Rossy, a former Swiss fighter pilot now based in Dubai, is believed to be the first man in history to fly using the 55kg custom-built suit strapped to his back, which he created following a few experiments in his garage for over 20 years.
In an earlier interview with Gulf News, he had spoken about his dream of soaring in the sky longer than usual without deploying a parachute.
His protégé, Reffet is only the second person in the world to earn the distinction of flying with the innovative Jetman wings following five years of training by Rossy.
Historic flight
“This is yet another historic flight for the Jetman Dubai team and we are happy and thankful to be part of something this incredible. We spent a long time preparing, going over every tiny detail in the quest for perfecting our first formation flight with the Emirates A380 aircraft,” Reffet said.
The sport is now being promoted by XDubai, an entity aiming to promote action sports in Dubai. They have partnered with Rossy.
The project between Jetman and Emirates, which was filmed on October 13, took hours of preparations and work to ensure an incident-free event.
To ensure precision of the Emirates and Jetman Dubai display, Emirates’ pilots, flight operation managers, and air traffic controllers worked closely over the past three months to discuss the smallest details of the mission at hand, taking into account air traffic, areas flown, potential wind and weather.
Adel Al Redha, Executive Vice President and COO for Emirates said: “This display between man and machine celebrates the magic and beauty of flight, a feat which just over a hundred years ago would have seemed an impossible dream. It also showcases how far human vision and ambition has and can continue to push aviation’s boundaries.”
