# Austrian Buzz Lightyear 'flies' unaided across the English channel **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 31, 2003, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/austrian-buzz-lightyear-flies-unaided-across-the-english-channel/192094 "2003-07-31T09:44:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/austrian-buzz-lightyear-flies-unaided-across-the-english-channel/192094/21 "2003-08-01T12:07:29Z")
Hmmm, 220 miles an hour . . . The Atlantic is, say, 3,000-ish miles across (to Ireland, say). That’s 13 and a half hours, give or take (at 220 mph). Plus, the prevailing winds are west to east – lets call it a 13 hours trip. So, jumping at 30, 000 ft, he can lose 2,200 – ish feet an hour. Problems: Oxygen supply, the cold keeping his head together. What else ? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/austrian-buzz-lightyear-flies-unaided-across-the-english-channel/192094/22 "2003-08-01T12:47:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by London\_Calling \* > \*\*Oxygen supply, the cold keeping his head together. What else ? \*\* By my calculations, he’d have to be dropped from 681 miles up, so crashing into satellites might be another issue. And the total vacuum, meaning his wings would be inoperable. And heat generated by re-entry. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/austrian-buzz-lightyear-flies-unaided-across-the-english-channel/192094/23 "2003-08-01T12:51:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shirley Ujest \* > \*\*The man is not only ballsy, he is reallly cute, too. \*\* You might enjoy [this site then](http://www.felixbaumgartner.com/), as long as you’re OK with Flash. Unfortunately (for me) it doesn’t seem to include any pictures of his girlfriend. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/austrian-buzz-lightyear-flies-unaided-across-the-english-channel/192094/24 "2003-08-01T13:02:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > By my calculations, he’d have to be dropped from 681 miles up Good Lord, that’s a longer run up than even Bob Willis used to have. Okay, Plan B: Dublin to London, without spilling your pint . . . ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/austrian-buzz-lightyear-flies-unaided-across-the-english-channel/192094/25 "2003-08-01T13:21:47Z")
So if not a trans-Atlantic glide, what else do you think he has in mind for his Top Secret wheeze? Dublin-London with beer in hand sounds good. Surfing through the Chunnel on top of Eurostar? Crossing the Andes by frog? Maybe he’ll zoom out of the sea like the SkyDiver out of Gerry Anderson’s UFO? ---
**Author:** ![Plankspanker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Plankspanker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plankspanker)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/austrian-buzz-lightyear-flies-unaided-across-the-english-channel/192094/26 "2003-08-01T13:26:22Z")
**London** , unless i’m missing something, you’re missing it… he went over the english channel, which is only 22 miles across… of course, i might just be putting my propulsion system in my facial breathing apparatus… ---
**Author:** ![Plankspanker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Plankspanker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plankspanker)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/austrian-buzz-lightyear-flies-unaided-across-the-english-channel/192094/27 "2003-08-01T13:29:31Z")
ok, i’m sorry. i should really read the links first… ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/austrian-buzz-lightyear-flies-unaided-across-the-english-channel/192094/28 "2003-08-01T13:53:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shirley Ujest \* > \*\*The man is not only ballsy, he is reallly cute, too. \*\* Did you see his girlfriend? Woah, that guy had sooooo much to live for. Are you suggesting Austrians are migratory? ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/austrian-buzz-lightyear-flies-unaided-across-the-english-channel/192094/29 "2003-08-01T17:05:51Z")
Wow! Now what if you had a really small jet engine bolted atop that wing? Obviously, fuel supply would be a problem, but while the engine was firing, could you maintain level flight or even gain altitude? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/austrian-buzz-lightyear-flies-unaided-across-the-english-channel/192094.md?page=1)