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According to the Times of India:

Yves Rossy and Vincent Reffet - have achieved the rare feat of flying with the innovative Jetman wings, on either side of an Emirates A380 aircraft, the world's largest passenger aircraft, 4000 feet above sea level.

My Questions are:

  1. Is flying near other aircraft is legal?
  2. How they avoid getting into jet turbulence and other forces?
  3. Is there Jetman suit available to catch up to the jet engined planes?

Jet Man Flying above an A380

FreeMan
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Lucky
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    Here's a related question about formation flying of non-military planes I asked a while ago – James Thorpe Nov 06 '15 at 10:16
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    Given that this stunt was performed far from the jurisdiction of the US Federal Aviation Administration, I'm not sure why it's tagged "faa-regulations". Are you asking what regulations would cover a similar stunt in US airspace or is the question mis-tagged? – David Richerby Nov 06 '15 at 10:47
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    @DavidRicherby So "faa-regulations" won't be applicable, if aircraft flying out of USA jurisdiction? – Lucky Nov 06 '15 at 10:50
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    @Lucky No, of course not. That's exactly what "out of US jurisdiciton" means! – David Richerby Nov 06 '15 at 11:43
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    At this low speed, the angle of attack should be high, and air turbulent. I doubt they are close to the plane, The camera angles and lens may provide a false feeling of proximity. Even the two men may not be close to each other to prevent them for being injured by their jet. I would be curious of further details. – mins Nov 06 '15 at 13:23
  • Those were your first questions? My first question was, "How do they land?" – Michael Nov 06 '15 at 20:52
  • @Michael With a parachute, IIRC. – reirab Nov 06 '15 at 20:57
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    @Lucky The FAA is the US agency responsible for aviation regulations in the U.S. Other countries have their own similar agencies with their own sets of regulations and jurisdictions. These types of agencies are usually called "civil aviation authorities" or CAAs. – reirab Nov 06 '15 at 21:01
  • @reirab That was my thought too, but I was struggling to see where it would be fitted... under the wing in the center maybe? Even then, what happens to the wing and engines, are they disposable or do they have to preserve those for the next flight? – Michael Nov 06 '15 at 21:06
  • @Michael Sounds like a good question. :) – reirab Nov 06 '15 at 21:08
  • @reirab - Does the US FAA have "jurisdiction" over a pilot licensed in the US even while that pilot is flying outside of US airspace. In other words, could a US licensed pilot be sanctioned for breaking FAA rules (or some particular FAA rules) while flying outside of US jurisdiction (airspace)? (Perhaps this too should be a a separate question, but it strongly relates to the OP question, and your previous comment). – Kevin Fegan Nov 07 '15 at 16:36
  • @KevinFegan How is that related to the question? As far as I know, the pilots were Swiss, French, and Emirati, not American. As far as the jurisdiction of the FAA over American pilots/aircraft outside of U.S. airspace that probably would indeed make one (or two) good questions (which I might already exist... I can't remember.) The short answer, though, is "somewhat" in both cases. – reirab Nov 07 '15 at 21:20
  • @reirab - Sorry, the context for my comment was related to the faa-regulations tagging of the question, which has now been removed. – Kevin Fegan Nov 08 '15 at 17:31

2 Answers2

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  1. Yes. This is part of a series of promotional stunts, "adverts", Emirates are undertaking. Aircraft can fly in formation, all other rules taken into account, if the captains agree.

  2. By flying above the aircraft. As the article states, it was meticulously planned for safety (after all, an accident would be disatrous PR), and the Jetman flyers would know exactly where not to go.

  3. Yes. The video shows that! The aircraft will likely be flying at slow speed. As you can see, the flaps are extended. I'm guessing about 160 kts. I would also imagine the flyers will have dived down from above to pick up speed.

Simon
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    They jumped out of a helicopter which, by the looks of the video, was indeed above the flight path of the 380. – Jamiec Nov 06 '15 at 09:27
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To answer the third questions about how they caught up with the A380:

The Jetmen currently fly with a 140 kg high-tech carbon-fiber wing which is fitted with 4 Jetcat P400 engines. The engines are powered by a mix of kerosene and turbine oil capable of pushing a combined thrust of 160kg. This allows us to cover a distance of approximately 40km with speeds of up to 140 – 170 knots.
Source: Jetman Facebook page and Jetman Dubai Facebook page

The A380 approach category is cat (c) the approach speed with flaps should be anything from 121 to 141 knots.

FreeMan
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Hmb
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