Daredevil attempts free-fall flight Channel crossing
An extreme sports fanatic is planning to become the first man to fly unaided across the English Channel with the help of a winged suit.
Felix Baumgartner's audacious attempt will see him jump from a plane at 30,000ft, and then navigating the seas below.
The Austrian will be wearing a specially-adapted suit with a wing-like carbon fibre fin attached to his back which should let him glide through the air.
He plans to cross the 22-mile Channel in 10 minutes and will use a parachute to land at Cap Blanc-Nez, near Calais, in France.
Plunging into freezing air temperatures, Baumgartner will begin the flight at a speed of about 220mph before slowing to 135 mph.
Weather conditions permitting, Baumgartner plans to make the attempt on Thursday at 5am UK time, flying from Calais to the skies above Dover, where he will begin the 'flight' back to France.
He will be equipped with cameras and data monitoring technology to ensure he can be tracked during his journey. The 34-year-old said: "I should definitely make the crossing."
His new wing has a span of 1.8 metres - making it ten centimetres bigger than his previous one with which he won a race against an aeroplane some weeks ago in the United States.
Timing will be the crucial factor - if he loses too much altitude early on he may face grave consequences.
Baumgartner was the first man to parachute from the world's tallest building, Malaysia's Petronas Towers, as well as the statue of Christ in the Brazilian city Rio de Janeiro.
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