For Swiss adrenaline junkie and daredevil hobbyist Yves Rossy, simply flying around Dubai with a mere jetpack strapped to his back is nothing more than an everyday stroll through a neighborhood park. Been there; done that. So what do you do if you’re Rossy and you’re looking to inject a little excitement into an otherwise insanity-fueled activity? Well, you strap that same jetpack to your back, grab a buddy, and take to the skies around Dubai flanking a mammoth Airbus A380, of course.
While this sounds like something ripped straight from Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer, the man dubbed “Jetman” just accomplished this very feat this past month in the United Arab Emirates. As seen in the video posted above, Rossy and his protégé Vince Reffet’s breathtaking flight is an absolute spectacle of daring planning, astonishing execution, and downright madness. What’s perhaps most striking is the sheer size of the Emirates-owned A380 (the world’s largest passenger plane) compared to Rossy and Reffet who look rather diminutive next to it.
“We will be mosquitos flying with an eagle or a condor,” Rossy so aptly puts it.
Concerning the equipped jetpacks, both Rossy and Reffet wear custom-made carbon fiber jet wings which boast a six-foot wingspan. Outfitted with four JetCat P200 engines capable of producing roughly 52 lbs of thrust, the packs propel the stunt-happy duo at average speeds of around 125 mph. During the course of the flight, Rossy’s crew admits the pair used “very high power settings” in order to sustain formation with the A380. Something tells us these guys might have been flying a tad faster than just 125 mph.
Released alongside the stunning video of the flight was a longer video detailing what exactly went on behind the scenes to prepare for the event (posted below). Collaborated on by Jetman Dubai and Emirates Airbus, the footage details the extensive and in-depth preparation for a flight some three months in the making. By analyzing and exploring every aspect of the flight —because one bad move equals tragedy instead of triumph— the crew knew precisely where the A380, Rossy, and Reffet were at all times.
After choreographing every movement and making sure all involved parties felt confident enough in the flight’s safety parameters, Rossy and Reffet took to the skies to defy perceptions of sanity. With seemingly nothing getting in the way of their constant search for an adrenaline high, we can’t wait to see what these two cook up next.
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