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

He already failed

[SoCalChris]

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

Better luck next time.

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.

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!

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

[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

[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)

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

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: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.