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A jet pack and a wing attached to a man crosses the English Channel


In the last few days a true-to-life jet scientist attached a jet pack and a wing to his back, was dropped from a plane over france and crossed the Channel in 10 minutes.

This page from the BBC includes video of the event. Here are some interesting facts from the account:
  • He had to start the turbines while he was still in the plane.. so they ended up having 4 jet engines running inside the plane just before he jumped out.
  • He jumped at 8000 feet but did not get velocity enough to have the wing work until he was at 1500 feet! Pretty close.
  • He then shot back up to 8000 feet to do the actual crossing.
  • He then circled above spectators on the English side to lose all his fuel before landing...
  • He landed with a parachute using special kneepads to help him handle the impact of having 140lbs of jet and wing on his back.
Pretty cool.

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