- In 1965, at the height of the space race, Nick Piantanida launched the first civilian space program. A truck driver and exotic pet dealer from New Jersey, Piantanida had no formal training, no college degree and barely enough money to support his devoted wife and their three children. But he had a dream-to take a balloon to the edge of the atmosphere and jump out. If he succeeded, he'd set a world record as he free-fell back to earth for nearly 17 minutes. "Angry Sky" is the story of a man whose dream took him to the edge of space but whose obsession led to his tragic downfall.—ESPN Films
- The incredible true story of Nick Piantanida, a truck driver and amatuer thrill seeker who in 1965 set out to launch the first civilian space program and break the world record for highest free fall in history. This film chronicles the harrowing results of one man's obsessive ambition that pushes the limits of sanity, raising the question: Would you risk it all to achieve your dreams?—Matt Crowe
- This film begins with scenes from the 2012, record setting parachute free fall of Felix Baumgartner. He broke the 52 year old record of USAF Colonel Joseph Kittinger who had parachuted from a capsule, suspended beneath a helium filled balloon, at a height of 102,800 feet in 1960. Baumgartner's jump was from 127,852 feet.
Baumgartner relates how amazed he was that a truck driver, named Nick Piantanida, who had no previous high altitude jumping experience, had attempted to break this same record back in 1965 and 1966.
The scene then shifts back to Nick's childhood, growing up in Union City, New Jersey. The film includes interviews with Nick's brother and with a number of his friends and associates over the years, and also with Joe Kittinger, the man whose record Nick eventually decides to try and break. There is also frequent narration from author Craig Ryan, who wrote the book "Magnificent Failure: Free Fall From the Edge of Space", published in 2003, upon which this film is based.
Nick was a non-conformist and daredevil from an early age - always looking for a new challenge which often involved some kind of jumping. He was an excellent athlete, particularly in basketball. But his non-conformity often led to problems with authority and resulted in him getting kicked off his high school basketball team.
After high school, Nick joined the Army Reserve and later spent two years in the regular army during which he met friend, Walt Tomashoff, who is also seen being interviewed for this film. Nick got the idea in his head that he wanted to be the first person to climb up to the top of Angel Falls in Venezuela - the tallest waterfall in the world at over 1300 feet. Nick had NO previous mountain climbing experience whatsoever. But he persisted and in 1956, he and Army friend Walt, successfully summited the plateau above Angel Falls.
After that climb, Nick headed back to New York City where he opened an exotic animal shop that featured many illegal, often poisonous animals. During this period, he fell in love with a woman named Janice, who is also interviewed in this film. Nick had met her for the first time in 1963 and then married her within a period of a month. They had their first two children together.
While on a vacation with Janice, he saw some parachute jumpers. Prior to the 1960's, only a very select few people did parachuting so it had been unusual to see someone actually do it. Nick immediately fell in love with that sport and began researching the history of parachuting. During this time, Nick got the idea, much like his Angel Falls climb, of breaking the free fall record set by Kittinger in 1960.
Once again, Nick wanted to do something for which he had absolutely no experience or training. After getting married, he needed money to finance his weekend parachute training so he became a truck driver. He also began parachuting regularly, including working as a parachute packer during this period. He and Janice had their 3rd child during this time.
Since he wanted to break Kittinger's record, he called up Joe and asked him to consult on his attempt to break Joe's record free fall jump. Kittinger realized quickly that Nick had no training and no experience in high altitude parachuting and would very likely kill himself if he tried. Nick's flippant reply to that was that if Joe could do it, then there was no reason that Nick could not. Joe said an emphatic "No", wished him luck, and I don't believe that they ever spoke again.
Nick struggled greatly to find people willing to finance his attempt to break that record. Among many others, he was turned down by the United States Air Force who had financed Kissinger's jump while he was an Air Force officer and a test pilot. It was not until he met Jacques Istel that he was able to convince someone that he was serious and that he could actually make this jump. Istel was very involved in the sport and is sometimes referred to as the "father of American skydiving". With the help of Istel, Nick was able to continue his parachute training, with the major exception of being able to obtain a pressurized flight suit which would be necessary to make a jump from over 115,000 feet.
