Joel Orr's World

The AP (5/15, Jordans) reports that Yves Rossy, "[a] Swiss pilot, strapped on a jet-powered wing and leaped from a plane" at 7,500 feet "Wednesday for the first public demonstration of the homemade device, turning figure eights and soaring high above the Alps." After an initial free fall, Rossy "triggered four jet turbines and accelerated to 186 miles per hour, about 65 miles per hour faster than the typical falling skydiver."

The AP notes that Rossy has expressed interest in "fly[ing] hrough the Grand Canyon." However, "[t]o do this, he will have to fit his wings with bigger, more powerful jets to allow for greater maneuverability. The German-built model aircraft engines he currently uses already provide 200 pounds of thrust, enough to allow Rossy and his 120-pound flying suit to climb through the air." The New York Post (5/15, Goldsmith), the San Francisco Chronicle (5/14), the Detroit Free Press (5/15), the AFP (5/15), the BBC (5/15), FOX News (5/14), the U.K.'s Scotsman (5/15, Jordans) and the U.K.'s Telegraph (5/15, Gammell) also cover the story (or run photo galleries of the event.)
- ASEE