A high-flying
invention
Loïc Fontaine
Edouard Graviere
Man has been able to travel by air since the Wright brothers first flew
their handmade plane back in 1903. But the dream of the birdman, epitomized by
the ancient myth of Icarus, is still appealing.
The wingsuit, which appeared in the late 1990’s, was the first device
allowing man to fly without an aircraft. Thanks to a surface area of heavy
nylon fabric between the legs and under the arms, human beings can glide
through the air like flying squirrels. A new extreme sport called “wingsuiting”
became famous through numerous videos of reckless individuals jumping out of planes,
then sailing over mountains for a dozen long minutes before finally opening
their parachutes.
Now, former Swiss fighter pilot Yves Rossi -
a.k.a. Jetman - has invented the
JetPack, bringing the dream of Icarus closer than ever. Wearing the 2.4-meter-long
wing equipped with 4 jet engines, Rossi has demonstrated that he can fly at
speeds up to 300 km per hour and land safely using a parachute. In November
2016 he even performed an aerial choreography with 2 other Jetmen and the Patrouille de France, France’s precision
military aerobatics squadron.
Yves Rossi and the Patrouille de France
But with the JetPack, flying like a bird does means carrying 120 pounds
on your back. Moreover, potential “Jetmen” require extensive training to learn
to control it safely. However, in a 2015
interview Rossi revealed that he was working on a lighter pack, and hoped that
future technology would allow anyone to use his invention -- even his
grandmother !
His project has already attracted financing from
sponsors such as XDubaï, specialized in extreme-sport videos, which could help
the large-scale development of the JetPack, and enthrone a new way to fly.
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