'JetMan' in a daring 8-minute flight over Grand Canyon

It was a feat that would have made Buzz Lightyear proud...or extremely envious.
But for Yves Rossy, who finally completed his flight over the Grand Canyon in a jet suit, it must have been a relief.
For the Swiss adventurer, dubbed JetMan, was forced to cancel his daring spectacle at the last minute on Friday due to red tape and safety issues.
Despite the setback Rossy did not give up and on Saturday strapped on his wings and took to the skies for a spectacular eight-minute flight over a five-mile radius.

Awesome: Rossy soars 200 feet above the Canyon rim to complete the eight-minute flight

The custom-built jet suit that Rossy wears on his back weighs 120lb and has a 79" wing span.
It averages speeds of 125mph and has four engines.
The 51-year-old had stepped casually onto the side of a helicopter before it took off and into the sky above Guano Point on the Hualapai Indian Reservation
Once it had reached 8,000 feet Rossy, who flew fighter jets for 17 years in the Swiss Air Force, simply let go, plummeting to the earth below before firing up his engines.
Then, looking like a high-tech, Lycra-clad Icarus, he soared 200 feet above the canyon rim reaching speeds of up to 190mph before opening his parachute and landing safely on the canyon floor.

Rossy said the flight, which was his first in the U.S., was among the most memorable experiences of his life.
Previously he has flown his jet suit across Lake Geneva in 2002 and the English Channel in 2008.
His U.S. flight had taken two years to plan but was held up at the last minute because the final Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval had been given just 30 minutes before he was due to take off on Friday.

This meant that Rosy had had no time to practice. That may have been OK if the flight have been over water, but with the Grand Canyon's snagged edges and jutting out rocks one wrong move could have proved fatal.
'I was not ready. It would be unsafe and disrespectful to my team and everybody here to present something not well prepared,' Rossy told the Huffington Post last week.
He also had to cancel his first attempt at flying over the English Channel because of bad weather.

taken from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1385674/JetMan-Yves-Rossy-makes-8-minute-flight-Grand-Canyon.html#ixzz1M3XdfTMN