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Aircraft

Transition to winged flight marks another world-first for Jetman

By Loz Blain
February 17, 2020
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Jetman pilot Vince Reffet takes off from the ground before soaring off into the distance in a world-first transition from VTOL to winged flight
Jetman pilot Vince Reffet takes off from the ground before soaring off into the distance in a world-first transition from VTOL to winged flight

Another stunning milestone for the Jetman team, as pilot Vince Reffet demonstrates the new ability to take off from the ground, then hit the gas on the carbon jet wing's four turbine engines and soar away into the sky.

After demonstrating its autonomous VTOL capabilities last December, the Jetman team has now joined the dots to show how it can transition from an electronically balanced hover to super-fast winged flight in a demo done over Dubai on Valentine's day.

The winged flight capability sets the Jetman team apart from other jet-powered personal flight devices like jet boards, jetpacks and jet suits, because it allows more efficient flight at very high speeds of up to 400 km/h (250 mph), as well as some pretty awesome aerobatic capabilities. The Jetman team is the only group willing to take its device up to high altitudes at this point, and has flown alongside airliners in previous flights when launched aerially out of other aircraft.

In this new video, Reffet hovers briefly after takeoff before hammering the throttle and rocketing the new four-turbine jet wing up to an altitude of 1,800 m (6,000 ft) over the city of Dubai, performing some gratuitous loops and then pulling the parachute cord for a soft landing. No point wasting fuel on a VTOL landing when a 'chute will do the job just fine!

The entire flight lasted just three minutes, reflecting just how fast this jet wing can fire itself skyward. The transition to winged flight looked pretty much effortless, Reffet accelerating away at an astonishing rate to catch some air under the wing and swoop upward. It makes for pretty amazing viewing in the video below.

Source: Jetman

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AircraftJetman Yves RossyVTOLPersonal FlightFlight TestsFlight
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Loz Blain
Loz leads the New Atlas team as Editorial Director, after nearly two decades as one of our most versatile writers. He's also proven himself as a photographer, videographer, presenter, producer and podcast engineer. A graduate in Psychology, former business analyst and touring musician, he's covered just about everything for New Atlas, concentrating lately on clean energy, AI, humanoid robotics, next-gen aircraft, and the odd bit of music, motorcycles and automotive.
14 comments
richardmhain
Way to go, Jetman! My guess is, next session, landing can be done without parachute even from high altitude. Already shown in video landing without parachute but only from low altitude. For safety reasons though, parachute needed.
tony27
That's breathtaking. Especially as he soars off the pier towards the skyscrapers. Might be a little way off yet before we all get one though!
Bob809
Range anxiety anyone?
buzzclick
That's freakin' insane! I'm sure the Dubai folks were more than happy to pay him to pull this stunt on their waterfront since they're so adamant to get any prestige possible. His rig is more refined than ever and his confidence shows it. At those speeds and heights it makes little difference if he's above water since it would be like concrete if he crashed, but the fact that he uses a paraglider to land is brilliantly simple and effective. I had to stop and start the video many times to check out the details not only of his rig, but the ever-changing skyline of Dubai. Holy crap! There was barely anything there 15-20 years ago. That's a remarkably quick buildup of any city, and it takes tons of cash, but how can they fill up all those skyscrapers so quickly? So yeah, get Jetman Vince to come on over and fly his rocketman power rig for some high-value publicity baby.
guzmanchinky
Incredible. The real Iron Man!
Catweazle
I want one!
GaryM
Why don't you state how long it can stay in the air? Why would you leave that out? Puh-leez.
ei3io
@Gary & Bob you asked the most relevant question of range if this is to be a future means of travel vs primarily entertainment show super stunts or short hop military quick noisy access until the quiet chute's descent which means dumping the heavy wing/jets/tanks to then go on foot. The stunt shows will be great like ironman or superman.

The future of this mode of travel will most likely be what we call Atmospheric Ion Propulsion [AIP]. It will be silent but for clean warm air exhaust with no moving parts but the electrons, ions and ambient air mass, plus the reaction mass of Jetman. Solar Hydrogen fuel cell weight is the challenge but they keep getting lighter and more powerful extending range and payload.
Phil Bundy
"No point wasting fuel on a VTOL landing"?
Something tells me the cost of fuel is not an issue.
michael_dowling
The noise from those jets is ear-splitting. I doubt any city will allow you to fly to work in one.
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