Hangar 7 Salzburg: Felix, wecome back! - Party

Last night I met extraordinary people at Hangar 7 in Salzburg. Felix Baumgartner arrived back and he brought his whole team of the Stratos project and his family and friends over. Servus TV interviewed him and the team and on big screens they showed the most amazing moments of the successful record attempt.
I thought Felix is superbusy with all the wishes for autographs, he must have signed a million Red Bull cans by now, but he said, "Hey Corinna, don´t walk by!" and gave me a big hug. Speechless I just smiled at him and was aware how lucky we are that we are in such a privileged position to be able to turn our dreams into reality. I am very enthusiastic about anything that flies (as some of you might have figured out by now), so I followed the stages of Felix´ Stratos project from the very beginning, for years. I shared this huge curiosity of what would happen to the body at supersonic speed, how can you control and stabilize a fall in empty space without friction, which technology will be needed to transfer the photos and films live online...
It was a touching moment to meet Felix again, a mixture of being glad that he didnt get hurt, proud that he managed to break those incredible records, and just humble and thankful that we are supported by Red Bull for projects which are on the edge.

Also I had a chat again with Colonel Joe. He did a wonderful job keeping up communication, trying to get Felix to talk to him and run through the check lists. When Joe jumped his record more than 50 years ago, he only had 30 parachute jumps before. But the guys didn´t mention that he had been flying all sorts of planes for ages. He is the man with the largest number of type ratings Ive ever met, even more than Guido (he was at the Hangar as well).

Felix said he will accept Ban Ki Moon´s offer to become an embassador for the young generation, inspiring them to follow their passions and live their dreams. What more could you ask for?
Numerous athletes were at the party, I hadn´t seen Stefan Glowacz for a long time, I enjoyed catching up. Snowboarders, Skateboardes, Motorsport guys, also the Salzburg soccer team was there. I had no idea that they had so many Brazilian players and I hugely enjoyed training my Portuguese language skills by talking to Rodnei and André for a while. Nice guys, I have to come to see one of their matches soon. 

Bogota, Timezone UTC - 5

After a short trip to Barranquilla and Cartagena, I went back to Bogota. Gold museum, Monserrate, and tonight the work flight back to Frankfurt. Then I will go directly to Salzburg airport, because Felix Baumgartner is on his way back too. There will be a great little welcome home Felix party at Hangar 7 and Im sure to see quite a few of my Red Bull friends. Guess not much time for a talk with Felix, everybody wants interviews with him now, but at least time for a smile.

Moyes RX 3 and RX 3,5 passed DHV pitch test!

I just talked to Wolfi from Skyline and he told me that he and Gerolf successfully brought the Moyes RX 3 and RX 3,5 through the DHV pitch test drive today! The weather was perfect and it did not take Christof Kratzner long to get the data needed to allow this racing machine to now officially be able to compete at the World Championships in Forbes! Next week they plan to do the same with the RX 4 for bigger pilots. Christof is going to testfly the gliders tomorrow.
Wolfi is positive that the paperwork will be done by the end of next week, so the "DHV Gütesiegel" will verify that the glider is tested, safe and legal to fly. Finally - I have waited for this moment for so long! For testflights, please contact Wolfi (Skyline) or Fredy Bircher or your local Moyes dealer!
The glider is so easy and nice for towing, I am really happy that I will be able to compete with the small, beautiful wing in Forbes now. Australia can be even harsher than Texas, and if a dust devil ripped Felix Baumgartner´s balloon apart, everybody can imagine what these little whirl winds do with us hangies when we are on tow... I felt safer than ever before, it was really the first time I actually enjoyed the towing ;)

Felix Baumgartner completed Stratos jump!

3 new World Records later, Felix pulls off a beautiful, perfect landing after his jump from over 39000m! Aviation history was written today by Felix Baumgartner from Salzburg, Austria. I am so glad he survived his biggest adventure ever! After some weeks of complete media hype for Felix, I know I will be able to go flying again with him just for fun or meet him at one of the great Red Bull Events, no matter whether with hang glider, paraglider, parachute or helicopter! Red Bull gives us all sorts of amazing wings! Felix, you are our superhero! Thank you Colonel Joe for having looked after Felix so well!

