FUSION MAN TAKES FLIGHT

Years ago, aviation enthusiast and inventor Yves Rossy dreamed of soaring through the sky like a bird. In 2006 that dream took flight.

Known as Switzerland's "Fusion Man," Rossy in November 2006 became the first man in the world to fly with wings and four jet engines strapped to his body; on Wednesday he displayed that talent to the world.

The inaugural flight lasted six minutes in Bex, Switzerland, and included an emergency parachute programmed to automatically open if he were to black out, NBC11 reported at the time.

"The idea is to have fun, not to kill yourself," Rossy said in the story.

In Internet videos, Rossy wears a white helmet with the words "Jet-Man" on the front, dives out of a plane, fires up his wings and propels through the atmosphere, leaving a trail of special-effects white smoke in his wake.