Jetman Yves Rossi the daring man who flew across the Grand Canyon in a jetpack, races with fighter jets. Rossi joined formation with two L39C Albatros jets over the Swiss Alps. Rossi was flying his latest, carbon fiber, flying wing jet pack. At 2 Meters the wing is shorter than previous wings which featured a higher aspect ratio. The current wing is a Delta shape in planform, with a wide root chord, and a narrow tip chord (Chord is the distance from the leading edge of the wing to the trailing edge). The new Delta wing also differs from he previous wing because it is a one piece design while the previous designs featured folding wing tips. Rossi’s jetpack is estimated to be capable of speeds in excess of 125 MPH using four Jetcat Turbine engines.
The two L39 C Albatros Jets were from the Breitling Jet Team, the largest civilian aerobatics team to perform using jets. According to the team website, ” The Breitling Jet Team is made up of seven L-39 C Albatros aircraft, Czech-made twin-seater military training jets that can also be used for passenger flights. The L-39 C Albatros represents an excellent compromise between performance, aesthetics, reliability and operating costs. This extremely powerful jet was widely used in all former Soviet bloc countries, where large numbers are still around now. The Breitling Jet Team planes were acquired in exceptional technical condition. An eighth plane is used for photo flights as well as passenger flights (with press representatives, Breitling guests, etc.). It also serves to replace the other planes during technical maintenance operations.” Since the L39 C is capable of speeds in excess of 450 MPH, I suspect they were taking it easy on Rossi. But it is still unbelievably cool.
If you like this blog post you may enjoy the following post: Flying By The Seat Of Their Pants – Jetpacks, Paramotors, Birdman Suits And Other Strap On Flying Devices.
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SOURCES:
http://www.jetman.com/?page_id=24&paged=3
http://www.interaksyon.com/infotech/up-up-and-away
http://www.breitling-jet-team.com/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2011/nov/28/man-in-jetpack-races-aircraft-video?fb=native
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aero_L-39_Albatros
Videos: http://jetman.com copyright 2011.
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