Sebastian wins, Felix goes Stratos at 12:00 UTC

Sebastian Vettel won the F1 race in Korea ahead of his team mate Mark Webber - now he is in the lead overall again, having pushed Alonso back on 2nd place! With 4 more races to go (India, Abu Dhabi, Austin and Brazil) and 6 points ahead of Alonso, it is going to be an interesting end of the season! I hope I can go to Sao Paulo and send some twitters live from Interlagos!

In Roswell, Felix and his team are preparing for another possibility of his Stratos world record attempt today. In less than 4 hours, they are planning to start the balloon with Felix Baumgartner into the stratosphere. Watch it live on Servus TV or on N-TV!

What a big day for Red Bull! All Red Bull athletes hope for the best for Felix - and I guess most of us will be a bit jealous that Felix will be the only man on earth who ever went supersonic in free fall! I love to be a part of this group of courageous athletes and to have a sponsor who helps us persue and realize our dreams, no matter how unusual or impossible they seem.

Countdown for Stratos!

In only two days, my crazy friend Felix Baumgartner is going ballistic from outer space, trying to go head down supersonic in a space suit. The mega-base-jump Red Bull Stratos! I have always admired him for his professional approach to the most incredible jumps.
Felix loves to plan his adventures minutely, everything has to be perfect - I think that is why he is still alive! He picks the best pros available to help him.
Only a few days after he told me about his "secret project" (when I met him in Salzburg at Hangar 7 accidentally some years ago), I had a work flight to Orlando, went to the Fantasy of Flight museum with my cockpit crew and got to know Colonel Joe Kittinger (read his book "Come up and get me!") who currently holds the height record that Felix tries to break... sometimes the world is small! Joe is a supernice guy with a great humour, really smart and always very positive (he reminded me of Bill Moyes straight away, tough and rough and enthusiastic to try things nobody else ever dared) , so I was really happy when I got to know that Felix and Joe work together on the project (sure I was scared for Felix when he told me about it - how would he stabilize when he falls at such a high speed? What about the friction, the cold, the heat, and the difference? I had a bezillion questions when Kermit Weeks, owner of "Fantasy of Flight", introduced me to his mate Colonel Joe...)
I sooooo wish I could just fly over to Roswell for Felix´ jump. A front is moving through, and he had to postpone it to Tuesday 9th. Lucky for me, I will have just returned from Luanda and I will be able to watch his jump live online - but I can´t make it in time to go to New Mexico...
Going up in a balloon to 120,000 ft and then free fall - Felix knows that this could be his last adventure. Everything has to work out just right for him. I can´t wait to meet him again in Salzburg after his jump - that adrenaline rush will last for a while ;)

Coming home

Even if I love all the travelling, it is always nice to come back home to Bremen. The city is relaxed, with a lot of parks and gardens. The weather is often, like today, gray, raining, and like you see with the smoke on the photo, there is often a "fresh breeze".
But it is also the home to my favourite soccer club Werder Bremen. Home to the "Famous Four" Bremer Town Musicians. Home to Coffee. And I can warmly recommend the museum "Bremer Kunsthalle" - a fantastic collection. Picasso"s "Sylvette" in black and white is my all time favourite here.
You will find many people in the city who can speak Spanish, as there is a long tradition of coffee, cotton and tobacco trading with central and South America. And as an old city of the "Hanse", Bremen kept this attitude of being open to the world. I feel lucky that I could learn Spanish at school, even before French and Latin - not many schools in the south of Germany offer that variety.
I really recommend to visit this lovely little place, it is very different to most other places you can see in the world. Maybe a mix between Norway (in terms of architecture and people) and New Zealand (in terms of fronts passing through every day;)) describes Bremen a little bit!

Free running

 Watch this funny, cool video, a chain reaction of a human line of dominos. Jason Paul shows great tricks and appears to be a live Super Mario ;)
There are some truely crazy, creative athletes in our Red Bull family! Thanks for so much fun, Jason Paul!

Learning to Fly

Matjaz made a great video about the fascination of hang gliding. Alex Ploner and I had been asked to help him with some comments, and Matjaz put a great little film together that shows how easy it is to get into the air, and why it is so special to share the birds´ perspective. Have fun watching it!