Jet Man Crosses English Channel

After flying across the English Channel with jet-powered-wings attached to his back, Yves Rossy deployed his parachute and landed near Dover, England. (Michel Setboun/National Geographic Channel via Getty Images)

Move over, Buzz Lightyear. Yves Rossy, a Swiss pilot and inventor who began his quest to be Buzz by building contraptions in his garage, flew across the English Channel today wearing eight-foot wings powered by four tiny jet engines.

Mr. Rossy, who’s known as FusionMan or Jet Man, jumped out of a plane at 8,200 feet above Calais, France, extended his wings and jetted across the channel at 125 miles per hour. He took 10 minutes to complete the 26-mile crossing, and parachuted to a landing on English soil not far from the famous white cliffs of Dover.

You can see a video of his flight and landing taken by the Times of London. And there’s more on the flight at National Geographic, which will be featuring the flight on its television channel.