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Jetman Yves Rossy Flies In Formation With Jets

smitty777 writes "Slashdot has been following Yves Rossy in his previous exploits across the Grand Canyon and his attempts at international flight. He is now flying in formations with real jets. He even does a barrel roll around the two fighters in the video below."

68 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. Help me Fox! by antifoidulus · · Score: 1

    Even without a plane or weapons I bet he still gets more kills than Slippy.

  2. So.... by Bucky24 · · Score: 1

    When does the consumer model come out?

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    1. Re:So.... by rolfwind · · Score: 1

      When will lawsuits cease to exist?

  3. Not really new by squidflakes · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There is a poster calendar in my office from Breitling that shows a picture of Mr. Rossy in formation with four Breitling aerobatic jets from an airshow in 2009.

    1. Re:Not really new by ganjadude · · Score: 1

      I thought I have seen this on one of the history channels programs (disc, his, nat geo group) but this is some cool footage. I wonder how long it took to convince the pilots to let a man with some jets and a wing strapped to his back run formation around their million dollar machines however.Either way, that just looks fun as all hell

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    2. Re:Not really new by Bucky24 · · Score: 1

      The jets in the video have the same logo as the jetman. Possibly he or the company sponsoring it owns them?

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      All the world's a CPU, and all the men and women merely AI agents
    3. Re:Not really new by blair1q · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but this is video. Totally new technology for making me wet myself over how fucking cool this dude's schtick really is.

    4. Re:Not really new by ganjadude · · Score: 1

      i saw that, but still you have to wonder how long it took for an investor to allow millions of dollars for that shot...well worth it but its still crazy

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    5. Re:Not really new by tehcyder · · Score: 2

      I thought I have seen this on one of the history channels programs (disc, his, nat geo group) but this is some cool footage. I wonder how long it took to convince the pilots to let a man with some jets and a wing strapped to his back run formation around their million dollar machines however.Either way, that just looks fun as all hell

      If anything went wrong, I don't think it would be the plane piilots who came off worse.

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  4. I guess that answers my lift question by OverTheGeicoE · · Score: 2

    I always wondered if Rossy's rig actually generated any lift. Now I know.

    1. Re:I guess that answers my lift question by stud9920 · · Score: 1

      if it's not accelerating to the ground, of course it is generating lift

    2. Re:I guess that answers my lift question by blair1q · · Score: 1

      Seriously? You've never seen his other videos? Dude's been doing loops and barrel rolls for years. You can't do those without lift.

    3. Re:I guess that answers my lift question by History's+Coming+To · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Look at the jets - flaps down, they're running close to stall speed just so he can keep up. Doesn't mean it's not cool and all, but he's not going at "fighter jet speed!", he's going at "fighter jet trying to fly really slow" speed.

      Cool, but more of a publicity stunt than anything else. Go Rolex!

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    4. Re:I guess that answers my lift question by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      It wouldn't have looked as cool if he'd been flying in formation with two Sopwith Camels.

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      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    5. Re:I guess that answers my lift question by loic_2003 · · Score: 1

      err yes - let's not forget that he's totally exposed and his neck has to hold his head in place at that speed! Try going above 130mph on a superbike, then lift your head above the cowl/fairing and see what that feels like. Having done a fair amount of mileage on the German Autobahns and Nurburgring on a superbike, I can tell you that above maybe 110mph is uncomfortable; 170mph (my fastest ever) was deeply unpleasant and only bearable for a few minutes, if that.

    6. Re:I guess that answers my lift question by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      GP's real name is Woody.

      "It's just falling with style!"

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    7. Re:I guess that answers my lift question by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      Some newer helmets have little spoilers on them to help reduce that effect, although I've heard the overall effect usually pushes your head down a bit.

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      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    8. Re:I guess that answers my lift question by phobos512 · · Score: 1

      You need a better helmet my friend. I certainly don't have that problem. My Shoei X11 is great at high speed - only gets a little squidgy in high crosswinds which we have here in the high desert quite a lot in spring and fall unfortunately.

    9. Re:I guess that answers my lift question by loic_2003 · · Score: 1

      Granted it wasn't a great helmet when I did those speeds - I've upgraded to a Craft RX1 Cobra which is significantly better - staying level and not lifting, but at the end of the day you're still pushing your head through air at 180mph which is quite a lot considering a human in freefall will do ~120mph...

  5. Re:Old News by alamandrax · · Score: 1

    You jaded cynical old coot.

    --
    'tis but a scratch.
  6. AWESOME by dominious · · Score: 1

    Just this.

  7. What speed? by magarity · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's a cute promo that he 'flies with jets' but notice they had to have their flaps way out to fly slow enough to stay with him.

