High flyer: jet pack daredevil soars in front of Mount Fuji

It only lasts 10 minutes, but what a flight. Dropped from a helicopter strapped to a jet-engine powered wing, Yves Rossy circles Japan’s 12,389ft Mount Fuji.

Known as Jetman, Rossy, 54, — a Swiss airline pilot in his day job — uses his shoulders, body and legs to steer and descend.

He dropped from a helicopter before deploying the jet-powered carbon-kevlar “Jetwing” and flying over the snow-capped peak at speeds of up to 185mph.

It was the first time Rossy, who uses his shoulders, body and legs to steer, pitch and descend, had completed a flight in Asia. In 2008, he made history by becoming the first man to cross the English Channel strapped to a single jet-powered wing.

“It’s a fantastic privilege to be a little mosquito flying in front of that big mountain,” he said.

Rossy wore the 60-kilogram kit on his back, and circled the mountain nine times in the space of a week.

In each flight lasting about 10 minutes, he dived from a helicopter, soared as high as 3,657 metres (12,000 feet) and parachuted back to earth from an altitude of around 800 metres.

Rossy designed and built his own jetman system -- a backpack with carbon-fibre wings spanning about two metres, powered by four attached jet engines modified from large model aircraft engines.