team had built it.

How important do you believe the box-office success of Dead Reckoning is to the future of the theatrical industry as a whole?

Every movie’s success is vital. That’s why I can’t understand this modern notion of box-office competition. We shouldn’t be competing with one another at all. We should be working together so that everyone can win. When we all win, the theatres win. The audience wins. And cinema wins.

It is hard to ignore how the villain of this film is an algorithm that attempts to stifle Ethan’s rogue brand of problem-solving at every turn. How much of that is your dig at the predictability of the streaming world?

As a filmmaker, I’m not here to tell you what I think. I’m here to give you things to think about.

Do you see yourself returning to smaller-scale filmmaking after Part Two ?

I’d love to. Tom and I have plans for a (comparatively) smaller film. And no movie is easy. A bigger budget doesn’t mean smaller problems. Small movies are just as hard – often harder. I love a challenge. Bring it.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One opens in theatres July 12.

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Mission: Impossible 8 Stunt Photos Put Tom Cruise on an Airplane Wing

Tom Cruise continues doing dangerous stunts as he shoots the next installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise.

After pictures appeared on line last week showing Tom Cruise completing some preparatory training for the stunts of Mission: Impossible 8 , it was only a matter of time before we were given a glimpse of the man in action as new on location filming has proved. It is well documented that Cruise is particularly hands on when it comes to performing the majority of his own stunts in his movies, and it looks like almost-60 year old isn’t ready to give that up just yet.

The original plan by director Christopher McQuarrie was to film both Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 back to back, but the Covid pandemic put a massive kink in that idea and when the first of the sequels wrapped in September, there needed to be a short break before the cast and crew were able to get back to work on the second one, which kicked off filming late in November. Since then we have seen numerous images of Tom Cruise taking flight lessons in preparation for the stunts he will have to perform in the latest installments of the franchise.

The new adventures for Ethan Hunt also see the return of Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Vanessa Kirby, and Rebecca Ferguson. The franchise's new stars include Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Esai Morales, and Henry Czerny, who returns to the series for the first time since the original 1996 film as IMF lead Eugene Kittridge.

The new pictures from the location shoot see Cruise performing the kind of stunt that would have many actors hanging up their Hollywood boots for good, as he climbs out of a 1941 Boeing B75N1 Stearman biplane a nerve-shredding 2000 feet off the ground and sits on the edge of the wing before dangling himself upside down. The plane then flipped over so the actor was then sitting upright while the plane flew upside down.

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Cruise has always been at the top of his game when it comes to going the extra mile for his movies, something he was happy to do talk about when appearing on the Graham Norton Show. Reminiscing about the years he has spent performing his own stunts and suffering for it, the actor said:

" I am a very physical actor , and I love doing them. I study and train and take a lot of time figuring it all out. I have broken a lot of bones. The first time of any stunt is nerve-wracking, but it also exhilarating. I have been told a few times during shooting a stunt to stop smiling."

Cruise has a number of much anticipated movies in the pipeline ready to go thanks to numerous release changes due to the Covid pandemic. Mission: Impossible 7 is now scheduled to arrive in cinemas next year, along with the other big sequel of Top Gun: Maverick which was also originally expected to arrive in theaters this year. Rather than resting on his laurels, Cruise will bring Mission: Impossible 8 to screens in July 2023 and will be once again teaming with McQuarrie and potentially Edge of Tomorrow director Doug Liman on an untitled movie which is set to include some sequences filmed in space in collaboration with SpaceX.

AIR & SPACE MAGAZINE

Tom cruise hangs on to a flying airbus (really) in the next mission impossible.

He wore a safety harness, but that’s really him on a real aircraft, 5,000 feet off the real ground.

This is not what we usually mean by “flying standby.”