    1. Re:What speed? by cbhacking · · Score: 4, Insightful

      According to TFA (crazy, right?) they're flying at "just above stall speed" and the jet-suit is at full throttle doing 120 - 180 MPH. So yeah, it's not like the jets couldn't have left him completley in the dust without really trying, but it's still damn impressive that he can keep up at all. I mean, that's a guy strapped to a bit of carbon fiber and metal, able to reach the (minimum) speed of stable flight for a fixed-wing jet aircraft.

      --
      There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
    2. Re:What speed? by magarity · · Score: 1

      Lol, 'splattered on some tarmac' ... he lands by parachute. It was therefore badass when he flew across the Channel. Buzzing around over land only has the risk of catastrophic parachute malfunction.

    3. Re:What speed? by Ihmhi · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Hey man, at least you didn't go the whole "it's not as fast, garbage, blah blah" route. There's a man flying with basically a wing and engines strapped to his back, and all people seem to do is shit all over this awesome feat of engineering rather than appreciate it in any way.

    4. Re:What speed? by sootman · · Score: 1

      Exactly. All I can say is, good for him. Does anyone here realizing he is literally living every boy's dream?!?!? Is there anyone here who wouldn't jump at the chance to strap themselves into this thing if offered?

      If anything, get made at the video's producers, for whom a flying man isn't dramatic enough, that they felt they had to add the title "Jetman vs. Jets"

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    5. Re:What speed? by DaMattster · · Score: 1

      I know, right. This guy is pretty badass!

  8. Hardest part of flight by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Screaming PEW PEW PEW PEW the whole time you are flying

  9. Re:Staged photo by Pumpkin+Tuna · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Anyone who is "unimpressed" by a guy with a wing and four jet engines strapped on his back flying in formation with jet planes for no reason other than because he feels like it needs to have his or her geek card revoked.

  10. I think we found someone to beat Chuck Norris by hellfire · · Score: 4, Funny

    The man is simply and totally made of awesome.

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    1. Re:I think we found someone to beat Chuck Norris by Zaphod+The+42nd · · Score: 2

      Balls of Steel.

      Move over, Duke.

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    2. Re:I think we found someone to beat Chuck Norris by blair1q · · Score: 1

      Titanium. Hollow. Filled with awesome at the same pressure as the core of the Sun.

    3. Re:I think we found someone to beat Chuck Norris by thisnamestoolong · · Score: 1

      I sincerely hope that we don't have flying cars any time soon -- just look how bad people are at paying attention to our current two dimensional travel. Adding a third dimension into the mix would be very, very bad. Now, couple this with Google's self driving car tech and we could have something interesting...

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    4. Re:I think we found someone to beat Chuck Norris by sootman · · Score: 1

      You could show this video to Chuck Norris, Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Ron Jeremy, and they'd all say "man, I wish I was that guy."

      Of course, it's just a money-and-training issue, so any of them could do it (though Ron would probably have to drop a few pounds first.)

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  11. Re:Staged photo by cbhacking · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Eh, I'm fairly impressed that a jetpack can fly in formation with any fixed-wing jet aircraft. Yeah, they're only a little above stall speed, but most manned aircraft even close to the size of that suit's wing can't reach 100 knots at all, much less 180.

    As for the distance, remember that his suit has very little mass to withstand turbulence. Sure, it would be cool to show him nestled between the two planes or soemthing like that, but it would also be extremely dangerous, especially since if something went wrong he's already at max power and they're already at min, which limits the maneuvers either can make. Flying around them close enough to see the pilots is already one hell of an accomplishment.

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    There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
  12. Re:Staged photo by Squeebee · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As opposed to a cameraman who just happened to be flying by as Rossy just happened to be flying by as two L-39C's just happened to be flying by and by some miracle they all wound up in the same shot? The shot is real, the three flew in such a way that all were captured by a single camera shot, nothing more is being claimed from what I can tell.

  13. Re:Staged photo by vlm · · Score: 2

    Eh. Standard /. car analogy: My daily driver could theoretically be a indy 500 pace car. indy500 cars are cool because they're high tech and high performance and all that. My daily driver is cool because it hauls me thru stop and go rush hour traffic with perfect reliability for 13 years now from 110 above to 20 below. I bet it would be fun as heck to drive my car as an indy 500 pace car. But I'm not impressed by mere numerology that there exists a spot on the speedometer below my redline and above their 1st gear idle RPM or that you can take a picture of my car in front of their car .... thats the part of the "eh" I'm talking about.

    --
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  14. And this is news ? by Bomazi · · Score: 1

    He has been doing the exact same thing since 2006. Instead of promotional video, he might want to work on autonomous take-off.

