Man has been trying to fly like a bird for more than 2,400 years, yet has only begun to master the process in the last century.

One man who made up his mind to become the man first to fly like a bird—horizontally—is Yves Rossy, nicknamed “The Jet Man”. The former military pilot, 49, who flies a Swiss International Airbus A320 transporting tourists to Luxor and Sharm El Sheikh, spent five years developing his wings for his flying man project to become the first man to fly like a bird,

Yves has served as a fighter pilot in the Swiss Air Force, flying Dassault Mirage IIIs, Northrop F-5 Tiger IIs and Hawker Hunters. He also flew Boeings 747 for Swissair and now pilots an Airbus A320 for Swiss International Air Lines.

Amongst his daring hobbies are “dangling from the wing of a biplane, bare-foot water-skiing, wakeboard, hydrospeed [riverboarding], delta flying and paragliding, snowboarding and aerobatic flying.”

Daredevil pilot Yves Rossy, is both the first person to build and the first person successfully to fly a jet engine-powered wing strapped to the back. The flight occurred in November 2006 in Bex, lasting nearly six minutes.

On September 26, 2008, Yves Rossy, also known as “Fusion Man” and “Rocket Man”, leaped from a Pilatus Porter drop plane about 8,200 feet above the French coast of Calais, reaching speeds in excess of 125 miles per hour during the 13 minute flight across the English Channel. The 49-year-old pilot, landed in a field near a lighthouse on the famous white cliffs of Dover delighting onlookers who cheered and waved enthusiastically as Rossy came into view.

Rossy has no instruments except an audio altimeter in his helmet and his wrist watch. Besides the throttle, he has no flight controls except his body. To steer, climb or descend, he moves his head and limbs slightly, a skill he first learned as a sky diver.

“I fuse with my machine. It was my dream as a body to be a bird,” he told his assistants before the flight. His machine consists of four kerosene-powered mini jet engines attached to an eight foot carbon fiber wing. The small but noisy jets carry 30 liters of fuel. “It would be a great device for James Bond so he can go behind enemy lines”, he joked.

Rossy, who spent months preparing for the cross-Channel flight, commented he wants to fly across the Grand Canyon in Arizona next. As for the 13 lonely minutes he spent alone between England and France, he told reporters he felt no fear. “I was under tension. But fear? The day I fear, I don’t go,” Rossy said.

Yep, after more than 2,400 years, we now have a modern Daedalus who learned to fly like a bird and passed the challenge with flying colors (no pun intended). Bravo!