The flying Frenchman fell in the English Channel

French in the air / afp

The French inventor and former world ski champion Franky Zapata, who made a splash at the July 14 parade in Paris when he flew over the Champs-Élysées on a flying board, failed yesterday in his attempt to cross the English Channel. the same board and fell into the water 18 km from the French coast, before being saved from being conscious.

"I am disappointed, but I will try again," Zapata said. "I do not know when, but surely in the next few days."

Zapata, 40, had taken off near the beach of Sangatte, in northwestern France, in front of his technical team and a dozen curious who had turned enthusiastically. He planned to cross the Strait for 35 km and land on the English coast, in the St Margaret's Bay area, but he fell into the water a little over half the distance, while He had to land on a ship to replace kerosene, the fuel with which the table, called "Flyboard Air", invented by Zapata himself. The French government praised this invention and even hinted at its military potential. The device is powered by 5 small reactors and controlled by a manual accelerator that Zapata activates when it takes off.