Aircraft

Video: New footage of Jet-Man deployable strap-on jet pack as Swiss inventor aims for vertical take-off model

By Justin Wastnage

Swiss daredevil and inventor Yves Rossy has performed new test flights of his personal jet pack ahead of modifications to allow vertical take-off and aerobatic manoeuvres.

Rossy's Jet Man strap-on jet pack, developed in cooperation with German turbine specialist JetCat, made its maiden flight in September 2004. Since then the inventor has taken several test flights around his home airfield of Bex, in the Valais region of western Switzerland. In new video footage released by the Swiss inventor from a test flight on 10 November last year, the deployable 3m (9ft) wingspan original carbonfibre design's performance is now stable, with regular endurances of 5min.

The wing has two 200N (50lb-thrust) JetCat P180 turbofans mounted onto its span. However, the wearer of the 40kg (90lb) jetpack currently has to be dropped from a skydiving aircraft, from where he is propelled horizontally at speeds of up to 120-300km/h (65-162kt) before using a stunt parachute to land.

The existing model has a climb rate of 5m/s (1,000ft/min), but Rossy aims to work on a new prototype capable of vertical climb, take-off and aerobatic manoeuvres.

 

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