 |
I'm thinking this one is for Kari . . . Think she'll wear a swimsuit for it? |
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 ...
"I'm proud to obey the laws of gravity :)!!!
"
In Mass., gravity is an evolving paradigm.
As long as the ground is a constant :P
Watch the video from post 3. He launches himself out of an airplane at altitude, flies with the wings with jet-assist, and then pops his parachute
|
I'm thinking this one is for Kari . . . Think she'll wear a swimsuit for it? |
Why don't you view the video link instead of making foolish comments.
Quit "feeling" and watch the video provided in post #3.
Hey genius, watch the video in post #3.
He DOES start out at greater than 100mph by jumping out of a plane in flight.
Apparently, he stepped from a plane doing just that.
How does he land ?
Is the snow still coming down in CO?
When I jumped back in the 70's I thought of something like this, but I never got around to buying the rockets, building the wings...or even the paint, for that matter.
But I did jump out of a Pilatus, like this guy did. Yeah, I know. Big Deal.
I will give him the "Big Brass Ones" award for this toy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFj1aDdyIcU&mode=related&search=
this guy flew in 2005 with out a wing
That's amazing!
That is crazy
$20 says he can't maintain a fixed altitude.
Yikes!
What is the difference between this guy strapping wings on his back to me strapping a full airplane to my body? Birds fly, Man eats bird. We win, dammit.
ping
Why Fly?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.