The second attempt will have been good. Franky Zapata achieved the feat of crossing the Channel by air in about twenty minutes on Sunday. Now it’s time for the next challenges for “the flying man“: terminate said “flying car” et “surf in the clouds“.
The 40-year-old Marseillais took off at 8:16 a.m. from Sangatte beach, near Calais, with a deafening roar and under the eyes of several hundred amazed onlookers, ten days after his failure.
Helmeted and harnessed, dressed all in black, the former jet-ski world champion flew to St Margaret’s Bay, on the English side, which he managed to reach 22 minutes later by flying over the sea at 15/20 m and sometimes even higher.
Along the way, the “flying man” landed for a few moments on a boat, in French waters, to change his backpack, in which he stores the kerosene necessary to power his machine.
The landing on this boat”was complicated, it was still moving quite a bit, I missed the first approach and landed on the second“, he told the press on his return to France, but once on the refueling platform, “I knew I had done the hardest part“.
He then left for the British coast, where he landed after having traveled the 35 km of the strait standing on his flying machine equipped with five mini-turbojets which allow him to take off and evolve up to 190 km/h, with an autonomy of about ten minutes.
“I saw England getting closer and I tried to take pleasure in not thinking about the pain. It was burning in the legs!”, he said after his landing, specifying having flown “at 160/170 km/h almost all along“.
When he arrived, Franky Zapata raised his fist in victory and hugged a member of his team who congratulated him. “It’s won“, he said to himself.
“Fly above the clouds” ?
After his success, Franky Zapata broke down in tears when his young son told him on the phone: “You are the best, dad!“. “I think I was not far from my limit,” he later admitted during his press conference in Sangatte.
Franky Zapata already has other crazy challenges in mind: to finish making a “flying car“but also be”the first to surf powder in the clouds“. “I want to fly 2,000 meters and fly above the clouds. This is the next step!“, did he declare.
As for the flying car, “it should be out before the end of the year“, SO “we’re going to take a little vacation” Then, “with the whole team, to get back to it thoroughly so that it is ready in time“.
During his first attempt on July 25, he set off from the same place on his hoverboard but fell a few minutes later in English waters, after hitting the platform of the supply boat where he wanted to land.
So this time Franky Zapata opted for a boat”bigger“, positioned in French waters.
“If you let go at the first effort, you won’t achieve anything. There is no problem with failing, but you have to fail with a clear conscience, having given yourself 200%“, he declared, very moved, during his press conference.
The interest of the French army
Franky Zapata and his holding of the same name have met with media attention for this crazy bet which comes after a first major showcase during the July 14 military parade on the Champs-Elysées.
His invention had already been exhibited at the end of 2018 at the Defense Innovation Forum in Paris. This flying platform is of interest to the French special forces, who see it as “potential for special ops employment in urban areas“.
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Since December 2018, his company Z-AIR has benefited, under a “RAPID” project, from a grant of 1.3 million euros from the Ministry of the Armed Forces to develop a new turbine in 3D printing.
“It’s not the return of the Avengers, it’s the reality. Congratulations to Franky Zapata (…) Proud of the support that our Armies give to innovation“, has also tweeted the Minister of the Armed Forces, Florence Parly.
