Saturday, May 17, 2008

Swiss Pilot Yves Rossy

Swiss Pilot Yves Rossy did something special on Wednesday. Yves Rossy strapped a jet-wing and jumped from a plane. Yves Rossy has spent 5 years of training for this act. Finally Yves Rossy fulfilled his dream.

"This flight was absolutely excellent," the former fighter pilot and extreme sports enthusiast said after touching down on an airfield near the eastern shore of Lake Geneva.

Rossy, 48, had stepped out of the Swiss-built Pilatus Porter aircraft at 7,500 feet and unfolded the rigid eight-foot wings strapped to his back before jumping.

Passing from free fall to a gentle glide, Rossy then triggered four jet turbines and accelerated to 186 miles per hour, about 65 miles per hour faster than the typical falling skydiver. A plane that flew at some distance beside him measured his speed.

The crowd on the mountaintop below gasped and cheered.

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