Real life superhero – FusionMan
By
48 year old Yves Rossy is a man with a vision. When he was a child he said “When I grow up, I’m going to be pilots. With an S”. He definitely followed his dream and had a career as a professional military pilot and is presently a pilot with with Swiss Airlines. Outside work hours, his fascination with all things airborne continues. Hanggliding, paragliding and skydiving are his chosen way to relax and have fun.
On Wednesday 14th May he became the first man in history to attach jet engines to a single wing and fly like icarus. He was released from a plane at 8,000 feet and completed a circuit flying over the Swiss Chablais and neighbouring mountains for over 5 minutes. His wings span 8.2 feet and the 4 engines give a thrust of 49 lbs each and run on a mix of kerosene and turbine oil. Speeds of 120 to 300 km/h are possible. The only instruments available to Yves are a throttle and an auduble altimeter. Apart from that he flies like a bird, using his body to change direction.
What an amazing feeling it must be to fly like this. Maybe the day isn’t far off when we can all don wings and fly to our hearts content. An achievement like this really does show that determination and hard work really can help achieve anything.
Check out the website and see a video of the all the action. Brilliant stuff.
