Yves Rossy

Early life and career

Rossy was born in the Swiss canton of Neuchatel in 1959. He served as a fighter pilot in the Swiss Air Force, where he flew Dassault Mirage IIIs, Northrop F-5 Tiger IIs, and Hawker Hunters. He piloted Boeing 747s for Swissair, and later for Swiss International Air Lines.

Jet wingpack

Rossy developed and built a wing-suit system comprising a backpack equipped with semi-rigid aeroplane-type carbon-fiber wings—with a span of about 2.4 metres (7.9 ft)—powered by four Jet-Cat P200 jet engines, modified from large kerosene-fueled model aircraft engines. This has led to him being referred to in the press by various monikers, such as The Airman, Rocketman, Fusionman, and—most commonly—Jetman.

Developmental flights

Since 2007, Rossy has conducted some of his flight tests from a private airfield, Skydive Empuriabrava, in Empuriabrava (Girona, Costa Brava), Spain.

In 2008, Rossy made a flight over the Alps Mountain Range, reaching a top speed of 304 kilometres per hour (189 mph), and an average speed of 200 kilometres per hour (120 mph).

Leaping from a helicopter at an altitude of 8,200 feet (2,500 meters) over Calais, France, Rossy crossed the English Channel with a single jet-powered wing strapped on his back, wearing only a helmet and a flight suit for protection, on 26 September 2008. Reaching speeds of over 125 miles per hour (200 km/hr), he made the 22-mile (35-km) flight to England in 13 minutes, completing it with a series of celebratory loops.

In November 2009, Rossy attempted a crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar, hoping to be the first person to fly between two continents using a "Jet pack". He leapt from a small plane about 1,950 m (6,500 ft) above Tangier in Morocco and headed in the direction of Atlanterra, Spain. The flight was expected to take about a quarter of an hour. Strong winds and cloud banks forced Rossy to ditch into the sea just three miles from the Spanish coast, where his support helicopter picked him up ten minutes later, unhurt. The Spanish Coast Guard retrieved the jetpack, which was equipped with a parachute and float.

On 5 November 2010, Rossy flew a new version of his jet-powered flight system and successfully performed two aerial loops before landing via parachute. He had launched from a hot air balloon piloted by Brian Jones at 2,400 meters (7,900 feet).

On 7 May 2011, Rossy reportedly flew above the Grand Canyon in Arizona. The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had classified his flight system as an aircraft. When it finally granted him a license, the FAA waived the normal 25 to 40 hours of flight testing time, and Rossy acted quickly to complete his flight. Reporters, who had been waiting nearby since the cancellation of the original scheduled flight—on the day before—were not informed. There were, therefore, no independent witnesses to document his flight.

Latest media and event appearances

Rossy was featured on an episode of Stan Lee's Superhumans. He has appeared on the BBC's Top Gear, where he raced Richard Hammond and Toni Gardemeister.

Rossy was a main attraction at the 2013 Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture Fly-In, America's largest fly-in.

October 2015 sustained flight

On 13 October 2015, Rossy and Vince Reffet, wearing jetpacks, deployed from a helicopter flying at 5,500 feet (1,676 meters) and flew in a choreographed demonstration with an Emirates Airbus A380 cruising at an altitude of 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) over Dubai. The flights were documented by the use of helmet-mounted cameras and third-party videos released in early November 2015. The videos show the pair soaring and diving around the airliner, flying in formation with it for about ten minutes.