The recently-unveiled trailer for the summertime action extravaganza Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation builds to a shot of what is presumably the movie’s blue-chip stunt: Star (and producer) Tom Cruise hot-foots his way across the wing of a taxiing Airbus A400M, then grabs hold of the military airlifter and holds on for dear life as it takes off and climbs, the ground beneath him falling away like taillights in a rearview mirror.

As with the prior instances of gravity-defiance in the five-film-deep, 19-year-old franchise—most notably, a stroll up the side of the world’s tallest building in 2011’s Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol —the aircraft-hang is no greenscreen-enabled illusion. It’s a genuine feat of (meticulously planned and rehearsed) derring-do by Cruise, now 52 years old but determined to maintain his much-publicized habit of keeping stunt doubles in the unemployment line. 

In an interview with Yahoo! Movies last week, Cruise and Rogue Nation director Christopher McQuarrie discussed the genesis and execution of the set piece, which was shot at RAF Wittering in Cambridgeshire, England, last November. Preparation involved the creation of a special frame to mount a camera under the wing of the airlifter and withstand wind resistance, as well as a pair of full-eyeball contact lenses for Cruise so that he could open his eyes while the aircraft was in flight. As the actor told Yahoo! Movies :

The things we were all very concerned about were particles on the runway and bird strikes. We spent days clearing out the nearby grass of any birds, and they brushed the runway as best they could. My stunt coordinator would poke me if he got reports of bird strikes. The pilot had to be on the lookout for anything in the air that could impact me in any way. I also was testing how to keep my eyes open so you have a shot—I can’t have my eyes closed the entire time. The thing that no one else was thinking about, but I was, was the fuel. You have jet fuel coming right out of the back at me because I’m on the wing above the engine. Even when we were taxiing, I was also inhaling the fumes and they were going in my eyes.

Because the script called for Cruise’s character to wear a tailored gray suit, there was no protection from the cold at 5,000 feet. He performed the stunt eight times before he and McQuarrie were satisfied they had enough footage to create a thrilling action sequence.

The movie’s first poster features an image of the airplane-hang in progress. When it was unveiled, I wondered why a military cargo airplane would have a suspiciously-handhold-sized lattice on its side. The piece of equipment Cruise is holding onto, prominently visible in this Daily Mail photo gallery , is a “deployable baffle,” intended to give paratroops an instant to get clear of the massive aircraft when jumping before they’re caught in the Jetstream.  Airbus’ website notes the A400M—a four-engine turboprop design that had its first flight in 2009—can be configured to carry up to 116 paratroops. Dispersing that many soldiers quickly would likely necessitate the use of the cargo ramp as well as the spoiler-protected paratroop doors on either side of the fuselage.

While the stunt represents Cruise’s first flight, or eight flights, on the outside of an aircraft, he’s held a pilot’s license since 1994, according to Forbes contributor Matthew Stibbe. The star’s personal fleet includes a World War II-era P-51 Mustang. No pilot license is required for PC users to download Airbus ’ A400M — The Game .  I’m using a Mac, so I can’t tell you whether or not the game includes a level where you must try to shake off an unusually determined secret agent who’s fixed himself to the side of your airplane.

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How Tom Cruise Executed His 'Most Dangerous' Stunt in 'Mission: Impossible –Dead Reckoning Part One'

The death-defying moment in the franchise's seventh installment involves Cruise driving a motorbike off a cliff

Collection Christophel/Alamy

Tom Cruise  turned up the action for Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning   Part One .

While the film marks the seventh installment in the highly successful franchise, Cruise, 61, made the occasion even more special by challenging himself to perform one of his most dangerous stunts yet.

The death-defying moment involved Cruise driving a motorbike off a cliff, fly off the bike, and parachute to the ground. While fans got a glimpse of the stunt through the film's action-packed trailer in May, Cruise, along with writer-director  Christopher McQuarrie , first teased the big moment in 2021 at CinemaCon.

