Fusion Man flies solo across the Channel

[Philip Argy]

I know we have mentioned Fusion Man previously, but the thread is not showing up in any search, so I'm re-starting it here.

'Fusion Man' makes historic Channel flight

Yves Rossy parachutes towards his landing site near Dover, England. (AFP: Adrian Dennis)

• Video: Rocketman flys over Channel (ABC News)

Swiss airline pilot Yves Rossy has become the first person to fly between France and England using a jet-powered wing.
The pilot, who normally flies an Airbus airliner, swapped the plane's controls for four jets attached to a wing on his back to get across the Channel.
The simple kerosene-burning jet turbines propelled him the 35 kilometres between Calais and Dover at speeds of up to 200 kph. The journey took just under 10 minutes.
The 49-year-old Rossy, who calls himself "Fusion Man", ignited the jets inside a plane before jumping out more than 2,400 metres above ground.
After a period of free fall he opened the wing and soared across the water. With no steering controls, the only way to change direction was like a bird, moving his head and back.
When he reached Britain, he released his parachute and drifted down gently before landing in a field.
Rossy traced the route of French aviator Louis Bleriot, who became the first person to fly across the Channel in an aircraft in 1909.
He usually flies a Swiss International A320 Airbus between Zurich and Heathrow and took at least five years to develop the jet-propelled device.
The wing, which spans eight feet, is made of lightweight carbon composite and weighs about 55 kilograms including fuel.
He postponed the flight for a day due to poor weather and wore a flameproof suit to help him withstand the jet exhaust around his legs.
A helicopter accompanied him during the journey.
- Reuters

[Philip Argy]

To supplement my earlier post, Fusionman's efforts are starting to get a bit more recognition - this is quite a feat. The military and civil ramifications are enormous.

Exclusive: I followed jetman Yves Rossy during the historic Channel crossing

Times's Paris Correspondent, a qualified pilot, gained unrivalled access to the Fusionman during his historic flight

A small black shape dropped into sight in my aeroplane's windscreen as we circled high over Calais in a brilliant blue haze after lunch today. Yves Rossy had just leaped from the safety of his jump plane. Following behind, we watched in awe as "Fusionman" extended the eight foot wings strapped to his back, ending his free-fall and swooped into level flight.
Like a black hawk, Rossy throttled up his four little but noisy jets, accelerating in level flight to over 100 knots and headed out towards the thin white line that shimmered through the haze on the other side of the Channel. The distant Dover Cliffs were the only thing we could make out in the intense blue goldfish bowl in which sky meets the sea with no horizon.
The Times' Cessna 182 was part of the little squadron of two helicopters and two planes that escorted Rossy as he made history, zooming like Buzz Lightyear, the spaceman of Toy Story, out into the wide blue yonder.
Protected by a special air corridor, we tucked in behind the Pilatus Porter drop plane which was guiding Rossy, following him just above like a body guard, with the two yellow helicopters in tow. Six thousand feet below, Channel ferries zig-zagged through the dense stream of container ships.

The human jet


The helicopter escort was there should Rossy have been forced to ditch among the shipping in the cold grey-green water. But his path did not waver as we sped along in his wake, a member of a strange flock of birds following their jet-powered human leader in extended V formation.
Unlike Rossy, I and Benoit, my co-pilot, were in a warm cockpit behind controls and a reassuring engine, talking to air traffic control and with GPS navigation. Rossy has no instruments except an audio altimeter in his helmet and his wristwatch. And, apart from the throttle, he has no flight controls, just his body. To steer, climb or descend he moves his head and limbs slightly, a skill he first learned as a sky-diver. "I fuse with my machine. It was my dream as a boy to be a bird," he told me before the flight.
Within 10 minutes, the white lighthouse on Saint Mary's bay hove into slight and the jetman descended, wheeling into a left turn as he crossed the coastline. Along with the flock we pulled aside to got out of his way as Rossy performed a spectacular "victory" figure of eight, turning out over the sea again to face the wind. We watched from just above as his blue, steerable parachute unfurled and Rossy lined up with the field where the media crowd waited. No-one said anything on the radio.
"Bravo!". The cheer went up from my French companions in the Cessna when we saw Rossy touch down. "Spectaculaire!"
Much the same would have been heard near the same spot 99 years ago this year when Louis Bleriot swooped down in his monoplane, becoming the first powered aeroplane pilot to fly the Channel (balloon and dirigible pilots did it before Bleriot).
Rossy, ever cheeerful, gangly and boyish was coolness itself before take-off. "There should be no problem today," he said as he tucked into pasta and mineral water in a tent beside the old air terminal that still welcomes arrivals with a sign saying: "Gateway to the Continent". "It feels right. The weather is holding," he said.
Red wine was on the table, but Fusionman touched none.
On Thursday, Rossy cancelled because of fog which he said gave him butterflies in the stomach, a warning sign that he does not ignore.
Minutes after our lunch, he donned his flame-retardant flight suit and his team wheeled out his wings to the Pilatus. Close up, the black Kevlar and foam wings with their four Thermos sized engines look distinctly home made, which they are.
Rossy strapped on the contraption and took position in the Pilatus cabin, which has a flame-proof floor. That is because he lights his four engines standing on a platform by the open door with two of the motors still inside. Several fire extinguishers are held at the ready.
"See you the other side," he waved at his team as we took off ahead of the Pilatus to climb to await him.
The world's latest aviation pioneer has only a weekend to absorb the adrenalin. On Monday, he takes command of his usual "office" - the captain's seat in a Swiss International Airbus 320 in which he will fly tourists to Luxor and Sharm El Sheikh.