Jetman Attempts Intercontinental Flight

Last year we ran the story of Yves Rossy and his DIY jetwings. Yves spent $190,000 and countless hours building a set of jet-powered wings which he used to cross the English Channel. Rossy's next goal is to cross the Strait of Gibraltar, from Tangier in Morocco and Tarifa on the southwestern tip of Spain. From the article: "Using a four-cylinder jet pack and carbon fibre wings spanning over 8ft, he will jump out of a plane at 6,500 ft and cruise at 130 mph until he reaches the Spanish coast, when he will parachute to earth." Update 18:57 GMT: mytrip writes: "Yves Rossy took off from Tangiers but five minutes into an expected 15-minute flight he was obliged to ditch into the wind-swept waters."

Comments

Did he cross the English Channel to speak with...?

[ls671]

Did he cross the English channel to speak with Elton John so they could sing "Rocket Man" together ? ;-))

He already failed

[SoCalChris]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article6931566.ece

Better luck next time.

Re:He already failed

[Anonymous Coward]

Paraphrasing Monty Python thusly:

"He not so much flies as plummets"

Re:He already failed

[BikeHelmet]

So, wait... which one is it? The article says 5 minutes in, and the video says 14 minutes in.

Re:He already failed

[fractoid]

So you're saying he threw himself at the ground and... didn't miss?

Re:Did he cross the English Channel to speak with.

[2.7182]

Don't trust Jetman! I think he is working with Bizarro and Solomon Grundy!

Why the rockets?

[oldspewey]

Tow me to 6500ft in a high-performance glider and I will traverse the straits of Gibraltar easily ... without carrying rockets or motors of any kind.

Call me when he starts doing these stunts taking off from the ground under his own (carried) power.

Re:Why the rockets?

[Duradin]

Your high performance glider probably has a much bigger wingspan than the 8ft of the jetpack.

Taking off from the ground isn't all that interesting. It just means he'd need enough extra thrust and fuel to get off the ground and up to his target height. If you're really going to get into a snit about it all he'd need is to tack on some JATO/RATO units to do that but that doesn't test the endurance of the main jetpack, so meh, not a big deal in my book.

And I'm sure the Bell X-1 breaking the sound barrier was no big deal because it was dropped from a mothership as well.

Re:Why the rockets?

[Anonymous Coward]

They are jets, not 'rockets'.

Re:Why the rockets?

[Duradin]

So jets don't generate thrust? News to me.

Re:Why the rockets?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sure Mr. HP Glider's point is that the resulting accomplishment is not all that remarkable. Mr. Jet Wing Man intentionally hobbled his design by limiting the wing span. Here's a link to an operational jet-powered flying machine that would literally fly circles around the aforementioned jet-wing. It cost less than half what the jet wing contraption did and it takes off and lands under its own power.

http://www.alisport.com/video/silent%20be-jet.wmv

Re:Why the rockets?

[Goaway]

He uses a jet-powered wing because it's a fucking jet-powered wing strapped to his back, and that is awesome.

That is not difficult to understand.

Re:Why the rockets?

[holmstar]

It is also a totally different experience than flying with a jet powered wing strapped to your back.

Re:Why the rockets?

[Anonymous Coward]

Not having done either, I'll defer to your assertion. I guess it all depends on what you consider 'impressive', it certainly did not do anything aviation-wise that is noteworthy. By that I mean distance, altitude, speed, etc. It's also not practical. I'd classify it as more of a stunt, like Knievel's attempt to cross the Snake River, than an aviation event.

Re:Why the rockets?

[mrjb]

It is also a totally different experience than flying with a jet powered wing strapped to your back.

Tell me about it. He spends all this money and what does he get? No food served. No seat. NO PLANE?!!? Worst. Airline. Ever.

Re:Why the rockets?

[WormholeFiend]

It's indeed awesome, but it would be awesomer and potentially awesomest if he base-jumped off a cliff on the African side, and jetted across the Strait to land on the European side.

Re:Why the rockets?

