While it may not be exactly what more traditional aircraft makers have in mind for the term, it would be hard to argue the definition with Yves Rossy. The 47-year-old adventurer, who made headlines two years ago by gliding across the English Channel with a pair of strap-on wings, has taken the natural evolution of that feat and added power -- and plenty of it -- to his birdman exploits. For the past couple of years he’s been tinkering with model jet engines and earlier this year felt ready to demonstrate their remarkable effectiveness with the fold-out, strap-on wings that he’d developed earlier and produced a pretty interesting video of his exploits. Rossy has swooped around for six minutes or more after first dropping from a skydiving airplane. Human landing gear is a little tender for the landing speed that would be required so recovery is via parachute. Still, the video shows a man fully in control of himself as an integral part of his flying machine, and it sure looks like fun.
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While it may not be exactly what more traditional aircraft makers have in mind for the term, it would be hard to argue the definition with Yves Rossy. The 47-year-old adventurer, who made headlines two years ago by gliding across the English Channel with a pair of strap-on wings, has taken the natural evolution of that feat and added power -- and plenty of it -- to his birdman exploits. For the past couple of years he’s been tinkering with model jet engines and earlier this year felt ready to demonstrate their remarkable effectiveness with the fold-out, strap-on wings that he’d developed earlier and produced a pretty interesting 
