"It Really Is A Leap Into The Unknown"

A former French Army paratrooper is in the process of planning a le Grand Saut or "Super Jump" in an attempt at breaking several parachute records... as well as the sound barrier.

Michel Fournier, 63, is hoping to break records for the highest ever parachute jump, the longest sky dive, and the highest altitude achieved by a person in a balloon during his attempt to be the first person to break the sound barrier in free-fall, according to the UK Daily Mail. (The current record holder, Air Force Capt. Joseph Kittinger, "only" reached 614 mph -- about Mach .90 -- on his record-setting 1960 jump -- Ed.)

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't afraid, but I am also very excited," Fouriner said. "It really is a leap into the unknown."

He is planning to begin his dive from a weather balloon about twenty-five miles up armed only with a parachute and a special carbon-fiber suit sometime within the next month over the Great Plains of Saskatchewan in Canada... weather permitting, of course.

According to the UK Telegraph, Fournier will spend hours inhaling pure oxygen prior to his jump to dispel nitrogen from his bloodstream due to the thinness of air at more than 131,000 feet.

His suit is designed to protect him from external temperatures of more than minus 200 degrees Fahrenheit, but will subject him to internal temps around 150 degrees Fahrenheit generated from air resistance.

Fournier's helmet is designed to protect him from the sonic boom with reinforced ear pads as he breaks through Mach 1 and will have its own air supply.

Fournier hopes to break the sound barrier (760 mph) within 37 seconds of leaving the weather balloon. His parachute won't open for six minutes, 25 seconds. He has a team of scientists working with him and they estimate he'll reach a top speed of 1,113 mph before being slowed by greater air resistance the closer he gets to the Earth's surface, which he should reach about eight and a half minutes after jumping.

This is not the adventurer's first attempt at these records. Fournier has made this attempt in one form or another for that past two decades.

In the 1980s, he was one of three candidates chosen to take part in an endurance test for the military to ascertain if a parachutist could safely descend from 125,000 feet. The testing was abandoned in 1988, but Fournier was hooked and has continued on his own, financing his dream through profits made from selling antique furniture, his gun collection and even his own home.

He came close in 2003, but his balloon burst shortly before liftoff.

The veteran of more than 8,500 parachute jumps takes part in a rigorous training program of running, weight lifting and yoga to help him prepare for this next attempt.

"People have said I am too old, but I am very fit and have trained hard," he said.

FMI: www.legrandsaut.org