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See the original image at blog.wired.com

Soaring Over the Alps on Homemade Jet Wings

blog.wired.com — "Playing to a mesmerized audience, Swiss pilot and adventurer (some might say nutcase) Yves Rossy has soared above the Alps with homemade jet-powered wings strapped to his back. "

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  • abwaters, on 05/17/2008, -0/+9This is just cool!
  • MCDupree, on 05/17/2008, -1/+14I wonder how much fuel it holds...
    • Baskins, on 05/17/2008, -0/+5It says he only gets ~5 mins of rocket time.
      But you gotta wonder....
      "Honestly, how does he fly it with cajones that large?" (credit to SolarFlared for this great quote from the comments section)
    • b0rna, on 05/17/2008, -2/+2cajones are large, but not that large. i mean, its just glorified skydiving with wings and some miniature jet engines. if anything goes wrong you just pull the chute and sail down...right?
    • sanman, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3Only 10 minutes of fuel - he needs an arc-reactor ;)

      We should all email Peter Diamandis of X-Prize/Rocket-Racing-League, and urge him to support this as the new 21st-Century spectator sport. A sport like this would permit wider participation, since the cost of building/operating these strap-on wings would be lower than the cost of building/operating racing aircraft/rocketships. This could become the motocross/NASCAR/Formula-1 of tomorrow. You could have events for racing, aerobatics, formation-flying, landing accuracy, and records for altitude, range, duration, etc. There could also be a laser tag event, water-bomb event, etc. Competition would help to evolve the platforms and improve their technology (helmets with HUDs, fly-by-wire, better composite materials, fuels, propulsion systems, etc). Once you get the revenue of a spectator sport happening, then you can offer good prize money, attract daredevils from all around, and sponsors will want their logos on their wings, etc. This thing seems made for eye-catching spectacle, so it could be a hit. It's just a matter of organizing it, and tapping the market demand. Imagine having your winged competitors actually jumping off the Goodyear blimp overhead, instead of just being televised by the blimp.
  • fingaz, on 05/17/2008, -0/+9Simply amazing. That must be the most liberating feeling to fly across the sky like that at 180 mph.
  • Qong, on 05/17/2008, -0/+4Wow, that is awesome! The video is amazing, he just heads out of the airplane and then suddenly he looks like a bird flying through the air.
  • punx, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3That has to be as close to heaven as you can get. Wish it was me.
  • dosapede, on 05/17/2008, -3/+14deja vu anyone?? This was on the front page practically yesterday!?!
    • DrDigg, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1I think it has actually been on the front page 2-3 times in the last few days.
  • ripple123, on 05/17/2008, -0/+6give that man some roller skates so he can take off from the ground.
  • b0rna, on 05/17/2008, -0/+6anyone for a little hot-rod-red?
    • sanman, on 05/17/2008, -0/+5I wonder how he solved the icing problem ;)
  • 7travis, on 05/17/2008, -0/+7Do a barrel roll!
  • ricoboy24, on 05/17/2008, -0/+12To infinity! And Beyond!
  • Dorke, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2are you ***** kidding me!! unbelievable!

  • innocentsinner, on 05/17/2008, -0/+7Must not be the ACME brand
  • DroogInPhoenix, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2I want them.
  • DRUNKSLAMCHEST, on 05/17/2008, -1/+5I hate stuff like this that just makes my life look more and more boring.
    • ricoboy24, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1then do something with your life and get off the computer.
      • DRUNKSLAMCHEST, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1What could i do that's cooler than this? Surely ricoboy has all the answers.
      • punx, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Ricoboy, no offense but that was just mean, and you totally squashed my buzz. You yourself are on the friggin computer, so why would you even say that? Not to mention that DRUNK is right. What the hell else could be better?
  • disappointment, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1He's R. Kelly's biggest fan.
  • badwithcomputer, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Neville: I do my own stunts.
  • worldchanger, on 05/17/2008, -2/+3this story was interesting the first seven or eight times it showed up on digg. now it's just annoying.
  • MikiMac, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2there is no way that the digg system did not find duplicate stories on this when posted, so buried for posting a story that has been dugg many times!
  • swmianon, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1Glad he didn't make his wings from wax--Icarus he is not. Take that, gravity!
  • asus2000, on 06/30/2008, -0/+2"in fact it's cold as hell..."
  • Papajohn56, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1This isn't the first time...Wired got it wrong. He did this back in 2006.

    http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-710489843 ...
  • kodax, on 05/17/2008, -0/+5Tony Stark did it in a cave!
  • jasdf, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2Nothing like a telephoto lens to make it look like he's going 1000mph.
  • JohnnyHotballs, on 05/17/2008, -4/+1it's powered from his own farting.
  • n3tfury, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1i'd have to use it on a non-work day. don't want to ***** up my suit.
  • thomasprebble, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1Why do I keep thinking "Iron Man"?
  • edebolt, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3Should be shot down for contributing to global warming. 4 jet engines for one passenger? please
  • Jess2mix, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1Damnit, now I have RocketMan stuck in my head for the rest of the day...Thanks a lot, Yves Rossy!....burning out his fuse up here alone AAAH make it stop!
  • Rhendal, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1Who?
  • Hoxie, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1duplicate of my story:
    http://digg.com/general_sciences/Jet_powered_glide ...
  • Stevanoski, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Too large of a carbon footprint. Al Gore is right, for the good of mankind all enjoyment frivolities such as these should be abandoned and he should be jailed for 10 years for even trying this.
  • mgoblue5453, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Why does the military not have this???
  • Hidama, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1The Rocketeer lives on!
  • catfishkempster, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1GREATEST FEAT EVER!!!
    Just kidding, but wow...that is really awesome.
  • parkernicky50, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1nice post
  •  

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