After a number of false starts due to poor visibility, the news sites are lighting up with stories of Yves Rossy crossing the English Channel with his jet powered wing (I first talked about his jet powered wing in an earlier posting). This is quite an amazing accomplishment. Related articles are:
- CNN - 'Human Jet' Crosses Channel
- UK Yahoo! - Jetwing pioneer crosses the Channel
The UK article describes a bit more of the technical details.
Wing: ~ 3 metres (8 feet) across
Engines: 4 jet turbines @ 200N thrust (45lbs) each
Fuel: Jet-A / Kerosene type - over 30 litres
Top Speed: > 200km/h (120mph)
Mileage: 82l / 100km (Is that your airliner? - cute)
Landing gear: Feet (parachute assisted)
Take off roll: Depends on the airplane he's riding before he jumps out.
Level of coolness: Off the scale. I still want one.
Congratulations Yves!
