Just 3 years ago, on August 4, 2019, Franky Zapata from Marseille amazed the planet by crossing the English Channel in 22 minutes at the controls of his “flyboard air”, a strange flying board. To celebrate this feat, the 43-year-old adventurer and Geo Trouvetou, former jet ski pilot, chose this anniversary date to make us dream even more by unveiling this Thursday evening his flying car called “Jet Racer” in a very Hollywood video.
This presentation, postponed several times in particular due to the Covid epidemic, was eagerly awaited by adrenaline fans. “It’s a finished product, not a prototype anymore! “, he enthuses. With vertical take-off and landing, the aircraft, which looks like it came straight out of a science fiction film, is powered by ten micro-turbojet engines.
“It’s a Formula 1 from the air”
In the video, we discover a helmeted Franky Zapata in overalls, sitting in his red armchair with 4 arms flying over the sea. “It’s a Formula 1 from the air. It’s incredible, even more sensational than the air flyboard. We’re sitting on Aladdin’s flying carpet. We feel fullness, there is zero effort”, describes the man who was inspired by the films “The Fifth Element”, “Iron Man” and “Back to the Future”.
Fueled with kerosene, the single-seater, which is piloted with a joystick, can “theoretically” reach a speed of 250 km/h. So far, it has not exceeded 120 km/h, the flight test area “being too small”. He should be able to rush faster at the start of the school year by benefiting from a more ambitious playing field. Weighing 78 kg, the “Jet Racer” can support a load of 150 kg.
According to the design team, “the emphasis was placed on manoeuvrability, ease of handling and above all the high level of safety”. Built on the basis of a light and modular chassis, the car is able to adapt “to both civilian and military needs” and even be “controlled remotely” like a giant drone.
Concretely, it might for example evacuate wounded in combat zones or on the highway during an accident, rescue mountain climbers in difficulty where the helicopter cannot reach… During an international campaign flight tests in the United States, Franky Zapata invites the general public to “become the pioneers of tomorrow’s mobility”. He invites adventurers to register on their site. One hundred candidates will be drawn by lot to participate in the selection tests, the 25 best will be selected to transform themselves, “by the end of the year”, into crazy people from the sky. “I want to share this dream, this freedom to fly, with the whole world. It is an extreme machine but extremely accessible. You can learn to fly it in less than 20 minutes, we’re going to prove it!”, commits the inventor.
