Anarchy in the (Skies of the) U.K.
The opening scene of Jetpack Dreams takes place inside a Cessna Skyhawk, where I am flying (somewhat 
nervously) several thousand feet over Belfast, Ireland, in a plane piloted by one of the book’s great characters, Will Breaden-Madden. Will is a strangely charming teenage theoretical physics student, dorm-room tinkerer par excellence and is also, perhaps, on the verge of a major jetpack breakthrough with his years-in-the-making ShamRocket. You’ll have to read the book to find out if Will can make it happen but there is no doubt that he has a serious thing for air stunts.
Now comes news of the latest United Kingdom resident with a taste for ambitious airborne maneuvers. Last week a Scottish reporter named Jane Dougall demonstrated her appreciation of super high altitudes—and, dare we say, enormous cajones— by skydiving some 29, 500 feet above the Himalayas. Ms. Dougall jokes that she did it to “annoy the boss,” but there must have been more motivating the first-time diver to risk it all for—okay, yes—what surely is among the most breathtaking views in the world. Here is what she said about the remarkable experience. My favorite part is when she admits that she would “absolutely not” do it again. Maybe she isn’t so crazy, after all.
Posted by admin on October 30, 2008 at 11:59 am
