A flying human?

Jetman Live
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 24/09/2008

Swiss dare-devil Yves Rossy tells Clive Morgan about his televised attempt to fly across the Channel tomorrow – using only an 8ft jet-propelled wing

Tomorrow at 1.00pm, weather permitting, Swiss dare-devil Yves Rossy will attempt to fly solo across the English Channel. This may not sound out of the ordinary but Rossy won’t be doing it in an aeroplane, he’ll be doing it with a giant, jet-powered wing strapped to his back. And the whole experiment will be captured live on digital TV channel National Geographic.

Rossy will fly with a camera attached to his giant wing, a helicopter hovering around him to capture every second of the 13-minute journey across the sea from Calais, and cameras awaiting him on the white cliffs of Dover, where he plans to parachute himself to safety.

In the hour preceding the flight Nat Geo will show a film on the build-up to the feat, interspersed with live footage of the preparations. It will also stream this programme, as well as the flight itself, live on its website.

“The idea of this project is to have fun, not to kill yourself,” says Rossy, who pilots Airbuses for Swiss International Air Lines as a day job.

“It’s really a fusion between the wing and me,” he says. “When I am flying through the air it is absolutely fantastic: freedom in three dimensions. In a plane, you are surrounded by computers and shielded from the air. But it’s different when I fly naked.” (He doesn’t mean literally naked – he’ll be in a fireproof suit).

Here is the full story. Click here to view the video.