A Swiss adventurer attempted to make aviation history in his bid to become the first person to fly a jet-propelled flight across the English Channel, according to a report in the dailymail.co.uk. Yves Rossy - also known as ‘Fusionman' - was due to make the flight from Calais to Dover after an earlier attempt was postponed due to poor weather. Rossy, who is a commercial pilot by day, plans to swap his Airbus for home-made wings with four little jet engines as he makes the crossing. The human Buzz Light year will jump 2,500m from a plane above Calais where he will fire up jets on the home-made wings strapped to his back and head 22 miles across the Channel. Once in the open air, he will pull a cord and the two spring-loaded ends will snap open to give him a full wing span of just over eight feet. He will open up his engines, dive for a few seconds to pick up a speed of around 200mph. He will then level out at around 5,000ft before flying in a straight line at roughly 115mph to England in around 12 minutes. The carbon wings have no steering capability, so he must must control his movement using his head and back. And while the thought of flying across the Channel with little else but a thick suit and wings is enough to scare most people off, Rossy insists he always plays it safe. ‘I take great care with safety and there is always a Plan B. When I am the captain of an Airbus, it's zero risk' Rossy is tracing the route of French aviator Louis Bleriot, who became the first person to fly across the Channel in an aircraft 99 years ago. National Geographic Channel was to broadcast the flight live across 164 countries.
