The Athlete: JOAO TAMBOR
Episode: Airplane Hangar Swoop | Premiere: Jan. 29, 2007

Perry's Thoughts:
I think the thing that I enjoy most about doing shows with sky divers is seeing firsthand their amazing love for life. When I heard that Joao Tambor wanted to swoop through an airplane hangar, I not only was excited about the stunt, but also about the opportunity to hang out with this amazing group of people. Although I never had any doubt that if anyone could do this stunt it was Joao, I still couldn't help but think of what the outcome would be if something went wrong. He wanted to swoop into the hangar, barely fitting through the 16-foot-high hangar door, travel approximately 100 feet, and go out the other side. There are probably less than a handful of people in the world that have the skill to even attempt this stunt, and I had the pleasure of being with two of them — one being Joao and the other being his stunt coordinator Luigi Cani. I had a great time on this show and the stunt went off flawlessly. I go away from this show considering Joao and Luigi friends.

Eli's Thoughts:
Skydiving in Florida and jumping with friend Joao Tambor was a great addition to the show. As a personal friend and sky diver, I was glad to hear we were doing the show in Florida, especially because the clouds there are hard to beat. Joao had performed thousands of jumps at the Titusville Airport, and had always thought about the idea of "swooping" through the hangar, so this was what we were here to do. We met Joao and Luigi (Joao's stunt coordinator and featured athlete) at the "drop zone" to get the lowdown on what he had in store for us. As we looked at the hangar, my first thought was, "Is this thing tall enough to fly through?" Apparently, Joao thought so, and as we measured the space, it was clear that he would have to be on his game or end up like a fly on a windshield. We did some jumps, and to make sure he could clear the hangar, he set up a test course with a laser sensor on top of some poles to simulate the real thing. I got to test it first and was just a hair too high, as was Joao the first time. After a couple of tries he was looking good and clearing the poles on a steady basis. Then it was time for the real thing. On the first try, it looked good but he didn't get all the way through. But with a couple more tries, he was well clear of the hangar and it was a complete success. I felt good for Joao as this was something he had been dreaming of for a long time and he swooped it like the best of them.