After a rain delay, daredevil Yves Rossy successfully crosses the English Channel in a homemade jet-wing
Posted 09.26.2008 at 10:21 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).
Want to read more articles on the military, aviation, and space? Subscribe to Popular Science today, for less than $1 per issue!
8 Comments
To comment, please Login.
138 years of Popular Science at your fingertips.
Innovation Challenges
Popular Science+ For iPad
Each issue has been completely reimagined for your iPad. See our amazing new vision for magazines that goes far beyond the printed page
Download Our App
Stay up to date on the latest news of the future of science and technology from your iPhone or Android phone with full articles, images and offline viewing
Follow Us On Twitter
Featuring every article from the magazine and website, plus links from around the Web. Also see our PopSci DIY feed
.jpg)
February 2012: The Future of Fun
Science is reinventing play, from extreme sports to gamification to ridiculous roller coasters to the playgrounds of tomorrow, and this issue is chock full of fun. Also, on a less fun note: Did global warming destroy my hometown?
Popular on Popsci
Most Viewed
Technology
- The PopSci Flash Arcade
- Can Treating Your Life As a Game Make You a Better Person?
- Double Fine Productions Smashes Kickstarter Record, Raises $400,000 in Eight Hours for Next Videogame
- The Air Force is Buying iPads To Replace Pilots' Books and Maps
- Tiniest Telecommunications Laser Ever Made, 200 Nanometers Wide
- Video: Creepiest Mirror Ever Displays Ghostly Animal Heads Mimicking Your Facial Expression
- The EU is Considering Using Drones to Police Farm Subsidies, Enforce Environmental Rules
- Video: DARPA's Legged Squad Support System (a.k.a. Big Dog) Goes Outside to Play
- Videogame Designers Envision The Future of Fun
- Gallery: Game Designers Talk About the Future of Fun
Most Emailed
Technology
- Can Treating Your Life As a Game Make You a Better Person?
- Double Fine Productions Smashes Kickstarter Record, Raises $400,000 in Eight Hours for Next Videogame
- The Air Force is Buying iPads To Replace Pilots' Books and Maps
- Tiniest Telecommunications Laser Ever Made, 200 Nanometers Wide
- Video: Creepiest Mirror Ever Displays Ghostly Animal Heads Mimicking Your Facial Expression
- The EU is Considering Using Drones to Police Farm Subsidies, Enforce Environmental Rules
- Video: DARPA's Legged Squad Support System (a.k.a. Big Dog) Goes Outside to Play
- Videogame Designers Envision The Future of Fun
- Gallery: Game Designers Talk About the Future of Fun
- Using Heat to Record Information Could Improve Data Storage Speed a Hundred-Fold
Most Commented
Technology
- Video: A New 'Smart Bullet' Deploys Fins and Guides Itself to a Laser-Designated Target
- Mitt Romney: The Uncanny Candidate?
- Translucent Blue Spheres Rain Down in the UK, Mystifying Meteorologists
- Video: President Obama Test-Fires a Marshmallow Cannon at the White House Science Fair
- Video: PopSci's Favorite Japanese Fembot Gets a Modeling Job at the Mall
- The World's First 3-D, Free-Standing Invisibility Cloak Conceals from All Angles
- Attempt at the World's Highest Skydive, from 120,000 Feet, is Rescheduled for August
- DARPA Invests In Megapixel Augmented-Reality Contact Lenses
- Video: DARPA's Legged Squad Support System (a.k.a. Big Dog) Goes Outside to Play
- Video: People Flying, Superhero Style, Over New York City
Today on PopSci.com
Copyright © 2009 Popular Science
A Bonnier Corporation Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
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
from Seattle, Washington
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.