Swiss Man Flies Over the Alps on Homemade Jet Wings
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A Swiss pilot and adventurer managed to fly over Alps with homemade jet-powered wings strapped on his back.
Yves Rossy, 47 is an experienced military pilot and has flown Hunter, Tiger F-5 and Mirage III jets. He also has piloted Swiss International Airlines. With that experience, he has been working to fly solo for a number of years by assembling his wings powered by jet engines.
He developed a carbon fiber wing, which is eight feet long and features four German jet engines that provide 200 pounds of thrust. He was able to build this thanks to his sponsors such as the Swiss watch company Hublot. He has spent $190,000 for this project but has no plans to bring this product to the market, but may inspire others to develop this project further.
He stepped out of an airplane at 7,500 feet, unfolded his wings and glided over the Swiss Alps. He then activated the wing’s jet engines and accelerated to more than 180 mph.
He made some dives to show the wing’s capabilities and also did a 360 degree barrel roll. After five minute he landed at an airfield near Lake Geneva with the parachutes.
Rossy’s mother doesn’t seem to be worried about her daring son. She told AP that he knows what he is doing.
Rossy plans to fly over English Channel later this year and also has a dream to fly over the Grand Canyon.
You can check out Rossy's site (in French language) and there are plenty of pictures and videos of his exploits.
This will be the closest experience to fly like a bird, it is too bad it is not commercially viable.
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Comments
Gee that is incredible. It really makes you wonder as to the limits that people will go. You wouldnt get me doing that.
It carries lots of risks but he fulfilled his dreams. Too bad it is not easy for many of us to fly like this.
Eileen, I would love to try and see the aerial view but is risky. I think we also need to be a good parachute jumper for this. This will be the closest experience to fly like a bird.
Oh my goodness! That looked so scarey!!!! Yep, he was like a bird, for sure. Thanks for sharing that video and the information about this pioneer in the field of men flying like birds! You always find cool information for your Hubs and this is certainly another one!
I saw this in the news and I loved to hear the sound of it. We can only imagine the adrenaline rush after flying in such vehicle. Thumbs up!
Thanks In the Doghouse, we need more pioneers like him
Funride, yes it will be a whole different experience in the air.
I went to his website, but it was a bit buggy and I couldnt get the videos to play. I am curious how he lands? It looks like he uses a parachute, but how does he slow his forward momentum enough to use his parachute. If you deploy a parachute while still going at jet speed you would think that it would be a very severe jolt.
Quotations, I think he is able to adjust the thrust in the engines and slows down the speed. Once he reaches a minimum speed he then opens his parachutes and lands safely. I was able to watch the videos, it shows up fine in Firefox 3.
Saw this in the news -- very cool!
This is truly awesome and great pic!
Wow, that must have felt wonderful.
Isabella, yes, it is cool to fly like that.
Thanks RFox.
Donna, thanks, it must give him a big high after this. If he flies over Grand Canyon that will be even more exciting.
cgull, this person must be really brave to fly on homemade jet wings.He was sponsored but did someone(scientist) check the safety of his wings?Amazing!...and good work from you.Thumbs UP!
Thanks Abhinaya, I agree it carried a lot of risks but I think he must have tested it rigorously before he flew.
Wow! What!?! Wow! I'd be overwhelmed with fear jumping out of a perfectly good airplane with this contraption on. However, I'd like to get one of these things for my commute. Unfortunately, the building where I work is at the end of an International Airport runway (you can count the rivets on the commercial jets and say hello to the pilots as they fly overhead). Think the FAA will mind?
Thanks for posting!
How cool. Well, it must save on expensive gas anyway.
Thanks Jim, Karen. Probably we have air vehicles in the future. If we can tap solar and wind power, there will be lots of energy possibilities.
Wow!! This guy is one hell of a superman!! really brave guy!
;)
working
Bob Ewing says:
2 months ago
What a way travel.