(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) It's not a bird. It's not a plane. It's not Superman. It's "Jetman" Yves Rossy streaming across the Dubai sky with his futuristic jet-powered wings at up to 200 kilometres per hour.
Rossy, a 55-year-old former Swiss fighter pilot, moved to Dubai five months ago because, he says, the city is a natural fit for him and his project to train more people to take to the skies flying a two-metre wing with four small jet engines attached.
"There is a spirit here of passionate people loving new things, interested in doing new things, in making possible the impossible," he told Khaleej Times in an interview. "Europe is 'old Europe'. Here (this place) is young. You can compare it to an old man and a kid. The spirit here is of a big kid who wants to try. Instead of seeing how difficult it is, here they see opportunities."
Rossy used to fly Hawker Hunter and Mirage fighter jets, as well as Airbus and Boeing passenger jets for Swiss International Air Lines, but has since traded his seat in the cockpit for winged flight. His jet-powered project, he said, was a natural step after discovering the joys of free-fall skydiving at the age of 30.
"You have only a small parachute on your back, and you're going down at 200, 300 kilometres per hour, vertically. But, the feeling you have is like flying like a bird. Unfortunately, you only go down vertically and it's only for about 50 seconds."
"You are falling, but the feeling is flying," he added. "I thought it was the closest thing to a dream, but it would be ideal to keep these pure emotions for more. I just needed to change the vector, and fly longer. A bird has wings, so you must put wings on your back."
It has now been over 20 years since Rossy took his first flight in an early version of the jet-pack. Since then, he has used 15 different prototypes of the jet-pack, with varying shapes, profiles and sizes.
With the current version, a 55kg pack, Rossy exits the aircraft at about 7,000 feet, falling for a short time to gain speed and lift under the wings before the engines start.
From falling to flying...
"That's the magic moment when you change from a falling thing to a flying thing," Rossy said. Most of his flights last between 10 and 15 minutes, covering potential distances of between 35 and 55 kilometres.
"But the idea is not to do transport or distance. An airplane is much more comfortable for that," Rossy added. "The idea is to play like birds, to profit from the third dimension. As a normal human being you know two dimensions: forward and backwards and left and right. But suddenly you have something on your back permitting you to go up and down." "That's what's so fantastic. You have one more dimension to play with," he said. "That's pure freedom." Rossy has flown his contraption over a number of locations around the world, including Rio de Janeiro, the Grand Canyon, Amsterdam and Japan's Mount Fuji. In 2008, he even flew across the English Channel.
In the future, Rossy believes that jet-pack flying will become a sport in its own right."It's one of the oldest dreams of humanity to fly. It's very old. Think of (9th century Arab inventor) ibn Firnas, think of Icarus (of Greek mythology). Everyone has once had the dream of flight," he said. "There are many, many people who want to realise that dream. Jetman is one first step that makes that possible."
"Yes, it will become a fun sport. But I don't want to put limits. Individual air transportation is also an old dream," Rossy continued. "To put my grandmother under my wings to go shopping, for example, is problematic. You need something much more simple and open to everybody. We need to find a means that works like the wings work now, but is much more simple to handle, for transport."
Asked about his plans for the future, Rossy said he is dedicating himself to training others and spreading the joys of flight to a larger audience. He already has two students who, like him, come from skydiving backgrounds. He believes they will be able to help him to further develop the project.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.