Dubai – Masaader News
French inventor Franky Zapata succeeded in crossing the English Channel on a jet-powered hoverboard he designed, zooming over the Strait of Dover in just over 20 minutes, according to Reuters.
After a previous bid in July that ended with him falling into the sea, Zapata took off from Sangatte, just outside Calais in France at about 0617 GMT, on a little platform powered by five small jet engines and carrying kerosene in a backpack.
Flanked by three helicopters, he reached Britain after a stop on a boat halfway through the 35-km crossing to refuel, waving to onlookers before landing safely in Saint Margaret’s Bay, close to Dover on Britain’s southern coast.
The inventor had received a 1.3 million euro grant from the French army in late 2018 to help finance the development of the hoverboard.
Britain’s Royal Navy has also shown interest in similar inventions, and said on July 30 it had carried out a successful test over water with “rocket man” Richard Browning, who hovered between vessels wearing a jet-powered body suit.