Flying Man Franky Zapata with its Flyboard to attempt to cross the sea from Calais to Dover.

After his breathtaking demonstration on July 14 on the Champs Elysees in front of the presidential stage, Franky Zapata, unparalleled French inventor, sets himself a new challenge: the Channel crossing on July 25, 2019, with its Flyboard from Calais (France) to Dover (UK), 110 years after the first successful crossing by the French pilot and airplane designer Louis Bleriot. Zapata will start from the French cliffs on his latest invention: the board called FLYBOARD AIR.

Franky Zapata in flight demonstration with its Flyboard at Saint-Inglevert airfield near Calais, France. July 24, 2019. (Picture source Army Recognition)

During a press conference on July 24, 2019, at the Saint-Inglevert airfield (France), Franky Zapata said: "The flight between the two cities of Sangatte in France and St Margaret’s Bay in the UK should take about 20 minutes, with an on-boat refueling between the two cities". Franky Zapata on its Flyboard will fly at an altitude of 10 m and a speed of 180 km/h above the sea.

The biggest problems for this attempt to cross the sea between France and the UK, is the wind speed that has an impact to operate the Flyboard and the landing on a boat for the refueling.

Multiple world jet-ski champion, Zapata created, a few years ago, his first Flyboard: a board propelled over water by the jet created by the turbine of a water jet ski. Today, this genius inventor can climb and move in the air, perched on his Flyboard Air powered by 5 mini jet turbines with a range of about ten minutes.

After winning numerous world records, Franky Zapata now writes History by crossing the English Channel with his Flyboard Air in the footsteps of Louis Blériot who accomplished this feat 110 years ago, aboard his plane, the Blériot XI. So, this flight of Zapata is also an unprecedented historical feat!

According to Franky Zapata, the French Army Special Forces have shown interest to use the technology of the Flyboard to create a new type of military air transport for Special Operations. The team of Zapata is busy to develop a new type of jet-powered hoverboard based on its Flyboard but with a design similar to a Segway, which could be used in the future for military operations. 

Franky Zapata and its Flyboard during the press conference at Saint-Inglevert airfield near Calais, France. July 24, 2019. (Picture source Army Recognition)