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25 Jul 19
09:00
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Date Joined:
05 Apr 06
Failing Man 
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-49108632
A French inventor has failed in his attempt to cross the English Channel on a jet-powered flyboard.
Franky Zapata, a former jet-ski champion, had been hoping to cross from northern France to southern England in just 20 minutes.
But the 40-year-old fell into the water halfway across as he tried to land on a boat to refuel.
He took off from near Calais on Thursday morning and was heading for St Margaret's Bay in Dover.
Mr Zapata was not injured when he fell.
"It is a huge disappointment," a member of his team told France's BFM TV shortly after the flight. "He must have missed the platform by just a few centimetres."
"We practiced this manoeuvre dozens of times in heavier seas," he added.
Franky Zapata stands on his jet-powered flyboard as he takes offImage copyrightAFP
The inventor missed a landing platform halfway across when he attempted to refuel
The attempt took place exactly 110 years since Louis Blériot made the first powered flight across the Channel in 1909.
Mr Zapata set off from the beach at Sangatte, near Calais, at about 09:00 local time (07:00 GMT) on Thursday. The exact timing was dependant on the weather conditions and shipping traffic.
He was aiming to keep an average speed of 87mph (140km/h) while travelling 15-20m (50-65ft) above the water.
Crowds gathered at the beach to watch the attempt.
Shortly after setting off, Mr Zapata disappeared from view as a helicopter followed closely behind him.
But just minutes later it was announced that he had failed.
"We created a new way of flying. We don't use wings. You are like a bird, it is your body that is flying. It is a boyhood dream," he told reporters ahead of the flight.
But he warned that the wind could make the 22-mile (35km) crossing "more complex".
Mr Zapata received widespread attention following the annual Bastille Day parade in Paris earlier this month, when he took part in a military display on his futuristic flyboard.
The invention, which is about the size of a skateboard, is powered by five small jet engines and fuelled by kerosene which is kept in the rider's backpack.
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-49108632
A French inventor has failed in his attempt to cross the English Channel on a jet-powered flyboard.
Franky Zapata, a former jet-ski champion, had been hoping to cross from northern France to southern England in just 20 minutes.
But the 40-year-old fell into the water halfway across as he tried to land on a boat to refuel.
He took off from near Calais on Thursday morning and was heading for St Margaret's Bay in Dover.
Mr Zapata was not injured when he fell.
"It is a huge disappointment," a member of his team told France's BFM TV shortly after the flight. "He must have missed the platform by just a few centimetres."
"We practiced this manoeuvre dozens of times in heavier seas," he added.
Franky Zapata stands on his jet-powered flyboard as he takes offImage copyrightAFP
The inventor missed a landing platform halfway across when he attempted to refuel
The attempt took place exactly 110 years since Louis Blériot made the first powered flight across the Channel in 1909.
Mr Zapata set off from the beach at Sangatte, near Calais, at about 09:00 local time (07:00 GMT) on Thursday. The exact timing was dependant on the weather conditions and shipping traffic.
He was aiming to keep an average speed of 87mph (140km/h) while travelling 15-20m (50-65ft) above the water.
Crowds gathered at the beach to watch the attempt.
Shortly after setting off, Mr Zapata disappeared from view as a helicopter followed closely behind him.
But just minutes later it was announced that he had failed.
"We created a new way of flying. We don't use wings. You are like a bird, it is your body that is flying. It is a boyhood dream," he told reporters ahead of the flight.
But he warned that the wind could make the 22-mile (35km) crossing "more complex".
Mr Zapata received widespread attention following the annual Bastille Day parade in Paris earlier this month, when he took part in a military display on his futuristic flyboard.
The invention, which is about the size of a skateboard, is powered by five small jet engines and fuelled by kerosene which is kept in the rider's backpack.
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Replies: 17
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Nasa would have gone to moon on that tbh
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Hmmmm....probably.......
.....he can knock out a good tune though : . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp6LT2MdaPI |
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English man doesn't fail in attempt to cross channel.
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It's a new spin on flying carpets just wait until
it up and running anybody can travel anywhere |
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Ominous sign for the TDF leader
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give him another go....
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It's actually quite impresive, fair play to him. I think that seems better technology than the British guy has. A centralised platform with X enginges on failure of one will have lower power and hopefully be able to land. The British guys design, if there is a catastrophic failure on an arm engine at any sort of height surely you are going to be like a firework gone wrong with force now just on one side and if you land on your head or not will be a lottery.
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Also that guy can carry a gun or do stuff with his hands (thus the interest by the French military), the British guys arms are entirely used just to fly the damned thing.
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Well I am glad he failed
If he had succeeded he would have been selling these in large quantities to illegal Immigrants We would have had to set up anti aircraft batteries along the South Coast to shoot them down It would have been just like the War again  He picked a good day to fail, the hottest day of the year, the water must have seemed nice and cool. |
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If he has to make a stop to refuel, it isn't really flying across the channel is it? I could argue I flew over the channel on a boat taking infinite stops to refuel. Would i have flown over the channel?
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if it helps im jumping on the boat constantly.
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You have a point detraveller...he has to do it non stop
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Could fleets of these solve the "irish border problem", or is that something to do with decorative wallpaper strips?
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sacré bleu.....
French Inventor Franky Zapata has become the first person in history to cross the English Channel on a hoverboard. The 40-year-old completed the crossing this morning after 23 minutes of flight from the French beach of Sangatte, in Calais at 7.16am, to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. ‘Allez le Flying Frenchman! |
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wow ...brilliant
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amazing that he flew the craft he invented too ... 99.99% of extremely really clever folk like him would assign that duty to some other lunatic
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