kevin922 0 #1 April 23, 2004 Last night I went to see Col Joe Kittinger at the air and space museum here in DC. Listening to this guy speak was unbelievable! Hearing him talk about the 70 & 100K feet jumps he did and seeing the video was breathtaking. I asked him if he had done any "fun" jumps after his 100K plunge... he said yes, and he wanted to stop at 100 jumps, but he had an ejection from an aircraft that "screwed that up". So he has 101... I talked with him afterwards, he said "There's a place in Florida where they skydive called Skydive Deland.. " evidentally he's a friend of Bob Hallet's (sp?). Got him to sign my log book. Picture Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PrairieDoug 0 #3 April 23, 2004 Wish I had known about that event -- I'm in the area and definitely would have wanted to check it out. I think the Guinness Book of World Records reports his terminal velocity during the jump at over 600 mph (with a drogue!). That just simply kicks ass. BTW Kevin, I'm going to be looking you up at Orange sometime this summer to check out the Birdman thing. (I'm currently jumping at Chambersburg, PA.) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kevin922 0 #4 April 23, 2004 I think it was drougless at that time.. he was telling us about the 2 stage deployment... anyway, we have birdman instructing scheduled for memorial day boogie if you want to learn. shoot me an email, kevin@flybirdman.com Kevin Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 7 #5 April 24, 2004 No...All of his high alt. jumps were with a drogue. Some Russian was doing similar testing at the time and supposedly went higher drogue less (faster)... But who knows. I too met him and have a logbook signature, once at an air show...and several years later when he crash landed a balloon on a little island off the California coast. He and a young lady passenger were getting blown out to sea and he put it down there to save their lives... A friend was helping with the balloon recovery and I got to meet Col. Joe again... Cool guy with tons of interesting stories! His best line; Mach 1....no big deal, Tell Yeager to try it without an airplane! ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest #6 April 24, 2004 QuoteCool guy with tons of interesting stories! His best line; Mach 1....no big deal, Tell Yeager to try it without an airplane! heh-heh. Cute... I've never met him, but I did a phone interview him about two years ago to get his reaction about Michel Fournier's record attempt (Now plural. Michel has scrubbed twice on the launch pad because of malfunctions). Col Joe doesn't think much of Fournier, but if I was the Guinness Book record holder, I'd want to hang on to it too (The FAI official record is 82,000 ft., set by Soviet AF Capt Yevgeney Andreyev in 1962). Col Joe was a test pilot, not a skydiver, and regards Fournier as something of an adventurer."The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 20 #7 April 24, 2004 Rev Jim's Wingsuit is also signed by Joe... very cool!Yesterday is history And tomorrow is a mystery Parachutemanuals.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 7 #8 April 24, 2004 QuoteCol Joe was a test pilot, not a skydiver, and regards Fournier as something of an adventurer. *** There was a demon that lived in the air. They said whoever challenged him would die. His controls would freeze up, his plane would buffet wildly, and he would disintegrate. The demon lived at Mach 1 on the meter, seven hundred and fifty miles an hour, where the air could no longer move out of the way. He lived behind a barrier through which they said no man would ever pass. They called it the sound barrier. — Ridley in the 1983 movie 'The Right Stuff.' ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
