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Yves Rossi, aka Jetman, comes to South Africa

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Yves Rossy over Dubai. Image supplied.
Yves Rossy over Dubai. Image supplied.

Yves Rossy is a Swiss military-trained pilot and an aviation enthusiast and attracted the crowds over the weekend when he spoke at the Cape Argus SportShow outside Stellenbosch in the Western Cape.

He is known as the inventor of a series of experimental individual jet packs, the latest using carbon-fiber wings for flight.

Rossy developed and built a wing-suit system comprising a backpack equipped with semi-rigid aeroplane-type carbon-fiber wings—with a span of about 2.4 metres - powered by four Jet-Cat P200 jet engines, modified from large kerosene-fueled model aircraft engines.

This has led to him being referred to in the press by various monikers, such as The Airman, Rocketman, Fusionman, and—most commonly—Jetman. 

On 13 October 2015, Rossy and Vince Reffet, wearing jetpacks, deployed from a helicopter flying at 1,676 m and flew in a choreographed demonstration with an Emirates Airbus A380 cruising at an altitude of 1,219 m over Dubai.

The flights were documented by the use of helmet-mounted cameras and third-party videos released in early November 2015.

The videos show the pair soaring and diving around the airliner, flying in formation with it for about ten minutes.

Watch: Rossy and Reffet fly with Emirates Airbus A380

Read more: 

The real dangers of skydiving

Would you try snowkiting?

Extreme sports that will make your heart race

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