Nemo
Joined : 26 Dec 2007
Posts : 2081
Location : Mariana Trench -- Hey Feds!! Come and get me!!
Humor : Black
|  Subject: Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Fusionman  Fri May 16, 2008 3:54 am | |
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Icarus crashed and burned when he flew too close to the sun but a modern-day Swiss adventurer has had a happier landing after testing his new jet-powered "wing".
Yves Rossy, the self-styled "Fusionman", leapt into the skies 2500 metres above the small town of Bex in western Switzerland clad in his new carbon wing.
He performed various manoeuvres for five minutes before landing with the aid of a parachute.
His "wing" is 2.5 metres in diameter and comes with four tiny jets, which are lit inside the plane just before he jumps.
Once in full flight, Rossy can reach speeds of up to 300kmh, but he can only stay in the air for a maximum of ten minutes due to the small fuel capacity of his jets.
Rossy, a 48-year-old former air force pilot who now works for the airline Swiss, first unveiled his design in 2004.
It hasn't always been an easy ride though - during one jump in 2005, he lost control of his wing and didn't open his parachute until he was just 500 metres above ground.
LNK
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