Achilles
05-16-2008, 09:23 AM
Swiss Man Straps On Jet-Powered Wings and Soars Over the Alps
By Dave Demerjian May 16, 2008 | 6:18:45 AM
See Link for great video! 8-)
Playing to a mesmerized audience, Swiss pilot and nutcase Yves Rossy spent part of his day yesterday flying around the Alps (http://www.myswissalps.com/) with jet-powered wings strapped to his back. Rossy, an extreme sports guy who has spent years working on the homemade device, stepped out of an aircraft cruising at 7,500 feet, unfolded the wings, and quickly passed from free fall to mellow glide. He then fired up the wings' engines and accelerated to over 180 miles per hour.
Showing off a bit for the assembled media, Rossy did a few dives, a couple of figure eights, and a 360-degree roll before landing at an airfield near Lake Geneva (http://www.lake-geneva-region.ch/).
It's not your average DIY project, but then again Rossy doesn't seem to be your average guy. Known as Fusionman (http://www.jet-man.com/prod/index.html), the 47-year old is intimately familiar with things that fly. As a military pilot he spent years flying Hunter, Tiger F-5 (http://www.airplanemodelworks.com/f5-tiger-ii-model-plane-p-211.html), and Mirage III (http://www.aerospaceweb.org/aircraft/fighter/mirage3/) jets, and is currently a pilot for Swiss International Airlines (http://www.swiss.com/web/EN/Pages/index.aspx?Country=US).
Rossy has spent years developing and refining the carbon fiber, eight-foot long wings, which are equipped with four German-built engines that provide 200 pounds of thrust (http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/thsum.html). Rossy and his sponsors, which include the Swiss watch company Hublot (http://www.thefinestwatches.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/catalog.viewProduct/productId/2589), have shelled out $190,000 working on the project, and with no current plan to bring the invention to market, it's not clear that they will ever make their money back.
The Alpen test flight was a big moment for Fusionman and his wings, but it hasn't always been smooth sailing -- uh, flying -- for Rossy. Damage to a set of test wings in 2007 forced him to build another prototype, and during a jump in 2005 he lost wing control and didn't open his parachute until he had plunged to just 1,500 feet.
And while flying over the Alps with an eight-pound piece of composite strapped to your back would be enough for most people, Rossy's not done yet. He's planning to cross the English Channel (http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/englishchannel.htm) later this year, a trip he'll train for by doing practice runs between two hot air balloons. And eventually he'd like to take a flight over one of America's favorite tourist attractions, the Grand Canyon (http://www.nps.gov/grca/).
Photo from fusionman.com
http://blog.wired.com/cars/images/2008/05/15/fusionman17.jpg (http://blog.wired.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/05/15/fusionman17.jpg)
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/05/swiss-man-strap.html
By Dave Demerjian May 16, 2008 | 6:18:45 AM
See Link for great video! 8-)
Playing to a mesmerized audience, Swiss pilot and nutcase Yves Rossy spent part of his day yesterday flying around the Alps (http://www.myswissalps.com/) with jet-powered wings strapped to his back. Rossy, an extreme sports guy who has spent years working on the homemade device, stepped out of an aircraft cruising at 7,500 feet, unfolded the wings, and quickly passed from free fall to mellow glide. He then fired up the wings' engines and accelerated to over 180 miles per hour.
Showing off a bit for the assembled media, Rossy did a few dives, a couple of figure eights, and a 360-degree roll before landing at an airfield near Lake Geneva (http://www.lake-geneva-region.ch/).
It's not your average DIY project, but then again Rossy doesn't seem to be your average guy. Known as Fusionman (http://www.jet-man.com/prod/index.html), the 47-year old is intimately familiar with things that fly. As a military pilot he spent years flying Hunter, Tiger F-5 (http://www.airplanemodelworks.com/f5-tiger-ii-model-plane-p-211.html), and Mirage III (http://www.aerospaceweb.org/aircraft/fighter/mirage3/) jets, and is currently a pilot for Swiss International Airlines (http://www.swiss.com/web/EN/Pages/index.aspx?Country=US).
Rossy has spent years developing and refining the carbon fiber, eight-foot long wings, which are equipped with four German-built engines that provide 200 pounds of thrust (http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/thsum.html). Rossy and his sponsors, which include the Swiss watch company Hublot (http://www.thefinestwatches.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/catalog.viewProduct/productId/2589), have shelled out $190,000 working on the project, and with no current plan to bring the invention to market, it's not clear that they will ever make their money back.
The Alpen test flight was a big moment for Fusionman and his wings, but it hasn't always been smooth sailing -- uh, flying -- for Rossy. Damage to a set of test wings in 2007 forced him to build another prototype, and during a jump in 2005 he lost wing control and didn't open his parachute until he had plunged to just 1,500 feet.
And while flying over the Alps with an eight-pound piece of composite strapped to your back would be enough for most people, Rossy's not done yet. He's planning to cross the English Channel (http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/englishchannel.htm) later this year, a trip he'll train for by doing practice runs between two hot air balloons. And eventually he'd like to take a flight over one of America's favorite tourist attractions, the Grand Canyon (http://www.nps.gov/grca/).
Photo from fusionman.com
http://blog.wired.com/cars/images/2008/05/15/fusionman17.jpg (http://blog.wired.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/05/15/fusionman17.jpg)
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/05/swiss-man-strap.html