Yves Rossy – Keynote Speaker

Swiss pilot and aviation enthusiast, known as the inventor of an individual jet pack

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Specialist Subjects

  • Creativity
  • Innovation
  • Extreme Adventure
  • Motivation
  • Teamwork
  • Technology
  • Aviation

Language

  • German

Biography

In 2004, Yves Rossy became the first man in the history of aviation to fly with a jet-propelled wing.

After successfully completing training as a military pilot, he flew the Hawker Hunter and later the Mirage III. After his career in the Air Force, he worked as a commercial airline Captain with Swiss International Air Lines on both Boeing and Airbus airliners.

Rossy has always dedicated himself to experimental flight in all its forms. His dream has always been to fly in the purest form possible by minimising the constraints of enclosure in an aircraft shell. Drawn initially to the world of free fall, he experimented with ways in which to increase his flight time and enhance his ability to select his trajectory; essentially moving away from falling towards flying: sky surfing and wing suiting only whet his appetite further. Still not satisfied, he developed his first real wing, comprising a rigid harness integrated into inflatable wing tips that he strapped to his back. This surpassed all other innovation in prolonging free fall but was still not close enough to his goal of human flight.

The next step was towards maintaining and gaining altitude by improving e efficiency with a rigid wing and adding propulsion. Yves chose to go with model jet turbines, at first 2 of them, allowing him to maintain level flight in 2004, and then 4 to finally conquer the 3rd dimension in 2006. These flights were not conducted within an enclosed space with mechanical controls and instruments, but by manipulating his body as an extension to the wing.

This achievement was the culmination of 10 years of development and more than 15 prototypes. The only instrumentation he had was altimeter and a hand-held throttle. Since then, Rossy has been working constantly to optimize his wing’s handling and performance.

Jetman first came to the world’s attention in May 2008 with his first official flight over the Swiss Alps. An incredulous public sat up and took note. In September 2008, 99 years after the first crossing of the English Channel by air, he followed the path of Louis Blériot, achieving an amazing flight that was broadcasted live to 165 countries and covered by the media worldwide. Rossy became legendary – even though, from his perspective, he has just opened the door on the realms of possibility.

Rossy relocated to Dubai in 2014 to continue and develop his dream of flying with the help of the local partner XDubai.  In May 2015, Jetman Dubai introduced Rossy’s protégé Vince Reffet. A well-known name in the world of skydiving with extraordinary, gravity-defying feats to his name, Vince has been trained and mentored by Rossy over the last couple of years. Set on the path to achieve what has long been thought of as impossible, Rossy and Reffet have also developed two exhilarating formation flights that are sure to set the sky on fire and further spread the joy of flight to a larger audience.

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