A Swiss adventurer has become the first person to fly solo across the English Channel using a single jet-propelled wing, look the video

Yves Rossy, a pilot who normally flies an Airbus airliner, crossed the 22 miles between Calais and Dover at speeds of up to 120 mph in 13 minutes, his spokesman said.

Rossy traced the route of French aviator Louis Bleriot, who became the first person to fly across the Channel in an aircraft in 1909.

The Swiss pilot was propelled by four kerosene-burning jet turbines attached to a wing on his back. He ignited the jets inside a plane before jumping out more than 8,000 feet above ground. The wing, which spans eight feet, is made of lightweight carbon composite and weighs about 55 kg (120 lb) including fuel.

After a period of free fall he opened the wing and soared across the water. With no steering controls, the only way to change direction was like a bird, moving his head and back.

His future plans included flying over the Grand Canyon, taking off from a standing position on the ground and performing acrobatics.

Man has been trying to fly like a bird for more than 2,400 years, yet has only begun to master the process in the last century.

One man who made up his mind to become the man first to fly like a bird---horizontally---is Yves Rossy, nicknamed "The Jet Man". The former military pilot, 49, who flies a Swiss International Airbus A320 transporting tourists to Luxor and Sharm El Sheikh, spent five years developing his wings for his flying man project to become the first man to fly like a bird,

Yves has served as a fighter pilot in the Swiss Air Force, flying Dassault Mirage IIIs, Northrop F-5 Tiger IIs and Hawker Hunters. He also flew Boeings 747 for Swissair and now pilots an Airbus A320 for Swiss International Air Lines.

Amongst his daring hobbies are "dangling from the wing of a biplane, bare-foot water-skiing, wakeboard, hydro-speed, delta flying and paragliding, snowboarding and aerobatic flying."

Daredevil pilot Yves Rossy, is both the first person to build and the first person successfully to fly a jet engine-powered wing strapped to the back. The flight occurred in November 2006 in Bex, lasting nearly six minutes.

On September 26, 2008, Yves Rossy, also known as "Fusion Man" and "Rocket Man", leaped from a Pilatus Porter drop plane about 8,200 feet above the French coast of Calais, reaching speeds in excess of 125 miles per hour during the 13 minute flight across the English Channel. The 49-year-old pilot, landed in a field near a lighthouse on the famous white cliffs of Dover delighting onlookers who cheered and waved enthusiastically as Rossy came into view.

Rossy has no instruments except an audio altimeter in his helmet and his wrist watch. Besides the throttle, he has no flight controls except his body. To steer, climb or descend, he moves his head and limbs slightly, a skill he first learned as a sky diver.

"I fuse with my machine. It was my dream as a body to be a bird," he told his assistants before the flight. His machine consists of four kerosene-powered mini jet engines attached to an eight foot carbon fiber wing. The small but noisy jets carry 30 liters of fuel. "It would be a great device for James Bond so he can go behind enemy lines", he joked.

Rossy, who spent months preparing for the cross-Channel flight, commented he wants to fly across the Grand Canyon in Arizona next. As for the 13 lonely minutes he spent alone between England and France, he told reporters he felt no fear. "I was under tension. But fear? The day I fear, I don't go," Rossy said.

Yep, after more than 2,400 years, we now have a modern Daedalus who learned to fly like a bird and passed the challenge with flying colors (no pun intended). Bravo!

See Photo Gallery: Yves Rossy - Photo Gallery of the Flying Man

Source: "Rocket Man" Flies Over English Channel - 6 ABC Action News

Fusionman Yves Rossy, not to be confused with Buzz Lightyear, successfully crossed the English Channel today -- the first to do so in a solo flight with jet-propelled wing. Rossy was dropped from a plane at 8,200 feet and flew 22-miles in under 10 minutes from Calais to Dover. When asked by National Geographic's Kathryn Liptrott if he was worried about risk, Rossy replied, "I'm not worried about risk, I manage risk." We've so gotta meet this guy. If you're looking to pick up one of these jet powered carbon-fiber wings for your own unspeakable mischief, expect to pay around the $190,000 mark. Rossy is eager to see these aviation wonders catch on and has designs on forming a Red Arrows-style aerobatic team one day.

Suis bluffé par la performance d'Yves Rossy dont je suis les exploits depuis plusieurs mois.

http://www.jet-man.com

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• Rocket Man: Number Ones [CD/DVD Package]
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Em Maio deste ano era referido neste post que Yves Rossy pretendia atravessar o Canal da Mancha a voar, utilizando para isso a asa a jacto que desenvolveu. Essa pretenção está a ser concretizada a este momento e pode ser acompanhada em directo através do National Geographic em www.natgeotv.com. No dia 28 de Setembro, às 20h00m será emitido no mesmo canal um documentário mais alargado sobre as aventuras de Yves Rossy.

fonte: Jornal Público

......

