Rocketman Crosses Colorado Gorge

nandemoari writes "Remember the 1991 film, 'The Rocketeer,' where a young pilot uses a jetpack prototype to become a masked vigilante and win the heart of Jennifer Connelly? That scenario isn't as far-fetched as it once was, given that an American stuntman recently used a jetpack to soar over Colorado's Royal Gorge. The stuntman in question is one Eric Scott, who recently appeared on CBS' Early Show and a variety of local cable channels after making his daring leap. Scott has been testing jetpack devices for 16 years, and was confident that he wouldn't plummet to his untimely death when he straddled the Gorge above the Arkansas River earlier this week. Despite an enormous gulf between the two sides — 1,500 feet across and 1,000 feet down — Scott made the trip safely."

Re:No parachute

[ChinggisK]

Note that he did, however, wear a helmet, which I'm sure would've totally saved him from the 1000ft fall.

iwantoneforchristmas

[neokushan]

Goes without saying really, but iwantoneforchristmas.

average speed of 180mph!!

[lkcl]

geeez, what's not mentioned explicitly is the implpications of the fact that he managed to cross the 1500 feet - 1 mile - in 21 seconds.

that's an *average* speed of 180mph!

dang.

Re:No parachute

[v1]

The helmet is probably mainly for insurance purposes.

I'd imagine it's already pretty difficult getting insurance to fly over a gorge with a rocketpack.