Franky Zapata, the man who flew over the Champs-Elysees, spoke

French jet ski world champion Franky Zapata gave an impressive show Sunday during the July 14 parade as he flew over his flying platform with a rifle in his hand. Champs Elysees of Paris.

This artifact, called "Flyboard" and invented by Zapata himself, is powered by five turbojet engines that allow takeoff and advancement to 190 km / h, with autonomy of about ten minutes.

– RFI: Did you expect to become the main attraction of the July 14 parade?

Franky Zapata (FZ): To start I was very proud of the invitation to the parade. We had to wait months to have confirmation and, a few weeks after the event, there was still uncertainty about the reality. But because we have a technology that affects people a lot, because it says a lot about their imagination and the child we have inside, I thought it would arouse curiosity, but not so much.

– RFI: -You are the inventor of this flyboard skateboard flyboard. Did the idea come from the movie Back to the Future?

FZ: No, they represent all the Marvel Universe. I did all my jet ski racing career and worked for different brands, such as Bombardier, Yamaha or Kawasaki, and I wanted to create a product. I had launched my jet ski brand in 2008 and the concept was starting to run out as it was a niche in another niche. And one day, I discovered that jet-ski propulsion could lift a human and My pbadion for all superhero movies and comics inspired me to get as close as possible to Iron Man.who was a fan I created the Aquatic Flyboard and then I wanted to get the hose out.

– RFI: How does the Flyboard work?

FZ: It works with mini-turbojets, like the big fighter-bombers we see in the Rafale or the Mirage 2000. It's not the same technology as the airliners that use a jet engine that blows around 'them, in our case it's only reaction, as in the mentioned fighter plane.

– RFI: He developed the Flybord three years ago. How did the French army approach its invention?

FZ: It was very brutal. When we put the Flyboard images on the Internet, we contacted the "Commando Hubert"[undesseptcommandementsdu[unodelossietecomandosdela[undesseptcommandementsdu[unodelossietecomandosdelaFrench Navy, considered the most elitist unit of the Army], probably at the request of the Directorate General of Armaments, because the United States asked whether the technology was real or whether it was a "fake" Internet made with animation (laughs). When they realized that it was authentic, in early 2016, there was a step by step approach. We had to prove to them that we were serious people, with projects, that it was not an isolated conclusion, but that we had a vision of the future of aeronautics. So we had to professionalize ourselves to adapt our ideas to a clearer design. And little by little, we had a grant to develop our turbojets.

– RFI: What will the army do with this flyboard?

FZ: From the moment they contacted us, and even after the Flyboard that you saw on July 14th, I realized that it is not an artifact that can be used by special forces. So we discussed and created a specific device for the intervention forces, the Easyfly, which is a hybrid between the Flyboard Air and a Segway, which does not require special shoes, whose fuel is transported by the machine and not by the pilot. and, with regard to its use, will be used to board ships or for short trips (although today we can travel 20 kilometers). In any case, do not think that all possible uses have already been defined. Today, we know that historically, wars are won in the air and that it is obviously advantageous to be able to quickly pilot soldiers with very light artifacts. We will adapt our technology to your specific needs.