Flyboard Air is a type of
jetpack
A jet pack, rocket belt, or rocket pack is a device worn on the back which uses jets of gas or liquid to propel the wearer through the air. The concept has been present in science fiction for almost a century and became widespread in the 1960s. ...
/
hoverboard powered by
gas turbines. It was invented by French water-craft rider
Franky Zapata, founder of Zapata racing.
It achieved a Guinness World Record for farthest flight by hoverboard in April 2016 of . Zapata Racing claims that it allows flight up to an altitude of and has a top speed of . It also has 10 minutes' endurance. The load capacity is . The "jet-powered hoverboard" is powered by five turbines and is fueled by kerosene.
Zapata participated in the 2019
Bastille Day military parade riding his invention. His attempt to cross the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Ka ...
on 25 July 2019 failed as he fell into the sea at the refuelling platform. A second crossing attempt on 4 August 2019 succeeded. Escorted by French Army helicopters and using a backpack fuel reservoir, he accomplished the journey – – with one refueling stop at the midpoint. Zapata reached a speed of during the 20-minute flight. The trip started at
Sangatte in the
Pas-de-Calais department in France and concluded at
St Margaret's at Cliffe in Kent, United Kingdom where he landed safely.
Zapata's company, Z-AIR, had received a €1.3 million grant from the
French military. However, he has said that the flyboard was not yet ready for military use due to the noise it creates and the challenge of learning how to fly the device. In a France Inter radio interview, France's Minister of the Armed Forces
Florence Parly said the flyboard might eventually be suitable, "for example as a flying logistical platform or, indeed, as an assault platform".
In 2017, Zapata had provided the U.S. Army with demonstrations of the Flyboard Air "jet-powered hoverboard" or "jet-powered personal aerial vehicle", referred to as the EZ-Fly; news reports suggested the price per unit might be $250,000. A July 2019 report provided no indication of any serious interest by the American military as of that time for this new technology.
On 4 August 2019, Zapata told BFM TV that he was working on building a flying car, that he hoped to introduce before year-end. He said that he had flown a prototype chassis powered by four gas turbines but the final model would employ ten turbines in order to cruise at , and achieve a range of about .
[https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/franky-zapata-announce-250-mph-flying-car-with-70-mile-range/, Flyboard Air inventor plans to unveil 250-mph flying sports car by 2020]
See also
*
Hoverboard
*
Flyboard, a hydroflight hoverboard hydrojetpack
*
JetLev
*
Jet pack
A jet pack, rocket belt, or rocket pack is a device worn on the back which uses jets of gas or liquid to propel the wearer through the air. The concept has been present in science fiction for almost a century and became widespread in the 1960s. ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
Video of Flyboard Air in operation
Jet pack
French inventions
Emerging technologies