Its inventor manages to cross the English Channel on the second attempt.
The first time he ended up in the water, this second time Franky Zapata has succeeded, has crossed the English Channel between France and the United Kingdom using Flyboard Air, his invention to fly by propulsion and without wings. A trip of just over 20 minutes and at speeds of up to 170 kilometers per hour.
As reported by The Guardian, Franky Zapata took off this past Sunday from Sangatte (France) and landed in Dover (United Kingdom) successfully. During the flight he made a stop in the middle of the English Channel to refuel, since the Flyboard Air only allows flights with a range of about 10 minutes due to the limited fuel that can be transported.
VIDEO: 🇫🇷 Frenchman @frankyzapata sets off on his “Flyboard” from Sangatte in northern France for the 20-minute trip across the Channel – including refueling stop – to St. Margaret’s Bay in Dover, southern England #FrankyZapata pic.twitter .com / MDr0Sxglmk
– AFP news agency (@AFP) August 4, 2019
Precisely autonomy and refueling were the main problems of the first attempt to cross the English Channel in Flyboard Air. The attempt took place last July and due to the strong waves, according to Franky Zapata and those responsible for the project, it could not land successfully on the refueling platform, so it fell into the sea. On this second occasion, with a slightly different route and a larger platform, was able to make the trip with total normality.
The distance traveled has been approximately 35 kilometers, is what separates the French coast from the English coast through this channel. Thanks to the speeds that the Flyboard Air can reach, it only took 22 minutes to complete the flight. At all times the pilot of this particular apparatus has been accompanied by three helicopters.
As Franky Zapata has indicated, the greatest difficulty on this occasion has been face gusts of wind. In the air the pilot must maintain his balance and cut the gusts by using his legs to lean the Flyboard Air. On the other hand, it must also be taken into account that the device had to be rebuilt after the failure of the first attempt that put the Flyboard Air in the sea.
From inventing the Flyboard Air in 2016 to conducting military parades and crossing the English Channel
The Flyboard adventure began in 2011, when the brand’s first propeller was made official. On that occasion however it was a propellant that ran on water, so it could only be used in seas, lakes and situations where there was a large amount of water. In 2016, however, Flyboard Air arrived, a second model that this time worked with air and without the need to supply water.
Franky Zapata and his invention gained popularity again this summer because it appeared in official French military parades in Paris. It was not a casual appearance, the French army has subsidized the project with 1.3 million euros of Flyboard Air to use it in possible missions of the authorities.
The last challenge for Franky Zapata and his Flyboard Air was cross the English ChannelHe wanted to do it on July 25, 2019, 110 years after Frenchman Louis Blériot made the first plane trip over the English Channel. It had to be on the second attempt, but finally Franky Zapata crossed this strait without using wings.
