Skydiver to wing it across the English Channel

By CHARLES ARTHUR in London

An Austrian skydiver plans to become the first person to fly unassisted across the English Channel, by jumping from an airplane at the same altitude as Everest with just a carbon-fibre wing to help him steer.

If 34-year-old Felix Baumgartner succeeds, he will take just 10 minutes to cover the 35km horizontal distance between Dover and Cap Blanc-Nez in Calais - though he will have covered slightly more because of his vertical fall of roughly 9.6km.

The jump, which requires perfect weather, is being planned for the coming weeks. Baumgartner and his team are camped on the northern French coast, waiting for the right conditions when he will be flown across the Channel.

Forecasts of rain and cloud have already put off the start until tomorrow or Friday at the earliest.

Baumgartner said he was not scared of the jump. "I don't get off on the fear - but it's fear that makes something like this so desirable in the first place, so you can't ignore it."

An assistant said: "He can't jump if there are winds, rain or clouds - he needs the visual element to steer, so he can't jump if there are clouds."

It will be an exacting jump. To avoid international air traffic he will jump at 4am local time and the air temperature will be so low, about minus 55C, that he will need a heated suit and his own oxygen supply.

The key to his survival as he travels at more than 190km/h will be controlling the angle of the carbon-fibre wing strapped to his back.

"My position must be perfect, as every tiny mistake I make can create huge problems," Baumgartner said.

"It's like driving a Formula One car - the equipment is extremely sensitive and quite delicate, which means any small problem very quickly becomes a huge one."

The wing measures 1.8m across and weighs just a few kilograms. It has taken three years to develop jointly with the University of Applied Science in Munich.

Baumgartner has been strapped to the wing on top of a Porsche car and driven around at high speed in test runs.

Even if the jump goes perfectly the wing will be discarded when he reaches 300m so that he can deploy his parachute.

Baumgartner has considerable experience jumping from such heights. He is the first man to have jumped from the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, the world's highest building, and the statue of Christ in Rio de Janiero.

Baumgartner said that if he achieved his feat it would most closely mirror that of Louis Bleriot, who flew across the Channel in 1909 in an aircraft which he built himself.

- INDEPENDENT