[Chris Mattern]

It's a different kind of flying altogether!

Re:Why the rockets?

[Maxo-Texas]

It's a different kind of flying!

And don't call me Shirley!

Re:Why the rockets?

[Dare nMc]

call me when your high performance glider can do that averaging 130 MPH (+live person, +no oxygen).

Re:Why the rockets?

[oldspewey]

285 km/h = 178mph. Or 108km/h (=68mph) averaged over 380km while still taking time to circle in thermals in order to gain altitude.

Re:Why the rockets?

[loudawg]

That's not the point. Although, it sounds like you're a pilot (which I am too) and I think we can both agree that for the money he put into that we'd take a badass plane over that experiment any day :-)

Re:Why the rockets?

[fractoid]

Mr. Jet Wing Man intentionally hobbled his design by limiting the wing span.

That's like saying that he 'intentionally hobbled his design' by not buying a Cessna. The point is that he's strapped a wing only marginally longer than he is, plus four jet engines, to his butt. I wouldn't be surprised if, combined with the wing, he's the smallest powered aircraft ever flown.

That jet glider thing is pretty darn cool too though.

Re:Why the rockets?

[mrjah]

Smallest MANNED powered aircraft ever flown.

Re:Why the rockets?

[fractoid]

I choose to fight pedantry with LUDICROUS PEDANTRY! :)

According to the concise Oxford English Dictionary, 'manned' is defined as "having a human crew." I would argue that Mr. Jet Wing Man is, in fact, part of the structure of his aircraft. As such, the aircraft has a human component but not strictly speaking a crew (which is defined as "a group of people who work on and operate a ship, boat, aircraft, or train.") He is not being worked on or operated. He may in fact qualify as the world's first sentient plane.

Even if it is only the smallest manned powered aircraft ever flown, I'd say that's a significant distinction.

Wow

[Anonymous Coward]

Cool story bro.

And he failed.

[dk90406]

Due to "difficult winds" he dropped into the Ocean after completing half the trip. The entire trip was, for reference supposed to last 15 minutes and span 38 Km, He was picked up by a rescue chopter and is reportedly unharmed.

Re:And he failed.

[maxume]

You mean he was not damaged any further.

He could have been a superhero

[V50]

Dammit, this is why you're not supposed to reveal your secret identity. He could have been a superhero with a wide array of crazy gadgets, but now if we see some crazy guy with a jetpack stopping crime, everyone will know who it is. :(

Re:He could have been a superhero

[V50]

On second thought, the guy in the picture is bald, so if that's him, I'd say he's more likely to end up as a supervillian. Might be for the best.

Re:He could have been a superhero

[dr_dank]

So he's not the man they think he is at home?

Re:He could have been a superhero

[Anonymous Coward]

He can't be a villain with a French accent. Everyone knows that real villains are bald and have English accents.

Re:He could have been a superhero

[Beardo the Bearded]

Yep, he's burning up the fuse up there alone.

Re:He could have been a superhero

[Anonymous Coward]

You mean like Jetman?

Re:He could have been a superhero

[Hurricane78]

That’s better anyway. You get to live below a volcano, and yet still own a city or something like that. You get some really hot chicks, and there are no stupid social rules like “you can only have one at the same time”. In fact... well... you get this giant superweapon, and no rules at all. Unlike a superhero who always has to adhere to the social rules (which are just made up anyway).
You can have thousands of minions, I cool lab or hightech company to finance the project, and maybe some monsters in the basement.
How can anything be better than that?

Superheroes are just hippy superhumans. They may live a thousand years, but have no fun at all.
Supervillians may live a short life, but it was damn worth every fuckin’ second! :D

Given the choice, supervillian it is for me.

P.S.: But don’t expect to win as easily as in films. I will follow the list of things not to do. It will be more like in Last Action Hero. :D

Isn't the English Channel Larger?

[Monkeedude1212]

I'm not actually sure. But I think so?

Anyways, Wake me up when he tries like... Beijing Capital International to LAX

Re:Isn't the English Channel Larger?

