"If the red rock splendor of the Grand Canyon alone isn't enough to knock your socks off, you might want to high-tail it over there at 10 a.m. May 6 when Yves Rossy -- aka JetMan -- straps on a wing powered by four jet engines and jumps out of a helicopter for his own bird's-eye flyover of the rugged chasm.
The Swiss pilot/aviator/engineer has performed similar daredevil feats, flying across the English Channel in 2008 and jumping from a balloon at 7,200 feet last year to execute looping maneuvers over Denezy, Switzerland. But this marks his first venture into U.S. airspace.
Negotiations with the Hualapai Indian tribe, whose million-acre reservation includes a western branch of the Grand Canyon (about 2 1/2 hours southeast of Las Vegas) have been underway for two years, says a marketing director for luxury Swiss watchmaker Breitling, JetMan's corporate sponsor. Local FAA officials also have given the stunt their blessing, she said."
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Destinations Blog:
It's not a bird. It's not a plane. It's JetMan in a Grand Canyon flyover!
(USA Today 5/2)
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