The pair explained in a special behind-the-scenes video at the event that the stunt took 500 hours of skydiving training and 13,000 motorbike jumps to get it just right. The stunt involved Cruise being attached to a set of wires as he rides a speeding motorcycle off of a large ramp before he throws himself from the bike, backed by the safety wires attached to his back.

Speaking about its execution, McQuarrie, 54, explained in the video that it was "by far the most dangerous stunt we've ever done." The clip then ended with Cruise performing the stunt himself, with a crew member saying, " Tom Cruise  rode a motorcycle off a cliff six times today."

McQuarrie "tried to kill me," joked Cruise at the New York City premiere.

Christian Black/Paramount Pictures

The film's long-awaited release comes after multiple delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic . According to an official synopsis, it finds Cruise's Ethan Hunt as he and his team are tasked with tracking down "a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands."

During its world premiere in June , Cruise gave a speech about his passion for the franchise and filmmaking. He said in part, "It’s something that I grew up with, that made me and inspired me to dream and want to travel the world. My goal since I was little was to make movies and travel. And not just be a tourist but work in that world and understand their culture."

"Through my movies, I’ve been able to have that because everyone here has allowed me to entertain them," he continued. "It’s a privilege that I have never taken for granted."

Never miss a story — sign up for  PEOPLE's free daily newsletter  to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.

Mission: Impossible   - Dead Reckoning Part One is out now.

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Tom Cruise seen hanging UPSIDE DOWN on wing of a WWII Biplane in Cambridge for Mission: Impossible 8 stunt

• Shannon Power
• Published : 5:22 ET, Nov 28 2021
• Updated : 10:42 ET, Nov 28 2021

ACTION star Tom Cruise has been seen rehearsing one of his most dangerous stunts ever that involved him hanging UPSIDE DOWN on the wing of a war plane.

The 59-year-old star was spotted high above the skies of Cambridge as he practised climbing onto the plane wing as it did a loop-the-loop 2,000ft in the air.

Tom climbed out of the 1941 Boeing B75N1 Stearman biplane and clung on to the wing as the aircraft nosedived and performed acrobatics.

The jaw-dropping stunts were one of many incredible feats the actor is doing for the upcoming Mission: Impossible 8 film.

The iconic biplane took off from Duxford Aerodrome in Cambridgeshire and once it hit 2,000ft, Tom climbed out of the cockpit and crawled onto the left wing.

Attached to the plane by a harness, Tom then dangled himself upside down from the wing.

The plane was then flipped by the pilot, leaving Tom sitting upright on the wing and from there the plane nosedived and did the incredible spin.

Tom then climbed back into the plane before it landed back on the tarmac.

Another biplane flew beside Tom's yellow plane to practice the camera shots for when they start filming.

He wore a khaki jumpsuit and black helmet for the daring stunt after spending months learning how to fly the plane.

At the beginning of October, The Sun revealed that the Minority Report actor was learning to  fly a World War Two military plane.

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A source from the set told the Sun: “Tom had started to learn to fly a Boeing Stearman biplane earlier this year for a major stunt scene in Mission: Impossible 8.

“It’s obviously a highly skilled task but as usual he has no plans to cut any corners or bring in a stuntman."

The insider continued: “Filming has only just wrapped on Mission: Impossible 7 but Tom has not given himself a break.

“And trying to film jaw-dropping scenes with an 80-year-old plane is particularly dangerous.”

Back in September, Tom and his film crew celebrated after they had wrapped up shooting M:I's seventh movie.

Due to the pandemic, filming was fraught with setbacks including multiple Covid outbreaks on set, causing the production to be shut down for weeks at a time.

Tom left fans shocked last month when he was spotted looking totally different as he attended an LA Dodgers baseball game in San Francisco.

Photographed watching the game alongside his son, he looked noticeably different as he appeared more "puffy" than his Top Gun days.

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Fans speculated that the actor had either "gained weight or has a face full of fillers" after the "bloated" photographs spread via social media.

