Birdman set to fly Channel

A parachutist with a carbon-fibre wing strapped to his back will attempt to fly across the English Channel this week.

Austrian base jumper Felix Baumgartner hopes that, after jumping from an air transport plane 30,000ft above Dover, he will be able to glide across the 22-mile Channel in 10 minutes.

His launch is so high he will need his own oxygen supply and temperatures will drop to around -55C. He intends to land safely by parachute in Cap Blanc-Nez, near Calais.

If successful, he will become the first person to fly unassisted across the channel. He hopes to make the leap this week and is in Dover waiting for perfect weather conditions. To avoid air traffic, he will jump at 4am.

The secret of the amazing flight is his carbon-fibre wing, which measures 1.8 metres across. Designed in co-operation with the University of Applied Science in Munich, it has taken three years to develop.

To complete the feat, he will have to cover six metres for every metre he falls. He has tested the wing in wind tunnels and has also been strapped to the top of a Porsche 911 and driven around an airfield at high speed.

Baumgartner will begin the flight at around 250mph, but wind resistance is likely to slow him to between 130mph and 190mph.

The wing is extremely aerodynamic, with panels covering the parachute that have to be discarded at 1,000ft for a safe landing.

After jumping, Baumgartner's attempt relies on getting into the perfect glide position as soon as possible. If he does not, he risks crashing into the sea. The exact angle of his wing must be perfect.

During the flight, he will be tracked by radar and will also have a video camera to record the feat.

He believes the extremely high starting altitude will guarantee his success, saying: "My starting altitude is roughly the height of Everest, so I see no reason why I can't make the distance.

"My position must be perfect, as every tiny mistake I make with the wings can create huge problems. It's like driving a Formula One car; the equipment I have is extremely sensitive and quite delicate, which means any small problem very quickly becomes a huge one."

Baumgartner says he is not scared of the jump, adding: "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."

Baumgartner was the first man to jump from both the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, the world's tallest building, and from the statue of Christ in Rio. He has made more than 2,600 parachute jumps, and 130 base jumps. He holds the world records for the highest jump from a building and the lowest base jump.