Video: Swiss Daredevil Soars Above Dubai With Personal Jetpack

Jetman
Rossy's XDubai wing is 2 metres wide and weighs 55kg. YouTube

As the Christmas holidays near and many of us mull over paying the extortionate airfares to go abroad for the few days off, an ex-Swiss fighter pilot has brought the possibility of human flight closer - and he didn't even have to stomach an inflight movie in the process.

Yves Rossy, Guinness Book record holder and first man to fly with a jet-propelled 'wing', has collaborated the team of Gulf company XDubai to produce an exhilarating video of his latest and most exciting jet-pack powered flight.

Rossy, nicknamed Jetman, moves swiftly through the sky, maneuvering across the path of a helicopter and a biplane with little but a helmet and the 55kg, two-metre wide XDubai wing strapped to his back.

Rossy has long been at the forefront of experiments with jetpack wing inventions, having flown similar devices across the English channel and above the Grand Canyon. Aged 55 he has flown all kinds of aircrafts and although his jetpack stunts have often included doubling up with others, such as his tandem flight with the Boeing B-17 at the Airventure show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, he has never had a jet-pack sidekick.

"To fly alone is great, but to fly with another guy is much greater," Rossy laments in his latest video, shot above Dubai's picturesque sand dunes shortly before Aerobatics Champion Veres Zoltán joins his side mid-flight.

The collaboration between Jetman and Dubai started in 2010 and their last big exhibition flight was Rossy's death defying flight above Japan's Mount Fujiyama. All of his daredevil exploits are on his YouTube channel, including his latest video.

He usually flies solo, but perhaps the Jetman team has found a co-pilot for Rossy.

"The best is yet to come," the video promises, with both fliers suspended above the ground.

We know what's going on our Christmas lists this year.

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