But he was spotted looking more like himself again in mid-November as he piloted a helicopter as he arrived at Battersea heliport in London.

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Tom Cruise performs dangerous speed flying stunt for upcoming ‘Mission: Impossible’ film

Cruise said speed flying is "one of the most dangerous sports in the world."

Tom Cruise has pulled off another death-defying stunt.

In a video he shared on Thursday, the actor is seen speed flying off the side of a mountain in the United Kingdom’s Lake District for “Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One.”

He described it as “one of the most dangerous sports in the world.”

MORE: Tom Cruise thanks ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ fans while skydiving, appears in 'Mission: Impossible' sneak peek

Speed flying is similar to paragliding but uses a wing to fly fast hill descents. While paragliding happens through serene gliding and soaring, speed flying uses wings that are smaller than paragliders and includes high-speed travel, according to the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association .

“It’s a beautiful and delicate sport,” “Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning” director Christopher McQuarrie says in the video and explained how he and other filmmakers achieved filming dynamic shots for the highly-anticipated movie.

McQuarrie also shared some of the challenges that came with filming Cruise doing the stunt, which included figuring out where to place the cameras and developing their own gimbal system for the speed flyer, and weather elements.

“Filming next to rocks looks quite beautiful,” McQuarrie said. “Behind the scenes, we were in absolute terror.”

MORE: Tom Cruise shares official 'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One' poster

“It’s truly a one of a kind adventure,” he added.

Cruise is known for participating in his own crazy stunts for films. In December, a video of him in a helicopter right before jumping out of it was released to thank fans for “Top Gun: Maverick” while also telling fans about “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning.”

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“As always, thank you for allowing us to entertain you,” Cruise says while free-falling. “It truly is the honor of a lifetime. Very lucky… See you at the movies!”

"Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One" will be released in theaters on July 12.

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12 of tom cruise’s most jaw-dropping stunts.

From scaling a skyscraper to hanging on to the outside of an airplane as it takes off, here are some of the actor's most death-defying stunts.

By Carly Thomas

Carly Thomas

Associate Editor

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Tom Cruise has never steered away from challenging himself in his roles for projects. Especially since 1986’s  Top Gun , he has continued to push the limits of his body and acting, taking on his own stunts in most of his top films, including Mission: Impossible ,  The Last Samurai  and  Jack Reacher .

Most recently, Cruise took on several death-defying stunts in  Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One , including speed-flying down a mountainside as well as driving a motorcycle off a cliff and parachuting to safety.

The actor has previously said during an appearance on  The Graham Norton Show  that he has been “doing different stunts” since he was a child and that once he got into acting, he wanted to keep doing it to help with the “storytelling.”

“I feel that [when] acting you’re bringing everything, you know, physically and emotionally, to a character in a story,” he explained at the time. “And I’m able to do it [stunts], and I’ve trained for 30 years doing things like this that it allows us to put cameras in places where you normally are not able to.”

More recently, during a  conversation at Cannes  in 2022, Cruise reiterated that he enjoys performing his own stunts despite the danger, only this time he referenced one of the best athletes of Hollywood’s golden era.

“No one asked Gene Kelly, ‘Why do you dance?’” the actor said. “Why do you do your own dancing?’”

Below, The Hollywood Reporter has compiled a list of some of Cruise’s wildest stunts, some downright death-defying, throughout his decades-long career.

'Mission: Impossible' (Aquarium Scene)

In the first installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise in 1996, Cruise reportedly never swapped out for a stuntman in one particular scene involving an aquarium. In the sequence, Ethan Hunt, who would become one of Cruise’s most well-known characters, intentionally blows up a giant aquarium that stretches the length from the floor to the ceiling to help get away quickly. The explosive was so powerful that another person was sent flying through a glass panel, while Cruise went running with 16 gallons of water following right behind him.

