Breaking the sound barrier without a plane!

Great post.

 

I had read about this a while ago, absolutely loved learning the details. What a legend. Aviation is full of pioneering figures. Just amazing how young this field is, and how quickly it has advanced due to people like him. Thanks for posting.

Reminds me of another thing I have been curious about. During the Vietnam war, the air force came up with a way to snatch people from the ground with airplanes, using a balloon and a hook of some sort. Anyone know what the program was called or have any details on that? I caught parts of a TV special on it a while ago.

Edit: Just googled it. Surface to Air Recovery (STAR) system. Also known as the Fulton Skyhook. Still in use by some air forces.

 

"This is the highest step in the world"

Great story!

 

There is a show about this on Discovery Channel, I think they also aired it on the Science Channel. He had a camera with him and they show footage. Its a must see IMO.

 

That is so cool.

 

History Channel (or similar - I don't recall) documented that story a few
years ago.... utterly amazing.

Talk about a guy with NO FEAR. Maybe AC/DC wrote "Big Balls" about this guy....

Jedi

 

Ok, someone straighten me out about something. "The Sound Barrier" and "Speed of Sound".

Aren't these two things relative to atmospheric density? I mean, 720 mph at 100,000 feet is not going to produce the pressures and sonic boom associated with "The Speed Of Sound", right?

Still one hell of a feat, though.

 

Probably not. But he still went "faster than sound"

Jedi

 

as long as there is some atmosphere (and there is, just very little), there will be a sonic boom, but it will be a very small one, perhaps a sonic crack, rather than a boom. it's a function of the sound waves being compressed ahead of the object traveling at the speed of sound, "catching up" to their own sound and adding energy to the sound wave. the wave, and the amount of additional energy being added, are both going to be very small, but will definitely exist.

 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw8OJJQ_hgk&feature=related[/ame]

 

From one of my favorite movies, when they made movies that glorified our soldiers, rather than portraying them as confused killers. I watched a documentary about Iraq last night, and for the first time saw people welcoming our soldiers there, giving out gifts and flowers. Never saw that during the hate Bush era of inept and bias journalism. Not that war is good-it is always bad, but sometimes necessary and just. The Fulton Skyhook is in this trailer, and so is the orginal puff daddy-Puff the Magic Dragon.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMsggzxFVJk[/ame]

 

If you look at the last picture, you can see the size difference between his Left and Right gloves. Right glove didn't inflate.

Did it anyway, would NEVER have another chance to do it.

 

For some reason that just makes me laugh....



Jedi

 

I met Joe Kittinger a few years ago at a car show when I lived in Orlando. We got to talking and sat for a coffee... I had worked as an engineer at NASA before medical school and that got us on the subject of Joe's work. Needless to say my eyes were as big as saucers... Amazing man.

 

He still lives in the area? I know he's from Tampa...I was hoping I would run into him at the VA when I was doing rotations there. I'm sure he has awesome stories.

 

I met him at a cars for the cure show with the F40... 2006 I think.

 

Joe and his wife Sherry have been out to my parents' farm when we used to hold an annual brunch/chili cook-off for all of the local British car clubs. Joe has an Austin London taxi to tool around in. What hasn't been mentioned yet are some of his other adventures, such as the first person to cross the Atlantic Ocean solo in a gas balloon (landed in Italy, I think) and he spent about a year in a North Vietnamese concentration camp!

After the war, he hooked-up with Bob Snow, the founder of Rosie O'Grady's / Church Street Station, to serve as the "aviation director," skywriting or banner-towing with an Ag-Cat and hot air balloon flights for tourists.

Orlando is fortunate to have two "hometown" heroes: Astronaut John Young & Joe Kittenger!

KevFla

 

I'll have to look for that. Amazing the stones those pioneers had. Amazing story.

 

You might be able to find it on one of these internet TV sites. Good stuff!

 

His hand must have hurt like hell!
What a badass!

 

Looks like Red Bull and Felix Baumgartner are going after this record, with JK's consent and support.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyGmTV0q2kY[/ame]