On his second attempt, Frenchman Franky Zapata finally succeeded in crossing the English Channel on his designed jet-powered hoverboard. He took off from Sangatte in northern France and it took him just over 20 minutes to make the 22-mile (35 km) trip
He achieved this feat on Sunday August 4 after a previous bid in July that ended with him falling into the sea.
His hoverboard was powered by a backpack containing enough paraffin to keep him airborne for about 10 minutes and he had to stop to refuel halfway through the journey.
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“For the last five to six kilometers I just really enjoyed it,” Zapata told reporters on arrival. “Whether this is a historic event or not, I’m not the one to decide that, time will tell.”
“We made a machine three years ago…and now we’ve crossed the Channel, it’s crazy,” he said, before breaking into tears.
Zapata’s biggest challenge was refueling with another backpack, which required landing on a platform mounted on a boat.
On his first attempt, he was knocked off balance in the process and fell, and he used a bigger boat and platform this time.
The inventor had received a 1.3 million euro grant from the French army in late 2018 to help finance the development of the hoverboard.