    1. Re:And this is news ? by blair1q · · Score: 1

      Um, this setup is slightly different from his old one, and if you bother to read the text under TFV you'd see that he is, indeed, working on a way to get airborn from the ground.

    2. Re:And this is news ? by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      He has been doing the exact same thing since 2006. Instead of promotional video, he might want to work on autonomous take-off.

      Yeah, tell him to call us once he's got something that can do at least Mach 2, has a functional invisibility shield, and can run on a waist pack cold fusion power sourcetoo. Until then, colour us unimpressed.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  15. Re:Staged photo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The Internet + Modern Science + Pace of change = ridiculously hard to impress people

  16. Lateral thinking my friend.... by fantomas · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's not really about whether this jetman set up can compete with jets, my friend. It's showing that his set up is reliable enough they can take on a stunt like this.... which means it's probably interesting for military special forces for getting their people into places they couldn't get to otherwise.

    - it sells expensive watches, rich people want to believe they are part of the dream, just like kids do when they buy their nikes or adidas
    - it sells the technology to military, who wouldn't really expect it to be used to catch up with real jets and open them up with can openers, they will have other ideas...

  17. Interview at TED talks by mspohr · · Score: 5, Informative
    More information in this TED talk interview with Yves.

    http://www.ted.com/talks/yves_rossy_fly_with_the_jetman.html

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  18. Re:Do you know what Breitling is? by rolfwind · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In a world where NASA hasn't been able to get really good funding since the moon landings, are you really going to criticize a guy over a sponsor whose greatest crime is trying to sell you bling bling?

  19. No Capes! by wisebabo · · Score: 2

    I seriously hope if he's flying around jets like that that he doesn't have a superhero cape! ;)

  20. Above my house by jcdr · · Score: 1

    I can see my house on the video at 1:49.
    I remember having see the two Breitling jets flying low, I think this was early last week.

  21. Re:Do you know what Breitling is? by Brooklynoid · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's probably not quite correct to say that Breitling doesn't "give a shit about science" or that they make "designer watches." Designer watches are what you pick up for $49.95 at Marshall's and toss in the trash when the battery dies. If you've ever held a Breitling, you'd certainly agree that the quality of design and workmanship is orders of magnitude better than a typical "designer watch." Admittedly, the price is also orders of magnitude greater, but you get what you pay for. And there's an enormous amount of both science and engineering that goes into the manufacture of a modern mechanical timepiece. Watch manufacturers are constantly working to develop longer-lasting and more effective lubricants. They develop new alloys to use in escapements to make their watches more resistant to the effects of gravity, magnetism and temperature. They use silicon and other materials in place of metal to reduce both wear and the need for lubrication in their movements. So, I'm thinking that the folks at Breitling probably do give a shit about science.

  22. Re:Do you know what Breitling is? by flosofl · · Score: 2

    So... you're saying this shouldn't be done? Or it should, but only after the sponsors are vetted by you.

    Be sure to forward your email to him. I'm sure he'll sign right up to your newsletter.

    I'll bet you're a real hoot at parties.

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  23. Counterpart to JetMan (speed flying paraglider) by ZermattGeek · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I got to know Yves back in the 90's when he spent some time hanging out here in Zermatt (pre Jet-man days, when he only was doing sky surfing on a scale jet model of the Mirage he used to fly for the Swiss Air Force). Very nice guy. Very intense + focused guy too!

    Here you can see a speed flyer (tiny, tiny paraglider) doing a similar trick with a guy flying a wing suit (in Wengen Switzerland). Kudos!
    B.A.S.E. XRW part one - http://vimeo.com/29231099
    B.A.S.E. XRW part two - http://vimeo.com/30623100

    And this one is just plain cool. Great tune and slick video mix.
    Spitfire Proximity - http://youtu.be/IZ9xoV6sUFc
    (as my flying buddy told me: *the only reason to wear a helmet for these sports, is to have a place to mount your GoPro*)

    1. Re:Counterpart to JetMan (speed flying paraglider) by Cederic · · Score: 2

      Sorry, but that's not a spitfire. This is a spitfire:
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EcCYA68m_w&feature=related

      (this is 16 at once: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6c3v9iihgw)

    2. Re:Counterpart to JetMan (speed flying paraglider) by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      That's not a Spitfire, this is a Spitfire!

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIGkMxr2WX4

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  24. Re:Staged photo by BaronAaron · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Your analogy doesn't quite illustrate the risk involved. It would be more like pacing an Indy 500 race with a moped.

