Technology
PUBLISHED
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s some viral marketing!
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.This insane video features French “Jetman” Yves Rossy and his daredevil protégé Vince Reffet. Rossy is no stranger to crazy jetpack stunts, he flew over the Grand Canyon on a jetpack four years ago and has previously been seen flying around the skies of Dubai.
This video, filmed by four small aircraft on the morning of October 13, is a collaboration between Emirates airlines and XDubai. It shows two guys, attached to a kevlar wing and four engines, flying with an Emirates A380 aircraft – a commercial plane also known as the superjumbo jet. According to the Jetman website, these jetpacks weigh just 40 kilograms (88 pounds) and can fly at up to 314 kilometers per hour (195 mph). The duo, both experienced pilots, was deployed at 1,676 meters (5,500 feet) by a helicopter and released a parachute to safely return to the ground.
"While the formation flight looked effortless on film, painstaking planning and meticulous collaboration with an intense focus on safety drove all efforts," Rossy and Reffet said on their website.
You can view the stunt in the video below, or check out the behind-the-scenes action here.
8