[interploy]

Anyways, Wake me up when he tries like... Beijing Capital International to LAX

Seriously. Okay, so technically the Straight of Gibraltar separates two continents, but this is not an intercontinental flight. The Spirit of St. Louis made an intercontinental flight. The article title is BS. If they want to use "intercontinental" to describe a distance, then there had damn well better be an ocean involved.

Re:Isn't the English Channel Larger?

[asylumx]

The Spirit of St. Louis was a TRANS-ATLANTIC flight.

Re:Isn't the English Channel Larger?

[holmstar]

Yes, but last I checked, North America and Europe were different continents, so it was both trans-Atlantic and transcontinental.

Regardless... The point is that the term transcontinental is *usually* used in reference to distances much greater than the width of the strait. Thus using it in the title, while technically accurate, is misleading.

Re:Isn't the English Channel Larger?

[holmstar]

Err... I meant intercontinental. Transcontinental would be travel over the width of the same continent as you started.

Re:Isn't the English Channel Larger?

[interploy]

And somehow that makes it not intercontinental? Anyway, it doesn't change the point. "Intercontinental" is for epic voyages, not for skipping across what amounts to an oversized lake.

A phrase like "Attempts Intercontinental Flight" merits a certain expectation of daring and grandeur, and a distance less than 30 miles is not it. This is sheer overhyping and sensationalizing a nothing event, and personally I'm getting really sick and tired of people celebrating mediocrity.

Re:Isn't the English Channel Larger?

[Anonymous Coward]

LAX?

The title says intercontinental not incontinental.

Coulda done it easier [Re:He already failed]

[Geoffrey.landis]

He could have made an intercontinental flight more easily by flying from Europe to Asia: if he flew across the Bosporus, that would be only 700 meters. And, heck, if he picked the right place, he could have just walked!

Re:Coulda done it easier [Re:He already failed]

[Anonymous Coward]

Europe and Asia are not separate continents, though.

Re:Coulda done it easier [Re:He already failed]

[Anonymous Coward]

Really?

Re:Coulda done it easier [Re:He already failed]

[Anonymous Coward]

Other easy spots:
Europe to Asia in the Urals
Asia to Africa
and N. America to S. America

Re:Coulda done it easier [Re:He already failed]

[indi0144]

>> and N. America to S. America

You mean N America to Central America,from el paso to tijuana? He better just hide in some truck and be done with it.

The closest point from N America to S. America would be from the Florida keys to Cabo de la Vela in Colombia. Hope he brings his GPS to avoid landing in Venezuela pissing off Chavez.

Engineering Effort?

[quangdog]

I'm sure there is significant engineering effort involved in creating something like a personal jetpack, but he's still jumping out of a plane at altitude and essentially gliding with a bit of a boost from his jet engines along the way.

Being a lazy American, of course I did not rtfa, but I did take the time to look up just how far he'll actually fly: looks like about 12 miles.

Re:Engineering Effort?

[quangdog]

Ok, so then I went and rtfa, and it claims he'll fly 23 miles. Then I checked google earth, and it lists the distances between the 2 locations mentioned in the article as 19.3 miles.

As others have said, I'll get excited when he can go from, say, New Jersey to the Oregon coast (with an in-flight movie along the way).

Re:Engineering Effort?

[Alastor187]

I'm sure there is significant engineering effort involved in creating something like a personal jetpack, but he's still jumping out of a plane at altitude and essentially gliding with a bit of a boost from his jet engines along the way.

Engineering is about solving problems with practical solutions. You are assuming he didn't consider what it would take get of the ground using the jet pack. But I would assume he did look at the issue, and found that it would significantly increase the cost, weight, and risk by launching from the ground.

If his end goal is just to fly around, then to solve the problem of take-off he probably reasoned the best solution was to use existing aircraft to get to the proper altitude. Then just figure out how to get in/out of the aircraft with his equipment. Sounds like a smart engineering decision to me.

