On the occasion of the traditional military parade on the Champs-Elysees, the Marseille inventor Franky Zapata has created the surprise by flying over the assistance on his hoverboard for which he received a 1.3 million euros funding from the DGA. On July 25, he will tackle an even more spectacular challenge.
Even in his wildest dreams, and he obviously has many, Franky Zapata probably did not imagine one day the opportunity to fly on his funny surf face the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, for the military parade July 14th. He did it yesterday, Place de la Concorde, standing on his Flyboard Air, the incredible hoverboard he invented.
Futura has already told you about this great creator, also world champion jet ski. With his Zapata Racing company based in Marseille, he manufactures and markets several recreational vehicles based on hydro propulsion. In parallel, it also develops flying machines, including this Flyboard Airpowered by five mini jet turbines fueled with kerosene. The device has a ten-minute battery life and is controlled by remote control and body movements. The current model can fly at 140 km / h, but Zapata is aiming at 200 km / h. It can climb at 150 meters above sea level with a target of 3,000 meters.
Fier de notre armée, moderne et innovante. pic.twitter.com/DQvIfPolQf
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) July 14, 2019
But why Franky Zapata and Flyboard Air were present at the parade on July 14 on the Champs-Elysees? Because the French army is very interested in this device. In 2018, the Directorate General of Armament (DGA) granted a grant of 1.3 million euros to Zapata Racing to work on the development of this hoverboard and its propulsion system. ” Like any ” Rapid ” project (acronym for Support Regime for Dual Innovation, innovation grant mechanism of the Ministry of Armed Forces which benefited Zapata Racing, ed), the applications envisaged must be civilian and military.
In this case, it is a matter of developing a turbine, especially to reduce the acoustic signature of Flyboard Air but it could also be useful for civil aviation. This project of Turbine Z Air (TZR) starts on December 2018, it must last 2 years, “we then explained the communication service of the DGA.