May

Swiss Man Straps On Jet-Powered Wings and Soars by the Alps

Posted by admin Published in Air Travel

Playing to a mesmerized audience, Swiss pilot and nutcase Yves Rossy spent part of his day yesterday flying around the Alps 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 next fired up the wings’ engines and accelerated to by 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 approach Lake Geneva.

It’s not your average DIY project, but soon after again Rossy doesn’t seem to be your average guy. Known as Fusionman, the 47-year old is intimately familiar with things that fly. As a military pilot he spent years flying Hunter, Tiger F-5, and Mirage III jets, and is currently a pilot for Swiss universal Airlines.

Rossy has spent years developing and refining the carbon fiber, eight-foot towering wings, which are equipped with four German-built engines that supply 200 pounds of thrust. Rossy and his sponsors, which include the Swiss watch company

Hublot, 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 assemble their money back.

The Alpen tryout 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 tryout 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 by the Alps with an eight-pound piece of composite strapped to your back would be sufficient for most citizens, Rossy’s not done yet. He’s planning to cross the English Channel later that year, a trip he’ll train for by doing practice runs amoung two hot air balloons. And eventually he’d like to take a flight by one of America’s favorite tourist attractions, the Grand Canyon.

Photo from fusionman.com