A Swiss airline pilot has become the first man to fly horizontally thanks to two jet engines strapped to stubby wings.
Rocket man Yves Rossy reached a speed of 112mph during the four minutes he spent hurtling through the Alps.
His invention took five years to perfect.
Rossy, 45, told the Daily Mirror: "It was absolutely fantastic - freedom in three dimensions. I felt like a bird."
Attached to his three-metre wide, 40kg carbon wings, he launched himself from a plane high above Bex in Western Switzerland, leaving a spectacular vapour trail before landing by parachute.
With his next prototype, Rossy hopes to be able to launch from the ground.
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1090900.html?menu=
Rocket man Yves Rossy reached a speed of 112mph during the four minutes he spent hurtling through the Alps.
His invention took five years to perfect.
Rossy, 45, told the Daily Mirror: "It was absolutely fantastic - freedom in three dimensions. I felt like a bird."
Attached to his three-metre wide, 40kg carbon wings, he launched himself from a plane high above Bex in Western Switzerland, leaving a spectacular vapour trail before landing by parachute.
With his next prototype, Rossy hopes to be able to launch from the ground.
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1090900.html?menu=