Recalling the 110 years of Louis Bléirot’s first monoplane crossing, “the living soldier” Franky Zapata put together a flying hoverboard that crossed the English Channel in less than 21 minutes at an average speed of 160km/h.
Then the flying man really exists! Franky Zapata, better known as the “Living Soldier”, flew over the English Channel on a flyboard around 6am on August 4th. After the failed attempt, he finally managed to fly over the sleeve with his flying device.
The feat
Leaving from Sangatte, near Calais, he managed to land in about 20 minutes in the bay of St Margaret in Dover, in English Kent. Already known at home for his exhilarating air shows, Franky overtook himself thanks to a kind of flying hoverboard. In this way, he celebrated, albeit late, the 10 years of Louis Blériot’s first attempt at flight back in 1909.
Equipped with 5 engines, the Flyboard Air uses turbines similar to those of modern aircraft. With a total weight of 35 kg, the turbines are independent so that it is possible to return to the ground safely even in the event of a fault. Curious is definitely the control, which takes place through a remote control pad, a bit like if we were at the Playstation. The “telemetry” is given to the pilot inside the helmet “smart”.
The flight time is very short, about 10 minutes, and it is precisely the attempt to “recharge” that caused the failure in the first attempt.
The maximum speed that can be touched is close to 200 km/h while the height in latitude is about 3,000m.
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