Yves Rossy, a former Swiss pilot, has invented a jetpack system which uses carbon-fiber wings and four jet engines. He used it to fly over Mt. Fuji.
Mt. Fuji, which last erupted in 1707 to 1708, is located on Honshu Island in Japan. Standing at 3,776.24 meters (12,389 feet) Mt. Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan. The snow-capped mountain, which has a very symmetrical cone, lies around 100 kilometers from Tokyo. Mt. Fuji is one of Japan's "Three Holy Mountains" and is one of the most visited mountains by climbers and sightseers in Japan. The mountain has also become a historic site on June 22, 2013, and is now added to the World Heritage List as a Cultural Site.
Rossy, a 54-year old ex-pilot of the Swiss airforce, has circled Japan's highest peak using his own jetpack nine times in a week. Rossy's jetpack, which weighs 60kgs and is powered using four attached jet engines modified from large model aircraft engines, is a backpack with carbon-fiber wings which spans around two meters.
Each of Rossy's nine flights over Mt. Fuji lasted around 10 minutes. He dived from a helicopter and jumped from as high as 3657 meters and then landed back to the surface using a parachute from an altitude of around 800 meters. Rossy's jetpack can reach speeds of over 300km per hour.
"It's really impressive. It's a perfect form, a huge mountain, a huge volcano, a presence that you can feel on ground and also in the air," said Rossy.
The ex-pilot also added "It's a fantastic privilege to be a little mosquito flying in front of that big mountain."
Rossy, who is a seasoned aviator, is a captain with Swiss International Air Lines but is on a sabbatical. The Mt. Fuji flight is among many flights he has taken. Previously, Rossy has flown over the Grand Canyon, crossed the English Channel and also flown over Rio de Janeiro.