'Mission: Impossible II' (Rock Climbing Scene)

In 2000’s Mission: Impossible II , Cruise showed no signs of plans to stop testing his limits. In the opening scene of the John Woo-directed film, the actor can be seen climbing and hanging off giant rocks on the side of a cliff. During filming, Cruise reportedly had only a safety cable to help soften any impact, which led to Woo actively sweating throughout the entire sequence because of how dangerous it was.

'Top Gun' (Parachute Scene)

In 1986’s  Top Gun , Cruise began seeking the thrill of doing his own stunts. But the scene when Maverick (Cruise) and Goose (Anthony Edwards) are ejected from the jet and parachute into the water (leading to his co-pilot’s death) nearly didn’t go as planned. Top Gun ‘s Barry Tubb told the  New York Post  on the film’s 25th anniversary that “Cruise came as close to dying as anybody on a set I’ve ever seen.” During filming, when Cruise was lifting up Goose’s body from the ocean, Cruise actually began to sink due to water building up in his parachute. According to Tubb, Cruise would have drowned if it was not caught early enough to get him out.

At the time of filming Top Gun , it was also reported that a veteran fighter pilot  died while shooting aerial footage for the movie.

'The Last Samurai' (Samurai Sword Scene)

In 2003’s  The Last Samurai , Cruise once again nearly avoided a tragic accident while doing his own stunts. While filming a fight sequence between Nathan Algren (Cruise) and Ujio (Hiroyuki Sanada), the two were riding on what were actually mechanical horses, in which one was supposed to stop moving before Sanada takes a swing at Cruise with a real samurai sword. But the horse didn’t stop, and Cruise reportedly came within an inch of the sword before Sanada was able to pull back, avoiding contact with Cruise.

“Tom’s neck was right in front of me, and I tried to stop swinging my sword, but it was hard to control with one hand,” Sanada previously told the  Daily Mail .  “The film crew watching from the side all screamed because they thought Tom’s head would fly off.”

'Collateral' (Car Crash Scene)

At this point, on-set accidents are nothing new to Cruise, and the same goes for an incident while filming an action scene with Jamie Foxx for 2004’s  Collateral . During an interview at the time , Foxx thought he nearly killed his co-star when he smashed into Cruise’s Mercedes-Benz during a chase sequence. “I hit the gas, the cab goes straight head on into [Cruise’s] Mercedes, and the Mercedes lifts off the ground and goes off the set,” he explained. Cruise added that although he was OK, he was tossed around the car. “I was hitting the roof,” he said. “I was down on the ground.”

'Edge of Tomorrow' (Another Car Crash Scene)

While filming 2014’s Edge of Tomorrow , Emily Blunt confirmed to Conan O’Brien on  Conan at the time that Cruise “really does everything and wants to do everything” when it comes to doing stunts. But she revealed that during one scene, his luck was tested once again. The actress said in one action sequence when she was driving and Cruise was in the passenger seat, the stunt coordinator tasked her with driving really fast down a road and then taking a sharp turn. She noted that the first take went well, but during the second, she took a turn too late and “drove us into a tree and I almost killed Tom Cruise.” Thankfully, Cruise was OK, and Blunt added that he was actually laughing afterward.

'Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol' (Scaling a Skyscraper Scene)

Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol director Brad Bird said watching Cruise take on death-defying stunts is “just another day at work” for the film’s crewmembers. Specifically for the 2011 movie, the actor scaled Dubai’s 163-floor Burj Khalifa. In behind-the-scenes footage, Cruise can be seen climbing, swinging and running up and down the building, with only a wire keeping him from falling.

'Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation' (Plane Scene)

In 2015’s Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation , Cruise decided to take his intense stunts to the sky. In the film, the actor can be seen dangling on the outside of an Airbus 400 as it takes off. Robert Elswit, director of photography, told The Hollywood Reporter  at the time what went into making the stunt a reality while keeping Cruise safe.

