Yves Rossy
Yves Rossy | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Swiss |
| Known for | first person to fly a jet engine-powered wing |
| Aviation career | |
| Full name | Yves Rossy |
| Air force | Swiss Air Force |
Yves Rossy (born August 27, 1959) is a Swiss pilot, inventor and aviation enthusiast. He is both the first person to build and the first person successfully to fly a jet engine-powered wing strapped to the back. The flight occurred in November 2006 in Bex, lasting nearly six minutes. While work with jet packs to propel humans dates back as far as World War II, his is the first one to have wings.
Yves has served as a fighter pilot in the Swiss Air Force, flying Dassault Mirage IIIs, Northrop F-5 Tiger IIs and Hawker Hunters. He also flew Boeing 747s for Swissair and now pilots an Airbus for Swiss International Air Lines.
Jet-powered wings
Rossy developed and built a winged pack with rigid aeroplane-type carbon-fiber wings with a span of about 8 feet (2.4 m), and four small kerosene-burning Jet-Cat jet engines under the wings; these engines are large versions of a type designed for model aeroplanes. He wears a heat-resistant suit similar to that of a firefighter or racing driver to protect him from the hot jet exhaust.[1]
Rossy's claim is to be "the first person to gain altitude and maintain a stable horizontal flight thanks to aerodynamic carbon foldable wings," which are folded by hinges at the midpoint of each wing. After being lifted by a Pilatus Porter plane, he jumps out with his wings folded, unfolds them while in free-fall, flies horizontally for up to six minutes and 30 seconds, then lands using a parachute.[2] He achieves true controlled flight using his body and a hand throttle to maneuver.
His first successful trial was on 24 June 2004, near Geneva, Switzerland, and Rossy has made more than 30 powered flights since.
In November 2006 he flew with a later version of his jetpack.[citation needed]
It was exhibited on April 18, 2008 at the opening day of the 35th Exhibition of Inventions at Geneva.[3]
On May 14, 2008 he made a successful 6-minute flight from the town of Bex near Lake Geneva, his first public demonstration before the world press. He made effortless loops from one side of the Rhone valley to the other and rose 2,600 feet (790 m). As of September 2008, Rossy was preparing to fly across the English Channel from Cap Blanc Nez, Calais to Dover, England, but the flight has been postponed due to bad weather.[4][needs update]
On 26th September 2008, at approximately 1.30pm Yves successfully completed a flight from Calais (France) to Dover (England), taking approximately 10 minutes to do so.
Rossy and his sponsors, including the Swiss watch company Hublot, spent over $190,000 to build the device.[5] It has been claimed that the military was impressed and asked for prototypes of the powered wings, but that Rossy declined, stating that it is for aviation enthusiasm purposes only.[citation needed]
Images
- Links to images
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References
- ^ Frank Jordans, AP (May 14, 2008). "Rocket man flies on jet-powered wings", MSNBC.com.
- ^ Yves Rossy The Swiss Jet Man-ENGLISH TEXT under 'More info' on YouTube
- ^ Photo from Getty Images by AFP/Getty Images - Daylife at www.daylife.com
- ^ James Randerson (September 25, 2008). "FusionMan calls off first jet-pack powered channel crossing", The Guardian.
- ^ Swiss man soars above Alps with jet-powered wing (AP)
External links
- Yves's homepage (or English version)
- Pictures of Yves Rossy, in flight; news story
- There's a chapter on Rossy in Birdmen, Batmen, and Skyflyers: Wingsuits and the Pioneers Who Flew in Them, Fell in Them, and Perfected Them, by Michael Abrams. ISBN 1-4000-5491-5.
- Yves Rossy et ses exploits sur le Léman.
- Video of Rossy's flights.
- Note that aero-news.com "The Aviation and Aerospace World's Daily Real-time News and Information Service" attributes French nationality to Yves Rossy.
- NBC11 of the San Francisco area's coverage of the "Swiss Jetman."
- MSNBC: Rocket man flies on jet-powered wings
- SWITZERLAND'S NEW AIR FORCE