Re:Engineering Effort?

[oldspewey]

This leaves me wondering exactly what the "gee whiz" factor is then. Part of what makes a personal jet pack neat is the fact it is self-contained transportation. Just strap on your cool superhero/supervillian pack and go fly places. The portability factor suffers more than a little bit if you also need to bring along an airplane ... oh and an airport when it can take off ... oh and a pilot to fly the thing and land ... but aside from those 3 items we are ready to get into some mischief with this jet pack thing!

As a technology demonstrator this thing is undeniably cool ... but more in a movie prop kind of way rather than a "when will these be available at Wal Mart?" way.

Re:Engineering Effort?

[zippthorne]

He's evolving down from "skydiving" to a workable personal jetsuit, rather than up from "rocket skating." An early iteration had no engines at all, just a delta-wing personal glider (and it could probably be considered as an incremental improvement over the "wing suit" which came after the "balloon suit"...)

It's just safer this way. If he fails, he's ditches the wing and activates "plain old skydiving" mode with a parachute. If he'd started from the ground on the first try, there are dozens of places where a failure means death without any fall-back options at all.

In previous interviews he has stated than an eventual goal is to do a complete flight including takeoff.

Re:Engineering Effort?

[Goaway]

He can do that when he buy a ticket on an airliner.

Somehow I think he's having quite a bit more fun doing what he's doing now.

Re:Engineering Effort?

[kclittle]

And his feet stay warmer. A little cold around the neck and shoulders, though.

Re:Engineering Effort?

[MobyDisk]

This could probably be done more easily _without_ the engines.

Re:Engineering Effort?

[Anonymous Coward]

but he's still jumping out of a plane at altitude and essentially gliding with a bit of a boost from his jet engines along the way

Most aircraft glide through the air with a bit of boost from engines. In fact, this is a phenomena I like to call "flight."

Hope this helps!

Re:Engineering Effort?

[Anonymous Coward]

Iterative development. Solve one problem at a time, then work on the rest. I'm sure someone will one day use his research (if he doesn't himself) to create one that can take off and land and still go the distance. From what I can tell from the article and then going to his website, the problem is "Flying with portable wings and jets, using the body to steer like a skydiver or a bird, no flaps, no tails (feet will be the tail)". Seems pretty gee whiz to me.

Landing and taking off without sky diving techniques is a different related problem to be tackled later.

Re:Engineering Effort?

[Dare nMc]

makes me wonder if similar could ever become commercialized. IE you have a plane that can drop hundreds of these at precise coordinates. Every plane flight becomes a one way trip, every traveler purchases/rents a enclosed pod with wings and gps controls, crawl in at the airport. The plane just flies down the middle of the country when your closest to desired destination the plane drops your pod out at 20k feet, it glides/propels to the exact location you want. When you ready for the return flight it's loaded into a pickup/suv back to the nearest airport... (probably a taxi service, no need to leave your car at the airport)
This way every airport in the US could just have around 4 flights each going "N/E/S/W" No more layovers, no swine flu exposure, no waiting at airports for flights to arrive...
Although I would hate to drop through the wrong weather, or collide with a relative coming in at the same time...

Ooooh... Intercontinental

[aardwolf64]

Calling 23 miles "intercontinental" seems disingenuous. I mean, I could drive down to Mexico and make an "intercontinental" jump of 1 foot... But labeling it as such is just stupid.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, it is intercontinental. But yes, it's in the same league as saying you can see Russia from your living room and that makes you aware of world affairs.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[megamerican]

Calling 23 miles "intercontinental" seems disingenuous. I mean, I could drive down to Mexico and make an "intercontinental" jump of 1 foot... But labeling it as such is just stupid.

I know as American's we're supposed to hate Mexico, but they are still on the same continent as the US.

There are a few good examples of short intercontinental flight that would make it even more trivial which you could have used. The Suez Canal and Bosporous would be suitable candidates.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[Geoffrey.landis]

I mean, I could drive down to Mexico and make an "intercontinental" jump of 1 foot... But labeling it as such is just stupid.