“Tom was in a full body harness and he’s cabled and wired to the plane through [its] door. Inside the aircraft was an aluminum truss that was carefully bolted to the plane, which held the wires that went through the door, which held Tom,” the cinematographer said of the safety measures. “He was also wearing special contact lenses to protect his eyes. If anything hit him at those speeds, it could be really bad. They were very careful about cleaning the runway so there were no rocks. And we took off in certain weather conditions; there were no birds. And he’s sort of protected by the way the air moves over the wing.”

'Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation' (Underwater Breathing Scene)

In the Christopher McQuarrie-directed film, Cruise went from doing stunts in the sky to doing them underwater. For the said sequence in Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation , the actor actually had to undergo training to be able to hold his breath underwater for six minutes. For comparison, professional divers hold their breath for anywhere between four and seven minutes,  according to the American Physiological Society , but even that can be very dangerous and could cause brain damage. Although Cruise scared crewmembers a few times by testing his limits underwater, in the end, he successfully completed the mission.

“It’s something I have always wanted to do,” Cruise said during an interview with USA Today at the time. “We’re underwater and we’re doing breath-holds of 6 to 6-1/2 minutes. So I was doing all my training with the other stuff (on-set). It was very taxing stuff.”

'Mission: Impossible – Fallout' (Building Jump Scene)

While filming a building jump scene in 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout , Cruise actually got hurt, which shut down production for six weeks while he recovered. During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show , the actor not only detailed exactly what went wrong but shared a video of the moment he broke his ankle during the stunt.

In the scene, while attached to two safety wires, Cruise’s character is meant to jump from one high-rise to another when chasing Henry Cavill’s character. Although he was meant to miss the landing and hit the side of the wall, his foot actually slipped and bent upwards on impact. The actor noted that he “knew instantly it was broken.” Cruise also revealed that his ankle was still healing while he was on the press tour for the film.

‘Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One’ (Speed-Flying Scene)

In the seventh film in the Mission: Impossible franchise, Tom Cruise shows that he has no plans to stop doing death-defying stunts anytime soon. For Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One , the actor learned how to do what director Christopher McQuarrie called “one of the most dangerous sports in the world.” Speed-flying, which is similar to paragliding, combines elements of parachute swooping to allow people to fly at high speeds down mountainsides while maintaining close to the slope. And Cruise did just that for one of the scenes in the latest installment of the action franchise. McQuarrie even noted that when Cruise was “flying very close to rocks,” the filming crew was in “absolute terror” behind the cameras. 

‘Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One’ (Motorbiking Off a Cliff Scene)

For Mission: Impossible 7 , Tom Cruise said he got to do a stunt that he had wanted to do “since I was a little kid.” And that stunt was riding a motorbike off a cliff and parachuting down to safety. Director Christopher McQuarrie explained that there were many elements needed to actually make it happen, as well as years of different types of training. Once Cruise felt like he was comfortable with each aspect of the stunt, that’s when the crew built the film’s final ramp on a cliff in Norway. A crewmember added that Cruise did a total of six takes of one of the “biggest stunts in cinema history.” 

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Tom Cruise dangles from airplane wing while filming for 'Mission: Impossible 8'

WASHINGTON: Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise was recently photographed performing his own nail-biting stunt while filming 'Mission: Impossible 8'.

According to Fox News, Cruise climbed out of the cockpit of a 1941 Boeing B75N1 Stearman biplane at 2,000 feet and sat on the wing. He then dangled himself upside down from the wing.

As Cruise hung upside down, the plane flipped upside down so that the actor was sitting upright on the wing. He was attached to the plane with a harness during the stunt.

The 'Top Gun' actor has been taking flying lessons to prepare for the filming of 'Mission: Impossible 8'.

Cruise commenced filming for 'Mission: Impossible 8' immediately after wrapping up filming for 'Mission: Impossible 7'. Both films were announced at the same time, with one being released in 2022 and one in 2023.

