Can You Bel-Yves It?

Today, a Swiss adventurer crossed the English Channel (or perhaps he calls it La Manche) at record-breaking speed, flying a home-made, jet-propelled wing.

49-year-old Yves Rossy (pictured) was dropped from a plane 8500 feet above France, then cruised from coast to coast at 100mph, parachuting in at South Foreland Lighthouse, on Dover's fabled White Cliffs.

Rossy, a pilot by day, was understandably delighted upon landing safely, said he felt as though he were dreaming. His dream, a sane man's nightmare!

What is it with people from that part of the world? Only weeks ago I read an article about the latest exploits of Frenchman Michel Fournier, who specialises in ultra-high-altitude skydiving. He plans or planned to jump from a helium balloon at a mind-bending 150,000 feet, the very edge of space.

In fact, the French have cornered the market on dizzy-heights lunacy. Human spider Alain Roberts is still going strong at 46, scaling skyscrapers the world over, from Chicago's Sears Tower to the Petronas Twin Towers of Kuala Lumpur - unassisted by ropes or any other equipment, other than chalked hands.

Then there's Philippe Petit, who in 1974 flouted the law to walk a tightrope between the world famous (and sadly now infamous) Twin Towers of New York City's World Trade Centre. The ballsy Parisian slung his high wire between the quarter-mile-high office blocks before construction was even complete, surely knowing that would be his only opportunity.

There must be something in the water in Northwestern Europe. As for Yves 'Fusion Man' Rossy, his Channel-hop makes David Walliams' charity swim look a little sick, dunnit!?


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Click post title for a pic of Petit's WTC high-wire stunt