Not until Mexico conquers Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Panama, you can't.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[Anonymous Coward]

Is it more stupid than thinking Central America is a continent?

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[Bill_the_Engineer]

Actually you would be making a "intracontinental" jump since both the US and Mexico is within North America.

You would need to drive to Panama and jump over the international border with Columbia for it to really be "intercontinental".

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[Bill_the_Engineer]

I was too busy being pedantic to say that your point is still very valid.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[Anonymous Coward]

More than Half of the world count south and north america as 1 continent named America. So for some that jump would not count as intercontinental.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[Improv]

I've never heard that we're supposed to hate Mexico - where do you get that from?
Also, there is no apostrophe in "Americans".

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[mbone]

And what continent would you jump to from Mexico ?

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[zippthorne]

And what office was Tina Fey running for when she said that?

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[eviloverlordx]

More than Half of the world count south and north america as 1 continent named America. So for some that jump would not count as intercontinental.

That must be the half of the world that doesn't know geology or plate tectonics.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey! I'm salvadorean you insensitive...

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[Anonymous Coward]

Calling 23 miles "intercontinental" seems disingenuous. I mean, I could drive down to Mexico and make an "intercontinental" jump of 1 foot... But labeling it as such is just stupid.

"Stupid American" refer to you specifically.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[Darth Muffin]

Besides the above point, I wouldn't call it "intercontinental" because he didn't leave from a continent. He left from a plane 6500 feet above the continent. Hell, starting from that high you could probably sail an unpowered glider across the straight of gibraltar.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[asylumx]

Reference?

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[guantamanera]

I do not know about geology much or plate tectonics but the land used to be one continuous mass until somebody decided to split it in Panama. Asia and Europe could be another example, and I think the continents were named and split with imaginary lines way before we knew much about geological and tectonic plates. The Olympic logo represents 5 contains that is why it has 5 rings.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[Scrameustache]

More than Half of the world count south and north america as 1 continent named America. So for some that jump would not count as intercontinental.

That must be the half of the world that doesn't know geology or plate tectonics.

Since you know so much about geology and plate tectonics, you must think that India is part of Oceania, and not of Asia, huh?

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[Tellarin]

Actually, the continent is still America. North, Central and South. It is one continent.

Otherwise, he could just jump from Mexico to Belize (N.A. to C.A.) or something like that.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[Tellarin]

North, Central and South America are the same continent; America.

If continents were defined by plate tectonics, then America would be split in 6. And the crossing would be from Mexico to Guatemala.

Approximately:
- North American Plate (Canada, most of USA, Mexico, and Belize)
- Pacific Plate (part of California, USA and Baja California, Mexico; and possibly a few Alaskan islands)
- Caribbean Plate (Caribbean island countries and Central America)
- Nazca Plate (Peruvian and Ecuadorian islands)
- South American Plate (almost all South America)
- Scotia Plate (south of Terra del Fuego, smallish parts of Chile and Argentina)

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[DomNF15]

But labeling it as such is just stupid.

Not just stupid, also wrong. Last time I checked Mexico was still part of the North American continent...next time drive down to Nicaragua and jump there.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[Anonymous Coward]

They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.
Sarah Palin, on her foreign policy insights into Russia, ABC News interview, September 11, 2008. http://www.allgreatquotes.com/sarah_palin_quotes.shtml

Tina Fey made it funny, but didn't invent it. In fact, some of Tina Fey's best lines were direct quotes from Palin ...

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[DarthVain]

I could fly 2000km and not leave Canada, let alone the US, let alone North America.

It is a stupid thing to say. I can fly unassisted intercontinental, by walking up to the line, and jumping over it. There, I can fly intercontinental unassisted... lame.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[holmstar]

Technically, they only need to conquer Panama.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[holmstar]

By that definition, Europe, Asia, and Africa would be one continent as well. Europe and Asia share a long land border and Asia is only separated from Africa by the Suez canal.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[holmstar]

Then you would say that Africa, Asia, and Europe are one continent as well?

