Thread: Jetman to cross channel

Jetman to cross channel



A Swiss inventor hopes to become the first person to fly solo across the English Channel with home-made jet-powered wings on his back.

Former fighter pilot Yves Rossy flies through the air at 130mph, held in the sky by a wing he built in his garage, reports Sky News.

Later this month, he hopes it'll carry him on a historic flight across the English Channel, as the first person to make the crossing on a solo, jet-propelled flight.

Yves jumps from a plane at 3,000 feet, flips open his wing to its full length of 8ft 2ins and fires up its four kerosene-fuelled mini jets which propel him through the air before he eventually lands with the help of a parachute.

They'll take him from Calais to Dover in around 15 minutes. On 24 September, weather permitting, he plans to trace the route taken by Louis Bleriot, the French aviator who was first to fly across the Channel 99 years ago.



"There is a certain tension,"says Yves, who lives just outside Geneva in Switzerland. "I have had a few setbacks in the past. With each flight, I try to eliminate them so as not to make the same mistakes twice.

"When I am flying through the air it is a combination of concentration and pure happiness and euphoria. I am in another state of mind. It is a little unreal - hyper euphoria - and it gives me a huge feeling of freedom."

....

I expect he will be arrested on arrival in the UK for breach of health and safety, parking on a yellow line and not declaring his cuckoo clock to customs

Originally Posted by gjbkk

Later this month, he hopes it'll carry him on a historic flight across the English Channel, as the first person to make the crossing on a solo, jet-propelled flight.

And I thought fighter pilots had flown solo across the Channel for generations......

Seriously, though - it is probably great fun, but apart from the fact that he lacks a cockpit, what is so spectacular about it?

Where's he going to put his duty frees? Needs a trailer.

Originally Posted by gjbkk

as the first person to make the crossing on a solo, jet-propelled flight.

Hardly solo is it, he needs another plane and pilot to take him up to 3000 for a launch.

Quite.
Some clever bugger might be able to work this out.
He's got about, what, 26 miles to cover. He launches from a plane traveling at speed, at least 130 mph, at 3000 feet.
He the parachutes.

If he gains altitude with his jets I'd have thought he could parachute/hang glide a fair way.

Does he jettison the wings and jets?

Good on him for giving it a go though.

Loads of vids with this guy on Youtube. No, wings are still on his back when he opens chute.
What i wonder is how he opens the wings from folded position, when he drops. Must be hydraulic powered.

I can't see this as being anything more than a nice bit of kit for the SAS.

How will the CAA react if he sells a few hundred ?

Originally Posted by Thetyim

I can't see this as being anything more than a nice bit of kit for the SAS.

How will the CAA react if he sells a few hundred ?

if he sells this kit I am sure that some dumb arab would try and fly it at a building

Drug dealers will be watching this closely. Wonder what weight it can carry? Ive got lots of respect for people that make stuff like this in garages, brilliant.

I'm waiting for him to upgrade the contraption(?) and do takeoff from the ground, alone. The jets are powerful enough to lift him off the ground i guess, but too unstable a flight before he reaches speed. And he'd need bigger fuel tanks for a ground takeoff with flight.

Originally Posted by Scandinavian

'm waiting for him to upgrade the contraption

What like an airplane or something?

Originally Posted by jandajoy

Originally Posted by Scandinavian

'm waiting for him to upgrade the contraption

What like an airplane or something?

Naah, thats too easy. I want to see VTOL (vertical take off and landing).