After a rain delay, daredevil Yves Rossy successfully crosses the English Channel in a homemade jet-wing
Posted 09.26.2008 at 11:21 am
8 Comments
FusionMan: Daily Mail
Following in the vapor trail of aviator Louis Bleriot, Yves Rossy made a historic flight of his own across the English Channel this morning. After yesterday's poor weather delayed his planned passage, Rossy—also known as FusionMan—became the first human to cross using jet propulsion. A single homemade wing with four boosters carried Rossy from a plane 8,800 feet above Calais, France, over the channel and safely to land in Dover, England. A heat-resistant suit shielded him from the fiery jets and body movement stood in for steering.
Check back shortly for onsite coverage of Rossy's flight. In the meantime, enjoy the video (things pick up about 20 seconds in).
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That is incredible,
another step towards self propulsion jets, of course, its a long way from ground take offs and landing and obviously he was not carrying alot of fuel, but bravo for his (and his groups) ingenuity and bravery.
Props to those guys, the kind of people who push the limits of science
People like those are the self-proclaimed guinea pigs of science, doing it not for the money (although there is quite a lot of money involved) but for the fame and prestige it brings to their name.
Does anyone know the top airspeed he achieved during the crossing? I trhink it's 21-miles distance, but how long did the crossing take? The video really doesn't answer that question because it's cropped. From the small size of the wingspan I think he must have been going incredibly fast to stay airborn.
That guy is F#$*!#@ awesome!
It is pretty sweet. Can't wait till we can all get one.
By the time we get one we will be worrying about other things.
I BELIEVE A YOUTUBE VIDEO CLAIMS HIS AIRSPEED WAS 180 K.P.H. IN POWERED FLIGHT. IM NOT TOTALLY SURE THOUGH. THAT SPEED IS PLENTY FAST FOR A GROSS WEIGHT OF APPROX. 300LBS. HIS JET WEIGHS 120 LBS WITH NO FUEL AT LANDING AND THE REST WOULD BE HIS BODY WEIGHT. ABSOLUTELY AWE INSPIRING FLIGHT!
U should really take off caps.