It’s the 21st century. We were promised a future with flying cars and jetpacks. Are you feeling a bit gypped?
You’re not alone. The good news is that the jetpack is already here. Sure, it’s still pretty damn risky, but one man, The Jetman, plans to make it accessible to everyone.
Yves Rossy is a Swiss pilot, inventor and flight enthusiast. In reality, ‘flight enthusiast’ doesn’t quite cover it. In his spare time, he’s a human fuselage. Really.
As Jetman, Rossy straps 55kg kerosene-powered wings to his back, and flies. He jumps from planes or helicopters, and he flies. He reaches speeds of up to 300km/hr. He hits altitudes of 3000m. He’s flown across the English Channel and through the Grand Canyon.
His goal? To bring freedom, via human flight, to everyone. As a pilot he knows that sensation of flying within an aircraft, but this is different. This sense of freedom is something this inventor wants to bring to the whole world.
The closest sensation, he says, is free falling before opening a parachute on a jump.
In this TED video, Rossy explains what it is like to fly, how his invention works, and how he hopes, that one day, this will be for everyone.
An amazing example of passion leading to invention, which is at the heart of every entrepreneur.
