Swiss “Rocket Man” Yves Rossy becomes the first person in the world to fly with wings under rocket power.

Rossy was the test pilot on May 14, 2008, in a successful 6-minute flight from the town of Bex near Lake Geneva. He exited a Pilatus Porter at 7,500 feet with jet engines and a folded 8-foot pair of airplane-type wings strapped to his back. It was the first public demonstration before the world’s press. He made effortless loops from one side of the Rhone valley to the other and rose 2,600 feet. Rossy, his sponsors, and the Swiss watch company Hublot, spent $285,000 to build the device.