Posted on 12/30/2006 6:06:00 AM PST by aculeus
For those who are bored with hang-gliding or find skydiving just too dull, a Swiss airline captain has devised the ultimate aerial thrill: flying like a bird.
Thanks to high technology and nerve, Yves Rossy has come closer than anyone to realising the ancient dream of soaring free, flitting through the sky, guided only by the body. As well as a crash helmet he wears a small pair of wings and four tiny jet engines.
As he skims the Alps at up to 187mph (300km/h), the only thing that the former fighter pilot has come up against so far is the Swiss law.
“They were totally confused,” said the birdman, whose flying suit gives him a passing resemblance to Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story. “The authorities said that I was an unregistered aircraft and to fly, you need a licence. I told them, ‘No. To fly, you need wings’.”
The 47-year-old pioneer does not live up to the image of the stolid Swiss captain. Boyish and brimming with enthusiasm, he is a hero in the world of those extreme sportsmen — or borderline nutters — who are devoted to the quest of human flight.
After millennia of fatal experiments, the skills of Icarus and Superman remained a fantasy until the recent advent of powered flight, hang-gliding and skydiving. In the past two decades, free-fall enthusiasts have developed webbed “wing-suits” that allow them to glide and even perform aerial ballet. But the direction is always downwards, followed by a parachute landing.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
...A near perfect reflection upon the never-ending war between autocrats and those who yearn to be free....
Rate of climb 1000 feet per minute.
Has anyone speculated that Icarus made a successful hang-glider with more primitive materials? My view has always been that some of these ancient stories weren't made up just for the entertainment value. It's a thought, anyway.
Those engines may be throttlable, but I cant see how he would manage that with 2 on each arm. And he has no 'tail feathers' either.
I guess this may have some sort of special military application, but for recreation just give me a ah ah ah, well I just cant push that envelope anymore :-)
Type: JetCat
Model:P-200
Thrust: 50
Diameter: 5.12
Weight: 5lb
Cost: $4,995.00
Now maybe I'm missing smth here, but with 6-8 of these you can create a set of wings, harness and tanks with a better than 1:1 power to weight ratio. Or on par with an F-15
That would allow a VTOL flight with a set of slightly larger wings.
Wow ... that has to be the first time that a frnech guy has completely and utterly gotten it RIGHT in the last century. Now THAT would be worth spending 20 grand or so on to go play with as a rich man's sport.
Copyright Infringement!
Because this has the potential to put more flyers in the air.
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