Rocket man flies like a bird
September 19, 2004

YVES Rossy is the real Rocket Man - a human jet whose amazing flight through the Swiss Alps is rewriting the record books.


Historic flight ... Yves Rossy


With two kerosene-powered jet engines strapped to his 3m-wide carbon wings, Mr Rossy soared over the Alps at 180km/h, the first birdman to fly like a bird; horizontally.

"It was absolutely fantastic; freedom in three dimensions," he told reporters.

"I felt like a bird."

The former military pilot, 45, who flies Airbuses for Swissair, spent five years inventing and refining his flying machine.

Daredevil Mr Rossy's four-minute flight started when he was dropped out of a plane 4000m above Bex in western Switzerland before landing with the help of a parachute.

He hopes the next model will be able to be launched from the ground, making it a natural for Hollywood adventure films.

"It would be a great device for James Bond so he can go behind enemy lines," said the veteran thrillseeker, who entered the Guinness Book of Records in 1996 as the first person to skysurf off a hot air balloon.

He also holds a record for dangling from the wing of a biplane, and lists his hobbies as "bare-foot water-skiing, wakeboard, hydro-speed, delta flying and paragliding, snowboarding and aerobatic flying".

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,10812362%5E13762,00.html
The Sunday Mail (Qld)