Pageviews last month

Monday, October 15, 2012

"BBC News - Skydiver Felix Baumgartner Breaks Sound Barrier"

BBC News - Skydiver Felix Baumgartner breaks sound barrier

Austrian Felix Baumgartner has become the first skydiver to go faster than the speed of sound, reaching a maximum velocity of 833.9mph (1,342km/h).
In jumping out of a balloon 128,100ft (24 miles; 39km) above New Mexico, the 43-year-old also smashed the record for the highest ever free fall.
He said he almost aborted the dive because his helmet visor fogged up. It took just under 10 minutes for him to descend. Only the last few thousand feet were negotiated by parachute. There are videos on this link....


Comment.....Being an Airport runway electrician in my younger days. Hey, somebody had to install and repair the runway lights and all those little blue lights... I have met my share of, lets say risk takers. Mostly in the form of Air force Fighter pilots. Who as I used to say had a screw loose, all along secretly wishing that I could do what they did. Air Guard Col. Bonetti would taxi his F-100 fighter onto the approach of the runway then would wave at me giving me the thumbs up sign, close the canopy then line up on the center line of the two mile long runway and take off into the sky with the roaring of the afterburner at astounding speeds...I swear to you the earth shook when he went by. Sometimes alone or in twos, threes or fours. A long flame with a loud boom coming out of the tail pipe...Wow, what a sight, especially close up or at night...Sometimes only 10 or 20 feet away...Having had this wonderful experience day after day I believe I know what it feels like to do what they did. Doing my job as I did years ago lets me appreciate how far we have come in 2012. Sometimes I just don't believe it...






No comments: