Look mom, no plane! Man wings it across English Channel (Check out the cool pictures)

AP ^ | Thu Jul 31, 4:11 PM ET | AP

[Destro]

Europe - AP

Austrian Flies Across English Channel

Thu Jul 31, 4:11 PM ET

CALAIS, France - An Austrian specializing in daring stunt jumps donned a carbon fiber wing and flew across the English Channel on Thursday after being dropped from a plane.

Felix Baumgartner made the 34-kilometer (21-mile) trip in 14 minutes, according to Sarah Christofi, his spokeswoman.

"It's very cold up there," the 34-year-old Austrian said upon landing at Cap Blanc-Nez, near the Channel port of Calais. "I still can feel nothing."

Baumgartner, fitted out with a parachute, was lofted from an airplane some 9,144 meters (30,000 feet) above Dover.

However, he relied solely on the 1.8-meter (5.9-foot) wing attached to his back for the trip, opening his parachute west of Calais only to slow down and land. He was dropped above Dover at 6:09 a.m. and landed at 6:23 a.m., at one point traveling at 350 kph (217 mph) Christofi said.

Despite the chill, Baumgartner said he felt "great."

Cloud cover obscured vision, forcing Baumgartner to follow two lead planes to find his way. His spaceman-like suit was equipped with cameras and monitoring equipment so that he could be tracked.

The first man to parachute from Malaysia's Petronas Towers — the world's tallest building — Baumgartner said it wasn't by chance that he chose the English Channel to literally try out his wing.

"The Channel fits perfectly for the performance of the wing .... There's a lot of spirit in this place," he said.

The extreme sports fanatic recalled the 1909 flight across the Channel of French aviator Louis Bleriot.

"And it's exactly 100 years ago that the Wright Brothers were doing the first flight with a plane," he said. "And now I'm here, with my little wing."

Americans Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first powered flight, in a rickety airplane, in December 1903.

[Destro]

That is one of the coolest things I have ever seen.

[dandelion]

You are so RIGHT. Geez, it's like a comic book come to life!! I want an airplane suit, too - waaaa.

[HardStarboard]

The worlds first human fuselage.

[Destro]

Marvel Comics - MACH-1 of the Thunderbolts.

[coydog]

BUZZ LIGHTYEAR LIVES!!!

[Brad’s Gramma]

TO INFINITY.....................................

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

OK.. I just can't resist.. I just got this joke tonight.. and I'm DYING to share it. Somehow, this thread seems like the appropriate place to do so. :o)

Subject: AP NEWS ALERT

Poland's worst air disaster occurred today when a small two-seater Cessna 152 plane crashed into a cemetery early this afternoon in central Poland.

Polish search and rescue workers have recovered 826 bodies so far and expect that number to climb as digging continues into the evening.

[forester]

I can't imagine getting jumping out of a perfectly good airplane at 30,000' with wing on my back.

[Donna Lee Nardo]

Wow, what an amazing feat! Thanks for posting this article and photos.

[Pro-Bush]

Stoney!

[billbears]

Oh man that's cold....

As for the story that is probably the coolest thing I've ever seen. When do they go on the market and I want one when they do.

[strela]

You are correct - definitely a high cool factor there (no pun intended).

[GeoPie]

Thank you for the great pic's! I used to skydive (but never with wings) untill I got married and the wife made me sell my rig. Something about kids and life insurance. Makes me want to go back to the drop zone.

[El Gato]

I want an airplane suit, too - waaaa.

It's more properly a glider suit. But it is way too cool.

[Centurion2000]

kinda makes me wonder what a real HALO jumper at 70,000 + feet could do with this

A very nice jump though.

[Brad’s Gramma]

EEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

[FlyVet]

LOL, excellent! Push the limits! Figures Red Bull would be a sponsor. They have some funny, simple, silly commercials.

[Libertina]

Majorly cool, but lost me right after I read "dropped from a plane." ;)

[nutmeg]

I saw the video of this guy making this flight tonight on our local news - it was incredible. The news anchors were just flabbergasted!

[StatesEnemy]

Red Bull gives you WINNNNNNGS!