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Swiss daredevil plans jetpack Channel crossing
22 Sep 2008
Thousands of tourists fly back and forth across the English Channel every day on their various trips, but Swiss daredevil Yves Rossy could this week become the first person to cross the stretch of water as a human jet.
The 49-year-old is used to flying across the Channel in his day job as a pilot working with Swiss Air Lines.
On 24 September, however, his trip will have a very different feel as he soars through the air with a pair of jet-powered wings strapped to his back.
Rossy plans to drop from a small aircraft some 2,500 metres above Calais and head to Dover, potentially reaching speeds of up to 200 kilometres per hour.
He will have a 30-litre fuel tank attached to his jetpack, providing enough power for ten minutes of flight, with parachutes for himself as well as his wings should anything go wrong.
Rossy carried out a ten-minute test flight in August that covered a distance equivalent to that between Calais and Dover, giving him confidence ahead of his attempt to cross the Channel.
'Everything went well, it was awesome, it's my longest flight with this wing,' he said at the time. 'If there are no technical problems it's okay for the English Channel.'
Opodo cheap flights, hotels and car hire - let the journey begin!
The 49-year-old is used to flying across the Channel in his day job as a pilot working with Swiss Air Lines.
On 24 September, however, his trip will have a very different feel as he soars through the air with a pair of jet-powered wings strapped to his back.
Rossy plans to drop from a small aircraft some 2,500 metres above Calais and head to Dover, potentially reaching speeds of up to 200 kilometres per hour.
He will have a 30-litre fuel tank attached to his jetpack, providing enough power for ten minutes of flight, with parachutes for himself as well as his wings should anything go wrong.
Rossy carried out a ten-minute test flight in August that covered a distance equivalent to that between Calais and Dover, giving him confidence ahead of his attempt to cross the Channel.
'Everything went well, it was awesome, it's my longest flight with this wing,' he said at the time. 'If there are no technical problems it's okay for the English Channel.'
Opodo cheap flights, hotels and car hire - let the journey begin!
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