SWITZERLAND: Swiss man becomes becomes first person to fly with wings, thanks to his jet pack

The dream of flight has dominated man's imagination since time began. Now a Swiss man has become the first person to gain altitude and maintain a stable, horizontal flight with wings thanks to a jetpack that would make James Bond jealous. The former professional military pilot, currently a commander on Airbus for Swiss airline Swiss, takes to the skies with a set of motorised wings and has earned himself the name Jet-man. The aerodynamic carbon foldable wings have a 3 metre span, and have two kerosene-powered wings attached. His first successful trial was accomplished in June 2004, when he dropped out of a plane at 4000 meters, started the wings' ignition at 2500 metres, then managed a horizontal flight at 1600 metres from the ground for more than 4 minutes. "The most exciting moment in the last couple of flights is when I put full gas and start going higher. It's very powerful, euphoric, I was flying towards the top of a ridge, it feels like being naked to fly like that, I'm used to flying locked up in airplanes, to be completely free and practically at level with the fir-trees, being practically naked, it's pure adrenaline!", Yves Rossy, Jet-man said. Since the first flight, his prototype has been improved and he can now fly horizontally for 6 minutes 30 seconds, and even carry out a small climb rate. Nevertheless, he always keeps a plan B ready: In case anything should go wrong in his flight, he carries a parachute on his back. And if he should go unconscious, another security parachute will open automatically at 250 meters from ground level. "The idea is to have fun, not to kill yourself", he said, talking about the inevitable risk.

ITN Source | December 24, 2006

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