Yves Rossy, a Swiss daredevil, used a pair of homemade rocket wings to propel himself across the English Channel.
The "Rocket Man" jumped out of a perfectly good plane with rockets strapped to his back.
He then ignited the rockets and blasted his way to England. Once over the white cliffs of Dover he popped his parachute and floated to the ground.
I do admire the guy for his courage BUT did his mom give him a flexy-racer when he was a kid?
Yes, I was the proud owner of a
flexy-racer, a sled with wheels or "wheeled coaster". In doing some research to see if there was such a thing, I began to wonder if my mom just took our old classic snow sled (
not really used since we lived in Alabama), and stuck some wheels on it. I did, however, find it was an actual product.
Here's how the
flexy-racer worked. You pretty much found a big hill, laid down, and off you went. To brake you had to turn the 'steering device' downward where a piece of metal rubbed the wheels. Speaking of steering... can you really imagine barrelling down a hill and trying to turn this thing? These were the days when helmets were "only" for motorcycles. I do have the scars that remind me of the
flexy-racer days.
So...
Rocket Man, nice try. When you really want to impress me, grab a
flexy-racer and head to the nearest hill.
For ALL you parents who want to give your kids the gift of a lifetime, which may be cut short, I've included the original invention
diagram.
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