Is this news item about Rocket Man for real?

[onetrack]

I'm suspicious .. because nowhere on the 'net, can I find anything else relating to a news item on this amazing stunt ..

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_...E13762,00.html

[SteveDallas]

Try harder.

[Kitsune]

Wonder if he keeps some chewing gum with him when he flies?

[Undertoad]

I wonder if he's not the man he thinks he is at all.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

I wonder if he's not the man he thinks he is at all.

I've had that song going around in my head for the last hour and a half. Not a bad song to have in there.

Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids
In fact it's cold as hell
And there's no one there to raise them if you did
And all this science I don't understand
It's just my job five days a week...

Always liked that song!

[onetrack]

Thanks, Steve .. Obviously, I never used the right search words .. like 'One Man, Two Jet Engines' .. or 'crazy' ..
It's been a long time, since I couldn't find more about an item on Google ..

Well .. what can I say? Must make flying an Airbus feel pretty mundane, now!

Now .. what gets me is .. this guy can launch himself from a Pilatus Porter .. he has folding ability in the wings .. folds the wings to get inside the plane .. unfolds them when he jumps out .. even has controls to adjust the wings in flight!

Surely, it would only take a little more and he could blast off from the local airport, initiating a multitude of reports about UFO's, frightening Swiss cows into milkless terror, buzzing hapless skiers on Mt Blanc .. why he could even land on a serious size mountain, hide the wings and motors .. and claim a new rock climbing or ascent record!

The mind boggles!! The possibilities are endless!

And of course .. the suspicion lingers .. why did he take 3 months to alert the media??
Did it take that long to Photoshop the images, and fabricate the video??

http://www.yves-rossy.com/en/jetman.php

[Cyber Wolf]

Ohhh I want to get away...I want to fly away...

[Elspode]

Originally Posted by onetrack

Surely, it would only take a little more and he could blast off from the local airport,

Using those little jet engines to give powered directional control and sustained level flight to an already-moving body is one thing. Using them to life his entire, inertia-bound weight from the ground is another matter entirely. Not nearly enough thrust for that.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Yeah, getting up there is the hardest part. Coming down is easy, just shut off the engines.

[onetrack]

Originally Posted by Elspode

Using those little jet engines to give powered directional control and sustained level flight to an already-moving body is one thing. Using them to life his entire, inertia-bound weight from the ground is another matter entirely. Not nearly enough thrust for that.

In one diplomatic word - Crap. You are mistaking the power requirements to lift off vertically, ala space shuttle .. as compared to the power required for a gradual takeoff, using wings, as all normal planes do.

If Bert Rutan can get a purely solar-panel-driven plane off the ground and up to many thousands of feet .. surely Yves Rossy can organise a little larger wing span to give him the necessary lift to enable a standard style of takeoff ..

Must say .. I gotta admire the guy. I reckon you'd need cojones the size of base jumpers to strap yourself to a barely controllable set of wings and motors, and in effect, turn yourself into a borderline human missile .. with all the potential for going out of control, that entails ..

[xoxoxoBruce]

surely Yves Rossy can organise a little larger wing span to give him the necessary lift to enable a standard style of takeoff ..

Try an order of magnitude,....or two, to get off the ground. Then they become a liability once he's up there.