Daredevils fly solo with acrobatic jets

Three daredevils have realised their dream of flying in formation alongside the aerobatic jets of the Patrouille de France wearing only motorised ‘wings’.

One of the ‘Jetmen’ team, Fred Fugen, 37, who jumped from the side of a helicopter into the skies above Mont Ventoux in Vaucluse, to freefall and line up with the jets, told Connexion how fear helped him to focus. “I’m frightened before any jump,” he said, “but fear is useful when you transform it into concentration!”

The Jetmen take to the skies wearing a carbon-fibre wing equipped with four jet engines, weighing a total of about 70kg when fuelled. They can sustain flight for as long as their fuel lasts – currently about 10 minutes – before releasing their parachute for the descent.

They are the brainchild of Yves Rossy, a Swiss former pilot, who spent more than 10 years developing motorised wings then used them to fly over the English Channel in 2008.
French world champion sky-diver and BASE-jumper Vince Reffet became the second Jetman to take flight, and they were joined in 2014 by Annecy-born Mr Fugen,
the freefly (parachuting) world champion.

Mr Fugen’s path to becoming a Jetman was set at the age of 10, when he completed his first skydive in tandem with his father, going solo as soon as he reached the legal limit of 16, and soon diversifying into canopy-piloting, wind tunnel skydiving, wingsuit flying, speed riding, and BASE jumping.

After joining the Jetmen he spent a year training “almost non-stop” with non-motorised wings before undertaking his first motorised flight.

With so many adrenalin sports under his belt, what is the attraction of the Jetmen? “With sky-diving, wing-suiting, or anything else, you experience a gradual descent lasting about two minutes. As a Jetman, the motors enable you to climb like a plane, which extends your flight time.”

The aerial choreography performed by the Patrouille de France – the precision aerobatic demonstration team of the French Air Force – and the Jetmen is remarkable given their difference in size and flight characteristics.

Flying alongside planes presents particular technical difficulties for the Jetmen, who need to be especially careful about potential collisions, and to make sure they avoid the turbulence zones behind the planes.

“The members of the Patrouille are the best pilots in France,” said Mr Fugen of his latest daredevil experience, “so flying with them was a dream come true. Those 10 minutes in formation were a very special shared experience”.