Jetman soars over the Grand Canyon in his wingsuit
If you're a guy who's feeling a bit emasculated today for inexplicable reasons, it could be because Swiss daredevil 'Jetman' Yves Rossy has been at it again, this time flying his jet-powered wingsuit over the Grand Canyon.
The flight had been scheduled for Friday, but was delayed because the FAA simply couldn't figure out how to certify it. I expect the great Evel Knievel would have said "screw it" and gone ahead, but Rossy is Swiss, so all of his papers had to be in order before proceeding.
A helicopter lifted him to about 8,000 feet, at which point he dropped out and fired up his rocket propulsion system. During the eight minute flight, he startled onlookers by passing over the rim only 200 feet above their heads, hitting speed of up to 190 miles per hour. After performing a series of acrobatic loops flying frighteningly close to the canyon's walls, he cut the engines, and pulled his parachute, landing just a few feet from his target on the canyon floor.
Normally I would give some lame excuse about being too old to try something like this, the only problem is that Rossy himself is 51 years old. Clearly, the man still has his mojo.
