Raketemensch

[Dave Monroe]

'Fusion Man' soars above Swiss Alps

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/05/14/photos.rocketman/index.html

A Swiss rocket man has become the first person to fly with nothing but
a wing and a jet engine strapped to his back, hurtling above the Alps
at 300km/h.

Adrenalin junkie Yves Rossy, a former military pilot and current
Airbus commander for Swiss International Air Lines, was dropped from a
plane at 2,438 metres (8,000ft). After unfolding his wing, Rossy
soared through the Alps at 180mph (300km/h), putting on an aerobatic
display for fans who had made the trip.

Ten minutes later, with his name in the record books, Rossy deployed
his parachute, folded the lightweight carbon wing and landed at the
Bex airdrome.

Speaking to Reuters after his flight, Rossy said: "Happiness, an
extraordinary sense of fullness to have once again been able to fly
and mostly to show it, because it's one thing to do it on one's own,
but to be able to share it live like today, that's extraordinary."

The successful demonstration was the result of years of research by
the modern-day Icarus, who unsuccessfully tested his first jet engine
attached to an inflatable wing in March 2003.

He developed his first rigid wing a year later, and completed his
first successful flight in 2005, with two jet engines fixed under the
wing. A safe prototype was achieved in 2006, allowing him a 5min 40sec
flight – sufficient time for a few acrobatics.

British fans of the self-styled "Fusion Man" will be able to see him
in action this autumn when he attempts a Channel crossing.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/may/15/5

Rocketman (aka Raketemensch, aka Slothrop)

359; a comic book character from the '40s and Tyrone's alter-ego; 366;
comic-book dialogue, 371; 376; exists in nongeographical space
("Providence's little pal"), 379; war cry: "Hauptstufe" - "leaps broad
highways in a single bound!" 380; "Fickt nicht mit der Raketemensch!"
436; 512; 596; "You poor fucker." 741

http://www.hyperarts.com/pynchon/gravity/alpha/r.html
http://gravitys-rainbow.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=R