Felix Baumgartner Uses "Birdman" Suit To Set Record

Austrian stuntman and "extreme" skydiver Felix Baumgartner of Austria soared into the record books Thursday, becoming the first person ever to skydive across the English Channel.

Starting over the white cliffs of Dover, England, early in the morning (to avoid the heavy commercial traffic between Britain and the continent), Baumgartner leaped out of an aircraft at 29,500 ft MSL, equipped with a special set of carbon-fiber wings to extend his glide.

Reaching speeds of up to 124 miles an hour, the self-proclaimed "God of the Skies" made it across the Channel in ten minutes.

Think about that for a moment...

In 1909, Louis Bleriot needed 37 minutes to make the first powered flight across the Channel. In 1875, it took Matthew Webber 22 hours to swim the distance. All Baumgartner needed was ten minutes.

"It's pretty cold up there. I still can feel nothing," Baumgartner said after landing near the French port of Calais.

"I made it, which is great."

The wing he used to extend his jump was made of the same light-weight carbon used in Formula One race cars. Baumgartner is no stranger to the record books.

The 34-year old "God of the Skies" holds the records for the highest and the lowest jumps, having dived from the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and the statue of Christ in Rio de Janeiro.

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