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Swiss guy achieves dream of flight
Being able to fly is one of the most universal dreams out there. Who hasn't daydreamed about flying through the air, or awoken to the sound of your alarm going off disappointed that you can't really leap off your roof and fly to your friend's house? The freedom of being able to fly would be simply amazing.
Well, guess what? A crazy Swiss guy is doing it, and chances are it looks way, way too scary for the likes of you and me. Yves Rossy, a former jet and commercial airline pilot, has always wanted to fly. So he went ahead and built himself a set of wings with an engine on the back, allowing him to fly horizontally for over four minutes after tossing himself out of a plane. I've got to admit it looks like a blast, I'd just be really embarrassed to have the pee streaming down my leg flying out behind me for that far. Check a video of Yves in action after the jump.
By Morfedel at 11:50 AM ON 10/20/07
Man achieves flight?
We've been doing that for a long time now already. And I'm not talking about planes. I'm talking about hang gliding, paragliding, and ultralights.
I hang glide myself, and I can tell you for a fact, a 4 minute flight is laughable. I've known pilots who have been able to stay aloft all day long, and last time I checked (admittedly, several years ago), the world record for longest hang gliding went over 300 miles.
Man is already flying, staying up for long periods of time, and making it to some moderate distances considering absolutely no power but the wind. In comparison, this thing is just a toy.
Of course, hang gliding does require you to launch from a mountaintop, or use a tow system, but thats where ultralights come in.
When they can build a jetpack or other related gizmo that can come even close to challenging any of the abovementioned flying methods, then I'll take notice. Until then, really, it isn't noteworthy... yet.
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Morfedel:
Man achieves flight? We've been doing that for a long time now already. And I'm not talking about planes. I'm talk...More »