"The flying man": Franky Zapata crossed the Channel on his "flyboard"

He had it at his second try. The "pilot" Franky Zapata accomplished Sunday his feat of crossing the English Channel aboard his "Flyboard" in about twenty minutes, after a brief stop on a ship to replace the tank.

This 40-year-old Frenchman took off at around 8:15 am on board his flying board from the beach of Sangatte, in the north of France, in the middle of a deafening noise and under the eyes of hundreds of curious people.

Dressed in black, with a harness and helmet, he took off for St Margaret's Bay, in southern England, where he landed 22 minutes later, after flying over the cbad at a height of 15 at 20 meters, becoming the first man to cross the English Channel aboard a flying board.

The inventor, former world champion and Europe's water ski, has crossed, escorted by three helicopters, the 35-kilometer strait aboard his aircraft, equipped with an engine powered by five turbojet engines aerial to take off and advance up to 190 km / h, with a range of about ten minutes.

Upon arriving on the British coast, Zapata raised her fist and hugged one of her co-workers. "Everything went well! Even though it was complicated (refueling on the ship) … Then I saw England approaching and I tried to enjoy not thinking about pain. My legs burned!Zapata told the press just after the landing, adding that it was a "team work".

He flew at "160-170 km / h for most of the trip," he said, informed by the sound speed indicator that he has on the hull. Zapata, who said that he felt "tired" and needed a vacation, said that he already had other problems in mind, such as Finish your "flying car".

"I want to fly at 2000 meters and fly above the clouds. It's the next step! ", He said to the AFP. "I feel good, happy and lucky!" Shortly after his achievement, Zapata burst into tears when his son told him on the phone: "You're the best, daddy!"

On July 25, 110 years after the success of the Frenchman Louis Blériot, first aviator to cross the Mancha, Zapata was launched at the same place with his invention. However, a few minutes after entering the English waters, he fell to the water after lightly hitting the platform of the supply ship where he attempted to land.

When asked if he was considered Blériot's successor, Zapata said: "He's not really comparable, he was one of the first men to fly," he said. BFM Sunday. "Let's say I realized my dream."

Because of the distance, Zapata had to stop to refuel, which accumulates in a backpack on the back.

This time, the supply ship was bigger and had a wider landing area. The French maritime authorities have authorized the Zapata team to position the ship in French waters, which they rejected on the first attempt at safety problems.

The inventor managed to "land easily on the ship, change backpacks and go out again," said his wife Krystel. Zapata's team worked against the clock to repair the device, after being damaged at the fall of the channel at the first attempt.

In fact, according to the Frenchman, what worried him the most was that his machine did not have any "problems". Zapata has developed this device in the last three years, even after lose two fingers on the first flight that he did in his garage near Marseille, in the south of France.

The inventor already has the Guinness Record for the longest flight with a flying board, with a 2.2 km trip in the Mediterranean in April 2016.

For the tour on the English channel, no Guinness controller was following the event, although a spokesperson said that she could still be recognized if the flight complied with the principles.

In the first attempt, Zapata and his company got a certain media echo, taking advantage of the spectacular intervention he had made a few days earlier during the French National Day, July 14, by flying several meters above the ground during the military parade on the Champs-Élysées. Paris