  25. Re:Do you know what Breitling is? by Zaphod+The+42nd · · Score: 1

    Thats just his funding. If you're going to right him off for "selling out" to a corporation to get funding, fine. But that means you should also hate most of science and the arts. Funding is a necessary evil, you can't do science without. Yes, in a perfect world maybe there'd be science for science's sake. But hey, this guy is out doing what he loves, and he's doing some pretty awesome things. I don't think its fair to judge him just because he needed help paying for those mini-jet engines.

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  26. Re:Do you know what Breitling is? by blair1q · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Agree. Breitling is the shiznit. As are Omega and IWC. Rolex, on the other hand, is shite.

    Breitling have been supporting aviation for a very long time. Chronographs for pilots are one of their specialties. Back when a watch was a critical navigation tool they were the watch to have. They returned the favor by sponsoring all sorts of aviation competition.

    And really, it doesn't matter who sponsors it. Yves Rossy is the one doing the science on his equipment. His wing could be covered with a giant Orangina logo and it'd still be the single coolest fucking thing in the air.

  27. I don't think you do by BarfooTheSecond · · Score: 1

    ...
    There is a close and natural relation between Breitling and aviation since nearly one century. They make chronographs and watches that are more aeronautical flight intruments than watches, and which have been widely adopted in aviation not for bling-bling reasons but for their specialization and their high-perf.

    There is no marketing need to "try to associate" some James Bond image to watches that are used by astronauts in space (since NASA's Mercury program)...

    Breitling is sponsoring many aviation projects (e.g. , aerobatic squads, warbird restoration, Orbiter solar aircraft, etc). It owes much to aviation but repays it well in return.

    It's not like if it was Cartier (or Budweiser) that was sponsoring Rossy.

    PS: I don't wear any watch

    1. Re:I don't think you do by Brooklynoid · · Score: 1

      One correction: While Breitling has a robust history in aviation, no Breitling watches have ever (officially) been used in space by NASA. The only watches certified by NASA for spaceflight are the Omega Speedmaster Professional and (I believe) the Omega Speedmaster X-33. Interestingly, the current Speedmaster Professional is virtually identical to the one selected by NASA in the mid-1960's mechanical, handwind movement and all. The only modification NASA made to the Speedmasters that went into space was to replace the stock metal bracelet with a Velcro strap that could be adjusted to fit over the cuff of a space suit.

  28. The new bike by DCFusor · · Score: 1

    As an old biker, this gives a whole new meaning to "getting out in the wind", no? I'm eating my heart out.

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  29. Re:Do you know what Breitling is? by mrchaotica · · Score: 2

    it'd still be the single coolest fucking thing in the air.

    I was going to take issue with this, citing the SpaceShipTwo or an SR-71 or something, but then I realized you're right.

    --

    "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

  30. Re:Do you know what Breitling is? by tehcyder · · Score: 1

    Breitling makes designer watches for men. They don't fund this guy for the sake of science or nerd fun or any other interesting purpose

    You sound like a particularly annoying thirteen year old, jam-packed with smug. When you grow up, you will find that in the real world you have to pay for things, you can't just rely on handouts from your doting parents.

    --
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  31. Re:Staged photo by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

    Wrong. Look at the screen at 1:05. Rossy is clearly closer to the camera than the jets, but even if you assume he is equidistant at this point, the jets are still at least 4 Rossy-lengths long. Get your eyes checked.

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  32. Re:Do you know what Breitling is? by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

    Why does it matter who's sponsoring him? He wants to fly a jet-powered wing. The guy's an airline pilot, which means that if he's really lucky (and assuming he hasn't inherited any wealth) he might just make 6 digits a year. Playing with flying turbine-powered carbon fiber toys will push his finances to the limit, Breitling's helping to cover the costs.

    I wouldn't care if Viagra or GoDaddy were sponsoring him.

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  33. Re:Do you know what Breitling is? by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

    Yeah I think all of those are in the same league of coolness, even if they're very different.

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  34. Re:Scooter by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

    That's not a very nice thing to say about the fighter jets.

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  35. Re:Staged photo by thisnamestoolong · · Score: 1

    Your analogy doesn't quite illustrate the risk involved. It would be more like pacing an Indy 500 race with a moped.

    I was more thinking rocket skates...

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  36. Re:Staged photo by Kikuchi · · Score: 1

    "her"? Really?

    How delusional.

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  37. Re:Staged photo by sootman · · Score: 2

    Oblig. Louis CK: Everything is amazing right now, and nobody's happy. He nails it.

    (Jump to 2:00. I'm linking to that because it's much better quality than the copies on youtube.)

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  38. This Breitling Commercial by Dunbal · · Score: 1

    brought to you by Breitling, I guess.

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  39. coolest thing i've seen by mldi · · Score: 1

    Flaps down or not, this has gotta be one of the coolest things I've ever seen, period. My dreams of being a superhero are reborn!!!

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