Chinese Pilot to Fly Through Bridge OpeningA Chinese pilot will fly a China-made lightplane through a bridge opening of the No.1 Taihu Lake Bridge at the 2000 Taihu World Grand Prix of Aviation scheduled for October 3-6 in east China's Jiangsu Province this year.The bridge opening, 26 meters wide and 5 to 6 meters high, could be the narrowest space that a person can fly through in the world. Hungarian Peter Besenyei flew through the 127m x 28m Heavenly Door at the Zhangjiajie scenic spot in central China's Hunan Province in 1999. Experts said that it will be more difficult for the Chinese pilot to fly through the bridge opening which acquires the skill of hedgehopping, and the pilot will have a much smaller space for him to adjust his plane. The Taihu Lake Bridge, in Wuxian County, is 4,308 meters long with 180 apertures. The bridge consists of No.1, No.2 and No. 3 bridges, connecting the three islands of Changsha, Yeshan and Xishan. The No.1 bridge is 1,768 meters long, with 73 bridge openings. The world's top 12 aerobats, from Britain, France, Czech, and Lithuania respectively, will participate in the grand event. They will also try to fly through the bridge opening following their Chinese counterpart. |
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