Monster Energy claims it’s the world’s first car backflip, and we can’t really refute that since we’ve never seen it before until now. The driver behind the wheel is Rally Raid world champion Guerlain Chicherit, who spent four years preparing for the stunt. A teaser was posted earlier last month showing off the Mini vehicle in mid-air, but didn’t show the landing — we’re guessing that the first couple of test runs didn’t go so well.

To skip the intro and go straight to the jump, skip to the 0:34 mark.

Granted, the ramps were built specifically to make a small car do a backflip, but that doesn’t make the feat any less impressive. And according to Monster, Chicherit actually performed the stunt twice, both of which were successful jumps — one of which was a test run, and the other was in front of a crowd of spectators.

What do you think the next thing to do a backflip will be? A semi? A tank? Well, it’s not likely a semi or a tank could do a backflip, but you never know. We never thought a snowmobile could do a backflip but here we are witnessing it today. It could be only a matter of time before we see even more crazy things done with heavy machinery.

[via Jalopnik]

The Red Bull Air Force recently took its wing suit flyers Jon DeVore, Miles Daisher, and Othar Lawrence to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. The goal for the stunt team was to pilot their wingsuits as close as possible to some of Malaysia’s highest and most iconic buildings. The pilots use their wingsuits to fly between the Petronas Twin Towers.

Interestingly, some of the members of the Red Bull Air Force performed the wingsuit stunts in the Michael Bay blockbuster Transformers 3 in downtown Chicago. The wingsuit pilots were flying at around 120 mph in an urban environment filled with buildings and other hazards. You have to watch the video to see the stunt being performed.

These guys pass so close to the buildings that from some angles, it looks as if they’re about to crash into the building. I can only imagine how sphincter-puckering flying between those twin towers would be. Watch the video below and see for yourself.

It will take 10 workers to unfurl and inflate the world’s largest helium balloon. This massive helium balloon will take Baumgartner and his pressurized capsule to an altitude of 23 miles above the surface of the earth before he opens the door and jumps. It will reportedly take eight hours to unfurl and inflate the massive, and insanely flimsy balloon.

Putting enough helium into the massive 334-foot tall helium balloon will take 45 minutes to an hour. The helium balloon has a capacity of 30,000,000 ft.³. The gigantic balloon in the photograph was used to carry Baumgartner 13 miles above the surface of the earth in March and was only 128 feet tall.

The balloon is constructed of polyethylene and is much thinner than a sandwich bag. The envelope of the balloon is 0.0008-inches thick, which is about 10 times thinner than your average sandwich bag. The massive balloon will be 55-stories tall and weigh 3708 pounds. The balloon uses enough polyethylene strips to cover 40 acres if laid out flat. The balloon will stand 334 feet tall and 424 feet in diameter when it reaches its peak altitude.

[via Wired]

Baumgartner is set to make his official record-setting plunge from an altitude of 23 miles over the surface of the United States. Baumgartner reach a top speed of 690 mph, breaking the sound barrier without using an aircraft. The record-breaking jump was originally set for August, but was delayed.

The official jump will now take place on October 8. The delay was the result of damage sustained to Baumgartner’s capsule used to carry him to altitude during his last practice jump. The capsule had to be repaired and then retested before Baumgartner could make his record-setting attempt.

The capsule is carried 23 miles above the earth using a gigantic helium balloon. Baumgartner will wear pressure suit that looks like a suit astronauts wear in space. The probability for the delays is high because the record-setting jump requires perfect weather. Any weather issues will result in further delay of the jump.

[via Fox News]