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Yves Rossy

by Dexter from Everson


It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no its Yves Rossy with his carbon fiber wings and kerosene powered jets. That is what you would be hearing if you were a resident of Switzerland. A birdman who drops from the sky and flies (like a bird) horizontally for an extended period of time. This man was born to live in the air and his story starts all the way back when he was a child.

Rossy always had a passion to fly but it really took off at the age of thirty when he began to learn how to do freefall parachute jumping (Flying like a Bird). He even tried sky surfing and what seems to be pushing the limit for any normal person was beginning to bore Rossy.

So the work began on the days that he wasn’t flying commercial airliners for Swiss Air on the wings that would enable him to fly like a bird (Jet Man). He created and personally tested his wings for over seven years (Jet Man). With different designs Rossy finally came to a conclusion with foldable carbon fiber wings, but that’s not all, he also installed two kerosene powered to give him the boost to truly fly. All of this only weighs in at approximately 110 pounds (Flying like a Bird).

“At 7:30 pm on June 24, 2004 Rossy dropped from 4000m over Yverdon airfield. After opening the wings, he glided 2500m, ignited the engines and waited for 30 seconds to stabilize and begins to open the throttle. At 1600m, he achieved horizontal flight for more than four minutes at 115 miles per hour” (Aero Gizmo).

Yves Rossy is a true pioneer in aviation and if you think he is satisfied with four minutes of horizontal flight then you're wrong. He still wants to be able to climb and do acrobatic flips with his wings (Jet Man). “Up there in my invention, I am as free as a bird,” Rossy tells reporters of the daily mail. Until the next achievement Rossy will continue to live up to his nickname “The Birdman”.

Page created on 2/2/2008 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 2/2/2008 12:00:00 AM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.

Related Links

Bibliography

Actual. "2006: Batmans Rival." [Online] Available http://www.jet-man.com/actuel_eng.html. 2006.

Gizmo, Aero . "Man flies like a Bird." [Online] Available http://www.gizmag.com. 2002.

The Daily Mail. "Flying like a Bird at 5000 feet." [Online] Available http://www.dailymail.co.uk. 2005.