Photo: Associated Press
On Wednesday, Yves Rossy, a Swiss pilot known by some as "Fusion Man," took to the sky in a set of rocket-powered wings. According to Wikipedia, "While work with jet packs to propel humans dates back as far as World War II, his is the first contraption to also have wings." Rossy's victory over gravity is just one of many successes in humankind's struggle to fly. Where are those personal jetpacks we were promised, anyway?
Mac Montandon, in his book "Jetpack Dreams: One Man's Up and Down (But Mostly Down) Search for the Greatest Invention That Never Was," covers the colorful pop history and science of jetpacks, from comic-book dreams of the '50s to Bill Suitor's 1966 Disneyland blastoff and subsequent flight at the 1984 Olympics. Montandon also covered the 2006 Rocketbelt Convention in Niagara Falls, New York, for BoingBoing.
Want to read more about Fusion Man? Check out his homepage.
Leave a comment