http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070217/ap_on_re_au_an/australia_paraglider_s_ordeal

I'm absolutely speechless.

Damn good piece of flying.

What I want to know is do people that do dangerous crap like this have families that depend on them......awfully damn selfish if they do!

She is a test pilot, instructor and competitor by trade, so yes, she does this for a living. One of the best.

http://www.skycontrol.net/air-sports/double-victory-for-advance-at-the-first-200 6-pwc/
http://www.dhv.de/typo/German_top-ladies.2656.0.html
http://www.skyfly.cz/zajimavo_e/ewa05_e.htm
http://www.swing.de/?main=news&sub=ewawisnierska&lang=en
http://www.pwca.org/

That's a tad different then. She has done that all along and if she did marry he knew it going in that there may be risks. It's those who do things on a whim or a dare that are out of the norm and they wind up dead leaving children and spouses to carry on without them...that is irresponsible and selfish!

She took control of her aircraft -- such as it was -- and she didn't break protocol for her own pride or create a mess for anyone else. While still on the ground, Chuck Yeager lied about his injury and put an entire program at risk for his own glory. He was one of the best escorts a test pilot could ever have, but he should have been scrubbed on the sound barrier test. Tex Johnston, the Bell pilot who worked all the kinks out before Chuck's little creampuff jaunt was a far better choice. Ewa seems like she would have fit right in with those boys. Ovaries of steel. :0)

Here is old Tex in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rILk6-4SMJQ

When asked why he did it -- while being dressed down in the Boeing office -- reportedly he replied, "You wanted me to sell airplanes. I did. The airplane didn't even know it was upside down."

Time article on the birth of the 707:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,857520-1,00.html

Paragliding, basejumping or any other "extreme dude" activity when you have mouths to feed is really dumb. I agree.