Chard man speaks of journey to edge of space (From This is The West Country)

Chard man speaks of journey to edge of space

6:30am Wednesday 15th June 2011 in News By Jamie Brooks

A FORMER Holyrood School student flew to the edge of space this week.

Dave Coller, whose mother Mary lives in Chard, marked his 50th birthday last Tuesday by flying at an altitude of 20.5km in a MiG29 from the Nizhny Novgorod Airbase in Russia.

On the journey the senior test pilot Sergi gave Dave an opportunity to take control of the aircraft at 10,000m, before taking him on a supersonic run to see the Earth’s curvature.

While the maximum altitude of the flight is not known until the day and is dependent on weather conditions – Dave fulfilled his ambition.

Dave said: “We cruised out 165km from the airbase before turning back and making our supersonic run - at Mach 1.9 we went vertical with afterburners blazing!

“We topped out at 20.5 km - above us was the darkness of space and you could distinctly see the Earth’s curvature.”

Some spectacular aerobatics were next – with the chance to experience G force, heading from 2G up to 6.5G when performing a loop.

Dave added: “I watched the G indicator and as it passed 6.5 shortly after which I lost my sight in both eyes. What I later was told was that this is natural as the blood drains from your brain under the G force.

“It was a tad disconcerting but after about five seconds things restored themselves - just as well I wasn't at the helm at that point!”

After some more sightseeing in Russia Dave has now returned home to Hong Kong.

FOR more photos and details of Dave’s epic trip keep checking our website.