world's record free fall parachute drop is to be attempted

[tom d. friedman]

retired usaf colonel joe kittinger who has held the unofficial world's record for a free fall parachute drop of 102,800 feet since 1960 is going to have his record challenged soon over saskatchewan canada on the 46th anniverary of kittinger's plunge. 58 year old retired french army colonel micheal fournier will make the attempt in what he calls "le grand saut" or the super jump. he will climb to 130,000 feet in a balloon supported capsule, decompress it at altitude, & bail out to drop to an estimated speed of mach 1.7 or roughly 950 miles per hour. kittinger dropped at the speed of 714 miles per hour. fournier calculates his climb in the balloon at about 3 hours, & the parachute drop to the ground at about 6 minutes & 25 seconds. naturally he will be in a pressurized jump suit. fournier has already 8500 jumps to his credit, with more than 100 at very high altitude. kittinger's record still stands, but remains unofficial as he was participating in a military operation not monitored by the national aeronautic association. kittinger was awarded the distinguished flying cross 5 times, 2 for his balloon missions, & 3 for his combat tours in vietnam. as commander of the 555th fighter squadron he was shot down & imprisoned by the north vietnamese.

[Jack Cook]

kittinger was awarded the distinguished flying cross 5 times, 2 for his balloon missions, & 3 for his combat tours in vietnam. as commander of the 555th fighter squadron he was shot down & imprisoned by the north vietnamese.

and shot down a MIG-21
His first 2 combat tours were, I believe, in B-26 Invaders

Last edited by Jack Cook on Tue Mar 27, 2007 8:03 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[Taylor Stevenson]

that takes guts to take that first step off the capsule....

[tom d. friedman]

me 109, please forward your post to prez dubya bush!!! well & eloquently put reply!!!

[Tom Crawford]

I was wondering what the French were doing these days.....

[Former Member]

At the age of 58 I hope "le' Colonel Michelle Fornication" doesn't break a hip in the process. Seriously...this takes guts and hope he succeeds. If not I'm sure the French will blame America.

John

[KRM_Bear]

"that takes guts to take that first step off the capsule.... "

Then again, once one is at 130,000 feet in a baloon, is there another way to get back to the ground?

Wow, would take more guts than I've got to step anwhere near that capsule...

[gregv]

6 minutes and 25 seconds of free-fall? I guess you wouldn't get bored or anything, but man that is a lot of time to spend falling! I wonder where the mind would wander...

good luck to Colonel Micheal Fournier!

greg v.

[Marc]

Websites:
www.thesuperjump.org
www.legrandsaut.org