SANGATTE, France/SAINT MARGARET’S BAY, Britain : French inventor Franky Zapata on Sunday succeeded in crossing the English Channel on a jet-powered hoverboard he designed, zooming over the Strait of Dover in just over 20 minutes.
After a previous bid in July that ended with him falling into the sea, Zapata took off from Sangatte, just outside Calais in France at about 0617 GMT, on a little platform powered by five small jet engines and carrying kerosene in a backpack.
Flanked by three helicopters, he reached Britain after a stop on a boat halfway through the 35-km crossing to refuel, waving to onlookers before landing safely in Saint Margaret’s Bay, close to Dover on Britain’s southern coast.
“We made a machine three years ago…and now we’ve crossed the Channel, it’s crazy,” he said, before breaking into tears.
Dozens of people came to cheer on Zapata at take-off and a few residents and tourists gathered to watch the Frenchman land.