The coronavirus did stall filming of 'Mission: Impossible 7', which pushed the expected release date of 'Mission: Impossible 8' to July of 2023.

Cruise is known for his stunts, including the time he climbed the Burj Khalifa, known as the world's tallest building. He recently reflected on his career and his decision to perform all of his own stunts in his action movies.

As per Fox News, during an appearance on 'The Graham Norton Show', Cruise said, "I am a very physical actor, and I love doing them. I study and train and take a lot of time figuring it all out. I have broken a lot of bones."

He added, "The first time of any stunt is nerve-wracking, but it also exhilarating. I have been told a few times during shooting a stunt to stop smiling." 

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Tom Cruise feels the rush of his daredevil ways as he performs a DANGEROUS stunt on the wing of a Biplane for upcoming Mission: Impossible film

By Codie Bullen For Mailonline

Published: 04:47 EDT, 5 September 2022 | Updated: 09:19 EDT, 5 September 2022

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He's renowned for performing his own stunts in his Hollywood blockbusters. 

And Tom Cruise once again showed off his daredevil behaviour as he could be seen standing on top of a small World War II biplane while it was mid air flying over the  Blyde River Canyon in South Africa . 

The actor, 60, performed the dangerous stunt in a short social media clip as he filmed scenes for his upcoming Mission Impossible movie.

Action man: Tom Cruise once again showed off his daredevil behaviour as he could be seen standing on top of a small World War II biplane while it was mid air flying over the Blyde River Canyon in South Africa

The action man has been taking flying lessons at the airfield in preparation for exhilarating scenes for the next instalment of the Mission Impossible franchise, which is set for release on July 7, 2023.

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The video shows the brightly-coloured planes soaring across the sky before coming down to land at the airfield. 

The adrenaline junkie donned a brown jacket and matching trousers, while not wearing a helmet during the death-defying stunt. 

Dangerous: The actor, 60, performed the dangerous stunt in a short social media clip as he filmed scenes for his upcoming Mission Impossible movie

Tom could be heard saying: 'Hi everyone, wish I could be there with you, I'm sorry for all of the extra noise. As you can see I'm filming the latest installment of Mission: Impossible.

'Right now we're over gorgeous Blyde River Canyon in stunning South Africa and we're making this film for the big screen for audiences to see in local theatres.'

It comes after Tom, who plays Ethan Hunt in the franchise, reportedly apologised for ruining a couple's hike while filming the scene.

Jason and Sarah Haygarth were going for a walk nearby when they spotted the production crew's helicopter.

Scenic: The video shows the brightly-coloured planes soaring across the sky before coming down to land at the airfield

'Toward the end of the walk, last peak, we start seeing helicopters coming up a ravine and dropping people off the top… We were like, this didn't seem right,' Jason told Extra.

'We found out the people, they were the cameramen. When we came to the peak, we got stopped by what must have been a production team member, saying, "You can't go. We're going to land the helicopter off the top…" So we took a selfie,' he said.

After the choppers landed, the couple continued on their way where they ran into Tom strapping on a paraglider.

'I could tell it was him straight away,' Sarah said. 'By the time we got there, people were talking about Mission: Impossible was being filmed … but I was expecting a stunt double.'

'He apologised first for the noise,' Jason added. '"Sorry, guys, I know we spoiled your walk with the noise." And then he said, "I like your dog."'

'We asked, "What are you doing ?" Then he said, "I'm going to jump off." I was like, "You're going to do what?" 

'He said, "I'm going to jump off." Just before he jumped off, he said, "See ya! Hopefully this goes well," and we said, "Good luck, Tom." 

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One has a current release date of July 14, 2023.

The film, the seventh in the franchise, will star Tom alongside Hayley Atwell, Hot Fuzz star Simon Pegg, Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson and The Princess Bride star Cary Elwes.

