Jet Man Flies Over English Channel Solo: Video
by Allie Comeau on September 26, 2008
1 comment
Swiss daredevil Yves Rossy completed a 15-minute, 22-mile solo flight across the English Channel this morning. But what’s incredible about Rossy’s flight is that it wasn’t in a jet, but on a jet wing.
Rossy, also known as “Fusion Man,” strapped himself to a homemade jet-propelled wing and jumped out of an airplane at 8,800 feet before firing up the four jets he was attached to and taking off at speeds of up to 185 mph. Flying from Calais, France across the English Channel, Rossy followed the flight path of Louis Berliot, the first man to fly solo in an airplane across the Channel 99 years ago.
“It was perfect. Blue sky, sunny, no clouds, perfect conditions,” said Rossy in the article on MSNBC. “We prepared everything and it was great.”
The jet wing is made of carbon composite and weighs about 121 pounds when loaded with fuel. Rossy steers the wing with nothing but his body movements. For protection, he wore a heat-resistant suit. Apparently, the wind (like I said, he was going 185 mph) and the high-altitude temps also helped with the heat situation. When he was ready to land, he simply opened his parachute.
“It’s like a second skin,” he told reporters in another article on MSNBC. “If I turn to the left, I fly left. If I nudge to the right, I go right.”
“Physically, it’s absolutely no stress,” Rossy said. “It’s like being on a motorbike.”
(Somehow I doubt that’s entirely true.)
Check out this video from CNN of Rossy as he prepared for his record-setting flight… it looks like quite a rush.
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September 30th, 2008 @ 6:05 am
A hang-glider’s dream, I would imagine
I would do it!