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from the Down-came-the-Goblin-and-took-the-spider-out dept.
Franky Zapata flew his invention, a turbine engine powered flyboard, above the Champs-Elysees showing off to President Emmanual Macon, Angela Merkel and other EU leaders to steal the show at the Bastille Day military parade in central Paris.
Zapata, who first developed his device flying above water, says that the flyboard has the power to take off and reach speeds up to 190 kilometres an hour (118 mph) and run for 10 minutes.
The flyboard is closer to the 'Goblin Glider' from Spider Man than Marty McFly's hoverboard in both appearance and performance.
Zapata who was awarded €1.3 million in 2018 to develop an 'aeronautical micro-jet engine' that could be used by the military pointedly held a rifle during the flight, highlighting the potential military uses of the technology.
He is currently eyeing making a crossing of the English channel, although this will require refuelling in flight. The target date is July 25, 110 years to the day after Louis Bleriot historically made the same flight for the first time in an airplane.
Previous Hoverboard Related Coverage
(Score: 5, Informative) by jimtheowl on Monday July 15 2019, @11:52PM
As one who has tried and failed to build flying electric rigs in another life, I dare to say that this board packs an impressively scary amount of energy and good feedback loops to behave that way.
Given the state of technology, I am not surprised that it can be done, but it is still a pleasure to watch it being done, and done well.