During the 1960's, the Russians had begun the space race with the United States and they were badly outperforming the U.S. In 1961, Russian Yuri Gagarin became the first man to go into space. In 1962, a Russian set the free fall parachute record of 80,400 feet which was considered the "official" record.
Kissinger's jump in 1960 had never been officially certified because neither Kissinger nor the Air Force thought it appropriate to spend extra taxpayer money on equipment needed to set an official record. The goal of Kissinger's jumps was not to set a record. The goal was to test both survival capability in space, and also to test a new parachute system that would make it safer for military pilots to survive an ejection while at great altitude.
In this space race atmosphere of the early 1960's, Nick seized on the opportunity to frame his jump attempt as something very patriotic to do. He was going to beat the Russians. He was then able to lobby a U.S. Senator to champion his cause, which helped persuade the U.S. Air Force to now provide access for Nick to use their training facilities. Nick also got a pressure suit manufacturer to loan Nick the pressure suit he would need to make the jump.
Nick put a team together and began preparing for the jump in earnest, including building a Styrofoam, open-air gondola which would hang beneath a huge, paper thin balloon envelope that would be filled with helium.
On October 22, 1965, Nick took off in his balloon, Strato Jump I, from a site near St Paul Minnesota. That attempt ended abruptly at just 22,000 feet when wind shear tore off the top of the somewhat poorly manufactured balloon. After explosives were detonated by the ground crew to release the gondola from the balloon, Nick successfully made it back to the ground with the help of the parachute attached to the gondola. Nick then jumped from the gondola and parachuted to the ground, infamously landing in a St. Paul municipal dump.
By now, Nick had generated a lot of publicity for his quest, and even though that first jump was unsuccessful, he was able to get a company, Raven Industries of Minnesota, to build a better balloon. He also gained the services of Raven Industries founder Ed Yost as his flight director. Yost was an inventor and balloon manufacturer and famous in hot air ballooning as the developer of propane tanks and burners which made longer distance hot air balloon flights possible and which made the sport much more accessible to more than just the wealthy. The on-board propane tank heating system is still in use today in hot air balloons all around the world.
On February 26, 1966, Strato Jump II launched from a site in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This time, Nick got up to 123,500 feet which set a record for the highest any man had flown into space. However, when it became time for Nick to jump from the gondola, after he unhooked his seat belt, he was unable to disconnect the oxygen line connected to his gondola. It had seized up in the intense cold of space.
Once again, explosives were used to disconnect the gondola from the balloon and a parachute opened for the gondola. But at that height, there was little air to fill the chute and the gondola free fell wildly with Nick hanging on for dear life but unable to disconnect from the gondola to open his own parachute. The gondola parachute eventually filled with air and the gondola crashed to the ground with Nick still inside. Miraculously, Nick survived that fall.
Having failed to break the free fall record again, even though he set the record for the highest flight in a balloon, Nick told his wife that he was going to quit. But at a press conference, he could not help himself from telling the world that he would make yet another attempt.
On May 1, 1966, Strato Jump III launched once again from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. At a height of about 57,000 feet, the last transmission heard from the ground crew was Nick saying "Emergen ...". The balloon was disconnected and the gondola again parachuted to the ground.
When they found the gondola, Nick was inside the gondola, barely alive but unconscious. His mask was open and it was apparent that he had suffered from explosive decompression and also from lack of oxygen to the brain. He was taken first to a local hospital, and then to a hospital that had a hyperbaric chamber. He remained in a coma for four months before he died on August 29, 1966 at the age of 34. He left behind his wife Janice, and their three children.
The exact cause of the problem with Strato Jump III has never been conclusively determined. But it is thought that Nick may have suffered from what deep sea divers know as the "bends" due to insufficient acclimation to breathing compressed air prior to his third flight. That may have in turn led to confusion which in turn may have caused him to open his mask and cause decompression.
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