Yves Rossy

Yves Rossy
Nationality	Swiss
Known for	first person to fly a jet engine-powered wing
Aviation career
Full name	Yves Rossy
Air force	Swiss Air Force

Yves Rossy (born 27 August 1959), nicknamed "Jet Man" and "Fusion Man", is a Swiss pilot, inventor and aviation enthusiast. He is both the first person to build and the first person successfully to fly a jet engine-powered wing strapped to the 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 one to 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 also flew Boeing 747s for Swissair and now pilots an Airbus A320 for Swiss International Air Lines.

Jet-powered wings

Rossy developed and built a winged pack with rigid aeroplane-type carbon-fiber wings with a span of about 8 feet (2.4 m), and four small kerosene-burning Jet-Cat jet engines under the wings; these engines are large versions of a type designed for model aeroplanes. He wears a heat-resistant suit similar to that of a firefighter or racing driver to protect him from the hot jet exhaust.

Rossy claims to be "the first person to gain altitude and maintain a stable horizontal flight thanks to aerodynamic carbon foldable wings," which are folded by hinges at the midpoint of each wing. After being lifted by a Pilatus Porter plane piloted by Jean-Marc Colomb, he jumps out with his wings folded, unfolds them while in free-fall, flies horizontally for several minutes, then lands using a parachute. He achieves true controlled flight using his body and a hand throttle to maneuver.

His first successful trial was on 24 June 2004, near Geneva, Switzerland, and Rossy has made more than 30 powered flights since.

In November 2006 he flew with a later version of his jetpack.

It was exhibited on 18 April 2008 at the opening day of the 35th Exhibition of Inventions at Geneva.

On 14 May 2008 he made a successful 6-minute flight from the town of Bex near Lake Geneva, his first public demonstration before the world press. He made effortless loops from one side of the Rhone valley to the other and rose 2,600 feet (790 m).

On 26 September 2008, Yves successfully flew across the English Channel from Calais, France to Dover, England in under 10 minutes (9 minutes 7 seconds). His speed reached 186 mph during the crossing, and was at 125 mph when he deployed the parachute.

Video of the flight has been posted on the World-Wide Web.

Rossy and his sponsors spent over $190,000 to build the device.

Images

Links to images

On the ground

• Wings folded, front view
• Wings unfolded, front view
• Close-up view of underside with jetmotors and harness, wings unfolded

Flying

• From above
• From above
• Edge-on side view
• From below
• Video

See also

• Felix Baumgartner the first man to cross the Channel in freefall using a Delta Wing

References

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External links

• Yves's homepage (or English version)
• Pictures of Yves Rossy, in flight; news story
• There's a chapter on Rossy in Birdmen, Batmen, and Skyflyers: Wingsuits and the Pioneers Who Flew in Them, Fell in Them, and Perfected Them, by Michael Abrams. ISBN 1-4000-5491-5.
• Yves Rossy et ses exploits sur le Léman.
• Video of Rossy's flights.
• Note that aero-news.com "The Aviation and Aerospace World's Daily Real-time News and Information Service" attributes French nationality to Yves Rossy.
• NBC11 of the San Francisco area's coverage of the "Swiss Jetman."
• MSNBC: Rocket man flies on jet-powered wings
• SWITZERLAND'S NEW AIR FORCE
• ACT Composites Geneva, specialized in prototyping and limited series production of carbon, Kevlar, glass composites parts for all possible applications
• Sept. 26th 2008 Yves Rossy - Cross European Channel Record Attempt suceeds in 10 minutes (+webcast Video recording)

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