A daredevil inventor has made his first public flight with a pair of homemade jet-powered wings.
After five years of training and many more years of dreaming, Yves Rossy from Switzerland took to the skies, performing figure eights above the Swiss Alps.
The 48-year-old former fighter pilot and extreme sports enthusiast stepped out of a plane at 7,500 feet (2,300 meters) and unfolded the rigid eight-foot (2.5-metre) wings strapped to his back.
Passing from free fall to a gentle glide, Mr Rossy, or Fusion Man as he prefers to be known, then triggered four jet turbines and accelerated to 186mph.
Steering only with his body, he dived and soared, and even managed a 360 degree somersault.
He eventually landed safely on an airfield near the eastern shore of Lake Geneva.
After the flight, Mr Rossy said: “I just had a little problem with one of the jet engines at the beginning - but it was straightened out by one of the technical assistants who was in the plane.
“Then the four jet engines worked properly so I could jump out of the plane, and it was just wonderful, it was a complete success, also the weather conditions were excellent!”
The birdman said he is ready now for a bigger challenge - flying across the English Channel later this year.
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Lucky he went for expired instead of used condoms…
A Durban man took a plunge with a difference when he bungee jumped 30m using an elastic rope made from condoms.
Jump master Carl Dionisio made the unusual jump at the Wavehouse at Gateway to get what he described as “the virgin buzz” one got on the
first bounce back.
The condom bungee jump was the first of its kind in the world and Dionisio said part of the thrill was getting recognition from the jumping community.
Jolly ol’ soul Nat King Coleslaw couldn’t stand retirement’s tough schedule with endless hours of self love - caved in and is now back to show us his durty.
Well, what do you know. Someone has actually stepped up to the line and admitted what we already knew. The concept of Net Neutrality is dead. But then, if you believed that it was a runner you’re an idiot in my opinion.
Virgin Media’s CEO - Neil Berkett - has hit out calling Net Neutrality bollocks. Also he admits that the company are already providing tiered services to content providers.
This is no new news, but it is refreshing that it’s getting airtime. Mobile Operators have been working on this model since the introduction of WAP. ISP’s have been gearing themselves to content based models for years now. Bandwidth is a finite resource and costs money. With the ever increasing demand for ‘bandwidth’ from the consumer and contention theft mechanisms (P2P applications) such as Skype, iPlayer, and Joop applying blame to the ISP’s and diverting the cause from themselves - the time has come to stand up and be counted.
ISPs will gear your product and tier your service. And do you know what, they’ll make money out of it. They’re in the business of business after all.
Rule # 1 of the Internet - People are idiots. Perhaps folk will reaslise there’s no such thing as a free lunch now. Probably not though.
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