Troy Hartman (born October 31, 1971) is a professional aerial

stuntman A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

skydiver Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachut ...

and

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

. He is an

X Games The X Games are an annual extreme sports event organized, produced and broadcast by ESPN. Coverage is also shown on ESPN's sister network, ABC. The inaugural X Games were held during the summer of 1995 in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island, ...

gold medalist for

skysurfing Sky surfing is a type of skydiving and extreme sport in which the skydiver wears a custom skysurf board attached to the feet and performs surfing-style aerobatics during freefall. The boards used are generally smaller than actual surfboards, ...

and accomplished

television host A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garne ...

for many shows, most notably the

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

series ''Senseless Acts of Video''. He was the face of the award-winning 1998

Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi was ...

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

. Most recently, Troy built a jet-powered personal backpack and used it on skis and in flight. With the device he was capable of skiing uphill and attaining speeds of up to 47 mph. It can take off from the ground. In 2011, he was developing a jet wing similar to that used by

Yves Rossy Yves Rossy (born 27 August 1959) is a Swiss military-trained pilot and an aviation enthusiast. He is known as the inventor of a series of experimental individual jet packs, the latest using carbon-fiber wings for flight. Often referred to as " ...

Life and works

Hartman began his work in

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

as a cadet at the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Uni ...

, where he developed his skills as a pilot and skydiver. He took up

in 1993 and competed professionally in the sport alongside

Rob Harris (skysurfer) Robert Harris (December 17, 1966 – December 14, 1995) was an American skysurfing champion. He was the skysurfing world champion of 1994 and 1995. In December 1995, while shooting the Mountain Dew "007" commercial, based on the titular fic ...

and

Patrick de Gayardon Patrick de Gayardon (; 23 January 1960 in Oullins, Rhône – 13 April 1998 in Hawaii) was a French skydiver, skysurfer and a BASE jumper. De Gayardon was famous for pushing the boundaries of skydiving. He was one of the first people to develop ...

. Upon winning the 1997

, he was chosen for the 1998 Pepsi "Goose" Super Bowl commercial, which was voted the #1 ad by the

USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter The ''USA Today'' Super Bowl Ad Meter is an annual survey taken of television commercials by ''USA Today'' in a live poll during the telecast in the United States of the Super Bowl, the annual professional American football championship game of the ...

. In 1999, Troy was selected as the host and stuntman for the MTV show "Senseless Acts of Video". Over three seasons of the show, he performed multiple first-ever stunts, including the "Plane-to-Plane Skydiving Transfer" and "Parachute on Fire". Some of Hartman's other television show appearances include hosting 13 episodes of ''No Boundaries'' on

The WB Television Network The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bro ...

, host of the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

series "Secrets to Survival", and a stint as the weather man for

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

. In 2008, Troy began working on his version of the "Jet Wing", which led to the development of a personal jet-backpack. In January 2011, he tested this new device on skis, which proved capable of propelling him uphill and at speeds reaching close to 50 mph. In August 2012, Troy successfully used his jet-backpack to fly with a "speed wing", as part of testing toward his jetwing design. Troy has a degree in Aeronautical Engineering.

Personal life

Troy is married to Sara Hartman and has a daughter Sofia.

References

External links

Official siteYoutube: Troy Hartman with 2-motor jetpack and parafoil
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartman, Troy 1971 births Living people American stunt performers American television hosts American skydivers United States Air Force Academy alumni 21st-century American inventors

Life and works

Personal life

References

Further reading

External links