Rossy, 54, got his start in the air as a fighter pilot for the Swiss Air Force. He later flew professionally for two Swiss airlines, but that apparently wasn't enough for him. In 1993 he started thinking of ways to fly without the benefit of an airplane. He told Wired earlier this year that he first learned how to simply glide using an inflatable wing system. Then, after a lot of practice gliding, he built something closer to the jet planes he flew professionally. The system he designed contains rigid wings made of a carbon fiber, with Kevlar reinforcements and tiny jet engines. He told Wired that his first jet-powered flight was "totally crazy.