French inventor Franky Zapata piloted a jet-powered hoverboardacross the English Channel yesterday, covering 32 km in 22 minutes, including a refueling stop on a boat:
Mr. Zapata’s first attempt to cross the English Channel had been intended to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the first flight between continental Europe and Britain, made by the French pilot Louis Blériot.
“What I have done is a lot smaller, but I followed my dream, and that’s huge,” Mr. Zapata told the BFM TV channel.
His device, a gas turbine-powered contraption fueled by five small jets, can theoretically fly up to 175 km/h at an altitude of 15 m to 20 m for about 10 minutes.
Last year, the French Defense Ministry pledged nearly $1.5 million to his company, Zapata Industries, to develop the device, which was featured at a military-sponsored convention.
Oh, right. So I don't get a flying car, but the French Army gets a bunch of them...
Still, this is a very cool achievement. And civilians will get jet-powered hoverboards someday.