Yves Rossy

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Yves Rossy (born August 27, 1959) is a Swiss pilot, inventor and aviation enthusiast. He invented and is the first person to have flown a jet engine-powered wing strapped to his back. The flight occurred in November 2006 in Bex, lasting nearly six minutes. While work with jet packs to propel humans dates back as far as World War II, his is the first contraption to also have wings.

Yves has served as a fighter pilot in the Swiss Air Force flying Dassault Mirage IIIs, Northrop F-5 Tiger IIs and Hawker Hunters. He flew Boeing 747s for Swissair and now works as an Airbus pilot for Swiss International Air Lines.

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[edit] Jet-powered wings

Rossy was the test pilot on May 14, 2008, in a successful 6-minute flight from the town of Bex near Lake Geneva. He exited a Pilatus Porter at 7,500 feet with jet engines and a folded 8-foot pair of airplane-type wings strapped to his back. It was the first public demonstration before the world's press. He made effortless loops from one side of the Rhone valley to the other and rose 2,600 feet. Rossy, his sponsors, and the Swiss watch company Hublot, spent $285,000 to build the device. It has also been claimed that the military has been impressed and asked for prototypes for the powered wings however Rossy has kindly refused the request and stated it is only for aviation enthusiasm purposes.[1] [2] [3]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ ap.google.com, Swiss man soars above Alps with jet-powered wing
  2. ^ news.bbc.co.uk, Rocketman flies in the skies
  3. ^ nypost.com, Switzerland’s New Air Force

[edit] External links


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