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[Anonymous Coward]

I hate you (and I may or may not be an American)

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[Chris Mattern]

I mean, I could drive down to Mexico and make an "intercontinental" jump of 1 foot... But labeling it as such is just stupid.

Actually, you'd need to drive down to Panama, but the principle does still hold.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[mooingyak]

I mean, I could drive down to Mexico and make an "intercontinental" jump of 1 foot

If it's any comfort, my first thought when I read intercontinental was across the Channel from England to France. Bad day for geography I guess.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[Anomalyst]

We have always been at war with Oceania.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[barnacle]

but there certainly is in American't

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[XaXXon]

I'm pretty sure the idea was that FROM mexico, you could jump to South America, but the correction was made that Mexico doesn't touch South America, so no dice.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[Walking The Walk]

North, Central and South America are the same continent; America.

Sorry, no, the convention is that they are two continents: North America and South America. It's mostly just those in Latin America that consider the Americas as one continent. (Obviously they love Canada so much they want to be on the same continent.)

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[jpmorgan]

Exactly. And Europe, Asia and Africa are the same continent too.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[Tellarin]

If you read your own link, there are several conventions. Which means, no consensus.

Second, from that link, lots of Europe also consider America as just one. From personal experience, people in Africa also consider America as just one continent.

And last, calling Australia a continent? WTF?
Oceania at least includes New Zealand and all the other islands.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[Tellarin]

Asia and Europe, probably. That's why lots of people call it Eurasia, including geographers. They even have two "cross-continental" countries (Russia and Turkey).

Africa I guess is another beast entirely.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[Tellarin]

Sorry for replying to myself.

Just to complete my sentence about Eurasia. I forgot the former soviet republics.

So the list of countries in both Europe and Asia is:
Russia, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan.

Not to mention that Cyprus and Armenia, although in Asia are sometimes considered Europe for some reason.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[SPickett]

When I read your post, I thought you were nuts. I always learned there were seven continents, two of which were North America and South America. I went to get a Wikipedia link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continent) and read it's taught differently in different parts of the world.

The seven-continent model is usually taught in China and most English-speaking countries. The six-continent combined-Eurasia model is preferred by the geographic community, Russia, the former states of the USSR, and Japan. The six-continent combined-America model is taught in Latin America, and some parts of Europe including Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy. This model may be taught to include only the five inhabited continents (excluding Antarctica)[20][21] -- as depicted in the Olympic logo.

It sounds like you may be from an area that has a 6-continent model.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[Igmuth]

I'm always confused as to how people can consider the isthmus of Panama to not be enough to separate the Americas into two continents, but at the same time the Suez isthmus is twice as wide, but yet makes Africa a separate continent.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[hey!]

No, he's saying he can make the southern side of the Panama canal by hopping off only one of his legs from Cancun.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[Tellarin]

I was actually taught two models when in school.

A-) America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and Antarctica.
B-) America, Eurasia, Africa, Oceania, and Antarctica.

But my main point, in the message you're replying to, was that the division into continents (with or without subcontinents) has nothing to do with plate tectonics as the GP implied.

Re:Ooooh... Intercontinental

[Tellarin]

Hmmmm. I can't claim to be right here, but in my opinion the most likely explanation is as follows:

Maybe because the Panama isthmus is a continual strip of land. If one wants to arbitrarily cut the American continent in two, it could be cut anywhere in Central America. And the division raises a lot of questions about Panama. Why should it be part of North America? Why not part of South America? Why not split the country?

In the case of Suez peninsula, it is much more of a "touching point" between two huge landmasses.
And it "feels" much more like a natural division. Before people had accurate maps, it would seem that the Red Sea almost reached the Mediterranean Sea (when comparing the width of the peninsula to the whole of Africa or even the Arabic peninsula). This without taking into consideration the huge cultural/ethnic differences between Africa and Eurasia (remember, we're talking about why people think of them as separate, not of geological facts).

