Flight of the Gryphon

by Steve on July 27, 2006

A gryphon is a creature of ancient mythology, part eagle and part lion. This legendary beast made his most recent appearance in the Chronicles of Narnia. For more history on the Gryphon visit the Gryphon Pages.

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Why, you ask, am I wandering off into never-never land? Well, it seems the Gryphon has morphed into a new form:

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AOPA reports:

A German company has developed strap-on rigid composite wings known as Gryphons that will allow elite special forces troops to fly as silently as a butterfly but sting like a bee.

The first real test of the wing occurred back in 2003 when Austrian base jumper Felix Baumgartner, pictured above, jumped from an aircraft 30,000 feet over Dover, England and parachuted the final 1,000 feet to land in Calais, France across the English Channel, a distance of 22 miles. BBC has more.

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