... giornalisti appostatisi per l'occasione sulla cima della Croix de Javerne, a ben 2.097 metri di quota. Rossy è entrato nel Guinness dei primati diverse volte, grazie alle altitudini dalle quali si è lanciato in imprese che hanno dell'incredibile. Suo il record di 12 chilometri percorsi in volo a 3000 metri. Sta già meditando su una nuova impresa prevista per il prossimo autunno: sorvolare il canale della manica, ossia 35 chilometri consecutivi di volo.

Giuse Rossetti

Yves Rossy, também conhecido como Fusion Man, sobrevoou os alpes suíços por 10 minutos com uma engenhoca inventada por ele mesmo.

Para isso, ele precisa subir de avião até uma certa altura, e usar um paraquedas para pousar após o vôo.

Ainda assim, conseguiu realizar o sonho de muita gente. No meu caso, literalmente... já sonhei várias vezes que voava. Mas no caso dos meus sonhos, era beeeem mais devagar que os 300Km/h que ele atingiu...

Claro, nada vem de graça... o equipamento é caríssimo, e já está em desenvolvimento a um bom tempo. O sobrevôo que saiu nos jornais esses dias não foi o primeiro, e não será o ultimo também.

Vejam a matéria no Jornal da Globo.

Mais algumas fotos:

E um vídeo no YouTube:

Yves Rossy, AKA Fusion Man, made a flight over the swiss alps for about 10 minutes with a gadget developed by himself.

In order to do this, he needs to use a plane to gain some high, and use a parachute to land after the flight.

Still, he was able to make the dream of many people come true. In my case, literally... I've already dreamed several times I could fly. Though it was waaaay slower than the 190m/h that this guy reached.

Of course, nothing comes free... the gadget was very expensive, and it's been under development for a long time. The flight that was on the news these past few days wasn't the first test, and it also won't be the last.

Some more pics:

And YouTube videos:

Regular readers to Gadget Freaks will already know how much we love motorsports. So not surprising that when we saw this Race Simulator we had this sudden feeling that our lives were not complete. If you have a spare $20,000 you might want to buy the Virtual GT model but hey, why fanny about when you are shelling out this much cash! You might be better off with the Motion Pro 2 at a cool $25,995. Then there are the upgrades which include a panoramic display ($12,995), a six-speed gated shifter and progressive clutch ($1,049) and even enhanced on site set/training ($2995). I can just picture one in the Gadget Freaks office! 

Another slightly less expensive gadget spotted this week are these neat Spy Camera Sunglasses. The glasses have 2 in-built cameras on the side arms and transmit video to a wireless receiver. The receiver has a 2.4" screen with an internal memory of 128MB and supports an SD card up to 2 GB.

Here's one that will surely qualify for the Darwin Awards! This Pulse Jet powered bicycle looks rather lethal in our book. It is the creation of Robert Maddox, a 47 year old American who designs and builds the largest pulsejet engines in the world. This contraption runs on kerosene and can thrust power between 14-1000 lbs. Time to start chlorinating the gene pool we think!

From: NTDTV

Rex Jameson bikes and swims regularly, and plays tennis and skis when time allows. But the 5-foot-11, 180-pound software engineer is lucky if he presses 200 pounds — that is, until he steps into an "exoskeleton" of aluminum and electronics that multiplies his strength and endurance as many as 20 times.

Above Bex, Switzerland, May 14, 2008—Swiss pilot and inventor Yves Rossy, 48, officially debuted his jet-powered wing Wednesday, flying up to 186 miles (300 kilometers) an hour after jumping from an airplane at 7,500 feet (2,300 meters).

During the five-minute flight, the self-styled Fusion Man executed flawless loops and a full body roll. "That was to impress the girls," he told the Associated Press.

Fusion Man

Iron Man

The Iron Man armor provides Stark with superhuman strength and physical protection. It allows Stark to fly using the jetboots. The armor contains a variety of weapons including repulsor rays, pulse beams, missile launchers, lasers, tasers, and flamethrowers. The unibeam in the center of his chest can emit various types of light energy and his helmet contains communication devices, scanning equipment, and recording devices.

Nótense las calcomanías de los generosos y desinteresados espónsores

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En realidad intentaba rescatar al chanchito de Roger Waters, pero no terminó a tiempo

Llegamos tarde, el tío de Rocketeer ya hacía eso desde los 40's. Claro que también se pachamanqueaba a la Jennifer Connelly (antes de salir en puras películas cagonas como Requiem, Dark water o Hulk... Beautiful Mind aprueba porque sale RUSSELL!), así que de imposibles a imposibles...

Visto en Cosas de Frikis

You can also see the abc news story coverage here. Click.