Forget Silicon Valley, how’s this for innovation: Man crosses British Channel on jet packs
Yves Rossy may sound like a nutcase, but his trip today across the British channel on a wing powered by four miniature jets was successful anyway. This is a little difficult to fathom, so there’s a picture, right, of “FusionMan” with his carbon-fiber wing.
“I was thinking, the water is pretty cold down there,” the Swissman said after touching down outside Dover, U.K., in explaining how he made it across. He was traveling at about 125 miles per hour.
A similar trip across the Channel, 99 years ago, helped touch off the era of mass aviation — just prior to World War I, which spurred innovation in plane designs. It doesn’t seem particularly likely that this flight will set off a revolution in jet packs.
Then again, there are startups trying to bring back zeppelins and send tourists to space hotels, so anything is possible. A video of an earlier flights by Rossy is below. You’ll likely be able to catch a video of the Channel crossing later, accompanied by the inevitable Elton John song, “Rocket Man“.
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About the Author, Chris Morrison
Chris Morrison writes about cleantech and environmental issues for VentureBeat, with occasional forays into gaming and semantic technology. He got his start writing about tech for Business 2.0 magazine, but quickly realized new media was the ticket when that institution closed its doors in 2007. Chris has also covered public equities and regulatory issues. He originally hails from southern Virginia, graduated from Evergreen State College in Washington, and now lives in San Francisco.
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