More like "power-assisted gliding"

[tomhudson]

he will jump out of a plane at 6,500 ft and cruise at 130 mph until he reaches the Spanish coast, when he will parachute to earth."

Want to impress people? Do it by taking off from the ground.

balls!!!

[visionsofmcskill]

I think he could probably fly a whole lot farther if it weren't for the drag created by his monstrously huge friggin balls.

that is one brave dude

from france to britain = intercontinental...

[Anonymous Coward]

...if you go by the term "contintental europe", which explicitly excludes great britain (incl. ireland, as well as iceland).

Re:Did he cross the English Channel to speak with.

[Philip K Dickhead]

DC comics, circa 68-72?

Wow.

I am still figuring out how the screaming guy in the attached photo has a piston-driven jetpack. The article says something about cylinders...

Intercontinental?

[mseeger]

What is the definition of intercontinental? The flight was supposed to be 20 miles. That is not much... There are places were continents are so close together, so you can jump :-) the distance. If he goes Tokio to LA with his suite, i'll be impressed.

Re:Intercontinental?

[Anonymous Coward]

I believe it is Tokyo and not Tokio, there is a Tokio lounge in LA, unless you were being sarcastic. Lastly it is suit and not suite.

"Using a four-cylinder jet pack"

[jiteo]

Never mind the first intercontinental jetpack flight, the guy invented a whole new engine!

Re:"Using a four-cylinder jet pack"

[holmstar]

Nah, the telegraph invented the four cylinder jet pack. The experimenter just used four run of the mill jet turbine engines.

Gross!

[Spazztastic]

Incontinental? Ewww. Put this in idle, please...

Wait, what? Intercontinental? Ohh! Nevermind...

Nothing short of awesome.

[LikwidCirkel]

I'm amazed how critical we all are of this stunt, over nitty-gritty details like not taking off from the ground, or being "only 23 miles". Sure, the article has a bit of questionable information, but no matter how you look at it, this guy is full of awesome and has far more balls than most of us. The design and the execution of these stunts is far from trivial.

If I defeat Jetman...

[HishamMuhammad]

Do I keep his jet-powered wings? Are they useful for beating other bosses or is he too hard and I should get some other weapons first? Do you guys think I should defeat him before or after Cutman?

Re:If I defeat Jetman...

[BitwizeGHC]

You can't defeat Jetman.

As a typical American

[NoYob]

I know as American's we're supposed to hate Mexico, but they are still on the same continent as the US.

I disagree. As a typical American, I like Mexicans and I have no problem when they come down from up North with their Molsons to play hockey.

Hey Mexicans! Pretty day, Eh?

Yep, I've been around a bit. I've even been to Alaska to see Russia.

Re:As a typical American

[holmstar]

I know you're joking, but even the people from Leno's "Jay-walking" bit would unlikely to mix up an average Canadian with an average Mexican.

Just a performance..

[Anonymous Coward]

It might be an expensive feat but it's along the same lines of stunt men entertainment.

It's a lousy way...

[rusty0101]

...to avoid customs. I mean how many customs agents are going to be looking for him now?

Re:It's a lousy way...

[techsoldaten]

Forget customs. If he tried this coming in from Nova Scotia to North America, he would get shot down.

M

Re:It's a lousy way...

[al.caughey]

Did I miss something?!? when did Nova Scotia get annexed from North America?

Re:It's a lousy way...

[Anonymous Coward]

Americans think that everthing is America. So, North America would be Maine.

Re:Did he cross the English Channel to speak with.

[Talderas]

I'm curious as to how crossing the Straight of Gibraltar is a bigger achievement than crossing the English Channel. Isn't the channel wider?

If I'm not mistaken, the Straight of Gibraltar is only about 14km, while the English Channel is about 30km at its narrowest point.

Re:Did he cross the English Channel to speak with.

[davester666]

Which Bizarro (eg, Bizzaro Superman, Bizzaro Batman)?

Re:Did he cross the English Channel to speak with.