Awkward: It comes after Tom, who plays Ethan Hunt in the franchise, reportedly apologised for ruining a couple's hike while filming the scene

Share or comment on this article: Tom Cruise performs a DANGEROUS stunt on the wing of a Biplane for upcoming Mission: Impossible film

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What is speed flying and how can I do it like Tom Cruise?

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If you’ve seen the new Tom Cruise clip from Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning and wondering “What is speed flying” or “How do I get into speed flying like Tom Cruise?” then rest assured there is an established way to learn this high octane, high adrenaline and extremely skilled sport. Cross Country Magazine editor Ed Ewing explains

What is speed Flying?

Speed flying is an air sport. That means we talk about the ‘pilot’ and the ‘wing’ ‘glider’ or ‘speed wing’.

It was developed from paragliding – Wikipedia even calls speed flying an “advanced discipline” of paragliding – but it mixes elements of parachute swooping, also known as canopy flying, to create a sport that allows pilots to fly at high speed down mountain sides close to the slope.

It was developed in the early 2000s when French pilot François Bon designed the first commercial speed wing, the Gin Nano. François Bon became a legend in the speed flying community, and completed some extreme and high altitude speed riding (speed flying on skis) mountain descents.

Along with another legend, the late Antoine Montant, Bon was the first person to speed ride the North Face of the Eiger – something the pair filmed for YouTube racking up millions of views.

In 2008 Bon then became the first person to fly a speed glider from the summit of South America’s highest mountain, Aconcagua (6,962m). He completed the 3,000m descent in a super-quick 4mins 50 seconds. “At that altitude you go really fast! I just fell out of the sky and past the rock walls” he said at the time . “It was incredible!”

With the publicity the sport experienced its first boom, attracting pilots from paragliding who were looking for a faster thrill. Unfortunately it also saw many accidents and fatalities in those early days. The combination of exhilaration, flying at speed very close to the ground is unforgiving and can be lethal in the event of an accident.

Today, pilots can learn to speed fly at schools around the world. Typically the way to learn is to learn to fly a paraglider first. That way the pilot gets a good grounding in the basics of paragliding, meteorology and what pilots call aerology – how the air flows over the ground.

Tom Cruise did it this way – learning to fly a paraglider in Morzine in the French Alps well before he transitioned to flying and filming on a speed wing.

Ian Cherteiny on an Ozone Rapi-Dos speed wing in Hawaii. Photo: Jorge Atramiz

Bastienne Wentzel, author of Paragliding: The Beginner’s Guide, explains: “Speed wings are as small as 7m2 to 14m2 and have large cells, short lines and trimmers to easily change their speed and glide ratio. The design ensures that these gliders stay overhead at all times, so they’re easy to launch.

“The harnesses used for speed flying must be light and non-bulky, so as not to hinder the pilot. They usually have no protection, and there is no reserve parachute needed because the short flights are usually too low to successfully deploy one.”

One crucial piece of safety equipment that is missing in the speed riding clip from Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part I is a helmet. Although Tom Cruise does not wear one – presumably for filming purposes – it is considered an essential piece of kit by all experienced speed wing pilots.

Speed riding vs Speed flying

Speed flying is foot-launched flying with a speed wing – it’s what Tom Cruise does in Mission: Impossible.

Speed riding is the same sport, but on skis. You need to be a good skier (competent on black runs) to do this.

Find out more

Learning to paraglide takes about two to three weeks, depending on where you live. In that time you’ll go from first flight to qualified solo pilot.

From there, you will be able to explore all the other disciplines of paragliding, including speed flying and speed riding.

There are rules and guidelines around speed flying and paragliding – you can’t just buy a speed wing and launch it from the nearest mountain. Would you buy a Base jump parachute and jump off a cliff? It’s pretty much the same thing – training and experience will keep you safe.

To explore more about the sport of paragliding check out Paragliding: A Quick Guide . It’s a free digital download.

For more in-depth information, Paragliding: The Beginner’s Guide is the best introduction.

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