Three Saudis, including one TV reporter, have successfully completed a trip to the edge of space last Monday. Saeed Al-Jaber, a Saudi TV reporter for Orbit TV, and two other Saudis, Ibrahim Al-Fadli and Mohammed Al-Najjar, were passengers on two vintage Lightning fighter jets that have vertical takeoff capability. Sponsored by Arab satellite TV company Orbit and bankrolled by American Express, the trips were launched at Thunder City, the world's largest privately owned collection of military aircraft, near Cape Town, South Africa. The trip started at 10:00 AM on Monday and lasted for an hour. Reaching the planned altitude took a good 50 minutes, while the descent back to the ground took a mere 10 minutes. The Lightnings displayed their remarkable capabilities by carrying the crew off the runway and rapidly into vertical takeoff, and through the sound barrier soon after. “I'm so proud to have represented the Saudi media,” Jaber told the Saudi Gazette after the trip. “I'm also honored that Orbit nominated me to cover the story, which encouraged me to give it my best effort.” He also dedicated his success to Saudi Arabia and its people. “I dedicate this success to all Saudis, starting with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, my father, my mother and everyone who supported me during the trip,” said a jubilant Jaber. He added that the idea of being part of the trip came after Fadli and Najjar won their places on the trip in a contest in Saudi Arabia. Orbit, the sponsoring company, nominated him to cover the story. Jaber said the preparations for the trip were no less exciting than the trip itself. Several events and adventures were scheduled to groom the crew for the physically grueling flight. “The preparations took six days, included flying from Riyadh to Cape Town through Dubai then Johannesburg,” he said, adding that he and the rest of the crew received extensive training on simulators of the renowned Lightning jets at the private airfield. “The training included drills on using safety and escape equipment onboard the fighters and how to perform an emergency exit in case of an accident,” he said. “We were also trained on how to use a parachute to land safely back to Erath.” They were also trained on communicating with the pilots, using auxilliary oxygen supplies, coping with a confined cockpit, proper seating position, and controling the body to withstand the enormous G-forces experienced in such extreme flights. “The G-forces can crush your body if you didn't sit up straight all of the time,” he quipped. “The plane made all sorts of moves in the upper stratosphere, near the area between the earth's atmosphere and space,” Jaber said. “We could see the daylight turning into dark. We could see the curvature of the earth while our cameras rolled, taking pictures and footage of both space and the plane's cockpit.” Jaber says that so far, the endeavor is the high point of his career, but he wouldn't let his own excitement get the better of his journalistic integrity and objectivity. “Covering the trip was all what I cared about,” he said. “That said, it was important for my integrity as a journalist to convey the details as they happened. I had to focus more on taking care of the camera, the cameraman and my reporting than enjoying the trip. My responsibility was much greater than thinking about enjoying myself.” It was the first flight in history in which the Saudi flag has been raised that high. “The fact that a Saudi camera with a Saudi journalist reached so high up for the first time made me full of pride and joy, because I was the one who represented the Saudi media in the trip,” he said. “It made me realize that we, as media representatives, should give the Saudi media our all.” Orbit will broadcast footage of the flight in episodes later this year. The company would not give an exact time of when the program would be aired, but only said the program will run in five episodes as soon as the editing is done. The network added that it will be aired from a Monday through the following Thursday. Just like Jaber, Fadli and Najjar were thrilled to have been part of such a once-in-a-lifetime experience, especially that being unburdened with camera equipment and the responsibility of reporting, they probably enjoyed themselves more than Jaber. “It is a wonderful adventure,” Fadli said after he flew back to the Kingdom. “With so much waiting to be explored and experienced, all of us should have countless reasons to stay away from terrorism and destruction and live in peace and make the world a safer place.” Lightning fighter-interceptor jets, made by British manufacturer English Electric, later incorporated into the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC), during the Cold War years, had served in the Saudi Royal Air force for 25 years before they were decommissioned and sold to Mike Beachy Head, the South African businessman and pilot who built Thunder City. Prince Major Turki Bin Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, a seasoned pilot, flew the plane himself four weeks ahead of the trip at Thunder City. __