[Tellarin]

Bizarro is Bizzaro Superman. Well, at least in Brazil. :)

Re:More like "power-assisted gliding"

[MobyDisk]

A guy designing and building a personal jetpack, jumping out of a plane a 6,500 ft, and flying 15 miles in high winds at 130mph... DOES NOT IMPRESS YOU????

Yes, calling it "interncontinental" is exaggeration. But it is still impressive.

Re:Did he cross the English Channel to speak with.

[davester666]

Up here in the great white north (Canada), Bizzaro refers to a parallel universe/planet where they have all the SuperFriends, but they do everything backwards from the 'normal' SuperFriends).

Re:Did he cross the English Channel to speak with.

[ChipMonk]

It's a semantic difference. Crossing the English Channel isn't an intercontinental journey, and doesn't involve leaving the EU.

Last words

[Anonymous Coward]

"I'm headed towards a 'what'?"

Re:Did he cross the English Channel to speak with.

[Tellarin]

Yep, I know. But the character usually called just Bizarro is Superman Bizarro.

Not taking off from the ground?

[chord.wav]

That's not flying, that's falling with style...

Re:Did he cross the English Channel to speak with.

[holmstar]

It is a four engine wing, not four cylinder.

FAIL

[DarthVain]

I actually RTFA and the cause was "Sterzel said the wing malfunctioned, possibly due to engine failure".

Which I find kind of funny... ...because when you are flying what is essentially a wing, with an engine strapped to it... that's a pretty much catastrophic (total) failure.

Well at least the parachute worked (sounds like it was the only thing that did), so I guess it wasn't a total loss.

Re:FAIL

[Anonymous Coward]

Hardly catastrophic total failure, because that would mean the chute failed as well.

AFAIK the chute is an essential planned part of the system for normal use, not an emergency backup.

You make it sound as if he planned on a powered landing using rollerskates.

Just think

[Anonymous Coward]

Some terrorist will strap one of these wings to his or her back and slam themselves into Sears Tower with a bomb on.

Re:Did he cross the English Channel to speak with.

[Anonymous Coward]

In the USA, Bizarro is an evil version of Superman. Bizarro World is the planet that he is from.

Re:Did he cross the English Channel to speak with.

[Anonymous Coward]

The meteorological conditions are a lot less predictable in Gibralta. Think high winds, unpredictable, rapidly changing direction etc...

I guess it was too...

[uuddlrlrab]

short of a trip for him to pull a Steve Fossett.

Re:Did he cross the English Channel to speak with.

[Ipeunipig]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqcOpmoybQE

Continent of Afro-eurasia

[howlatthemoon]

To extend your reasoning, actually, there is a single continent of Afro-eurasia because of the continuous landmass joined at the Isthmus of Suez until, as you say, somebody decided to split it... so jumping from Africa to Europe is no less intercontinental than crossing the Panamanian land bridge. Actually, it has been proposed that this is a single continent, just look up continent in wikipedia

So really there should be only 4 olympic rings since the olympic bigots leave out Antarctica, of course, there has not been a team from there. Maybe there should be only 3 since Australia is hardly more than a big island. To be fair though, I believe the rings represent world regions, rather than continents, even if continents is the word they use

This isn't gliding

[ozTravman]

Flying 23km's after exiting from 6,500ft is far from gliding. A skydiver typically deploys their parachute between 3000ft and 4000ft and often higher in technical jumps such as this. This means he must maintain an almost flat glide angle, thus requiring thrust making it a powered flight, not a glider. Wingsuiters have flown these sort of distance but they exited from around 23,500ft and utilised tail winds.

Re:Did he cross the English Channel to speak with.

[fractoid]

I dunno, I'd kinda guessed that like most 'hobby'-scale jet engines, these ran on propane. Which comes in, y'know, cylinders.

Re:Did he cross the English Channel to speak with.

[moosesocks]

Did he cross the English channel to speak with Elton John so they could sing "Rocket Man" together ? ;-))

Worse. Shatner.