11/2: Flying Man
 

http://www.digipulse.org/images/weeee.jpg

MSNBC's caption:

Balloon pilot Ian Ashpole sails through the sky near Chatteris, England, on Oct. 28. He broke his own world record for the highest flight using 600 toy balloons, rising to 11,000 feet before he cut himself loose and parachuted back down to earth.

Gutsy. I picked it for today for 2 reasons: 1) I figured Tony already had it in the queue and I'd beat him to the punch :) and 2) I think we can make everyone's Friday a little bit better for a second if we do something here:

First, look at this picture. Then, close your eyes, and just imagine being in that chair, floating over the beautiful wilderness on a beautiful day. Think about sharing it with someone that you love - just being outside, sucking it all up. Repeat until you smile. :)

There. That made my Friday better. I hope it makes yours just a little better too.

Note: Retitled to remove the "Extra" in response to Rev. Wonder Toad's comment below. Aww, it doesn't take in the thread name. Oh well :)

That's no extra, man, that's the image of the day. Today's image will have to wait until tomorrow.

Its like the Red Balloon- beautiful French film and my favorite book as a little kid. I still have the dogeared and crumbling book and when I open it, the smell of the print makes me feel 6 years old and sailing over Paris.:) Thanks D for the image on this sunny Friday.

man
 

That is so awesome.

Proving one more time that you can find adventure anywhere, you just have to think it up and do it.

Ah, warch, that is cool. I can't remember when I first saw the movie, but I had the book from the time I can first remember up until the time when my mom's house burned down a few years ago.

hmm... I wonder if this guy is related to the man who won the <a href="http://www.delta-9.com/net47/myth/balloon.html">1997 Darwin Awards</a>?

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http://www.math.ohio-state.edu/~kerler/BSBD/lawn.gif

Re: 11/2: Flying Man
 

Actually rather tame. The amazing part is that he did it with that equipment. From memory (I believe Scientific American), there are two parachute jumps planned that will skydive through the ozone layer. The trick is to first get that high. There are other unique engineering problems such as will the body burn if reentering too fast? Can the human body withstand Mach 1? Will the parachute deploy? Material - even kevlar is not sufficient. The body suit is a secret material for both challengers.

Can they land on target? One is a UK man. The other a US woman and US Air pilot. She estimates to land somewhere within a 100 mile radius. Of course, this is all from memory so the numbers may not be correct. But both will jump from the top of the stratosphere. Even air traffic controllers must divert commercial flights around the human flying obstructions. Do they have to carry transponders?

There, the "extra" is gone.

This reminds me of Superman III, where they had these 1-person hot air balloons with a guidance propeller in back. Too cool!

I always wondered if you can actually buy these.

Anyone know?

-- NBN

I've seen lots of stuff written on balloons and how far they travel. We were goose hunting west of Houston yesterday in a recently cut rice field and came across 3 of those mylar/metalic balloons that one sees at supermarkets and florist shops for special occasions. The balloons said "Happy Birthday!" and their was a card attached saying "Happy Birthday Candice, from all of us". The card was in a small envelope from a florist shop in Little Rock Arkansas, a little over 500 miles to our NE. They had lost most of their helium and were dragging on the ground. I wondered when her birthday had been and how long they had taken to get to Texas. I also thought about how the balloons got away from Candice or the people giving them to her. Happy Birthday Candice.

You CAN buy ultralight balloons
 

Single-person "ultralight" balloons are available. You can see them here:

http://hotairship.com/ebaa/