Incredible Iron-man suit

Incredible video footage shows a brave pilot soaring above the Dubai skyline at 150 miles per hour using a jet pack similar to the Marvel superhero Iron Man. 

Like something out of a Hollywood blockbuster, French skydiver Vince Reffet is seen strapped to the device which takes off from a launchpad. 

After a brief period to stabilise over the water, he rapidly flies off and reaches a top speed of 150 miles per hour. 

According to the video posted by Dubai’s Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the daredevil pulled his parachute at an altitude of 4,900ft.  

The unconventional jet pack is controlled from the ground and capable of hovering, changing direction and performing loops. 

French skydiver Vince Reffet wearing the Jet Wing jet pack as he flies towards Jumeriah Beach Residence, Dubai

The brave skydiver can be seen barely as a spot in the sky over the Dubai sunset. The Jetwing reaches a height of 655 feet in 12 seconds

The ‘Jet Wing’ jetpack is the project of Jetman Dubai, which aims to ‘create a future for individuals flying with jet wings’ and ‘change the way we experience the world’.

The company aims to achieve 100 per cent autonomous human flight by 2020. 

‘There is a height range where humans cannot fly autonomously’, the company says on its website.

‘It is called the grey area. By flying at altitudes never attempted before, Jetman is narrowing the grey area. And in 2020, it will disappear.’

The video shows Reffet taking off from the launchpad at Skydive Dubai on the UAE coast.  

After hovering above the surface of the water for a few minutes, he salutes the camera, closes his helmet and starts to build speed as he heads skywards. 

In just eight seconds after taking off, he’s already reached 100 metres in height.

In 12 seconds he reached 655 feet (200 metres) and in 19 seconds he had reached 1640 feet (500 metres).

After half a minute, Reffet had reached 1,000 metres, travelling at an average speed of 150 miles per hour (around 130 knots).

The Jet Wing is powered by jetpacks and is controlled by an operator on the ground. The device’s creators want to achieve fully autonomous human flights this year

The video shows him climbing the skies as he heads towards Jumeriah Beach Residence on the coast of Dubai. 

At the end of a three-minute flight punctuated by a roll and a loop at 5,905 feet (1,800 metres) altitude, Reffet opened his parachute at 4,900 feet in the air (1,500 metres) before landing back at Skydive Dubai. 

The successful test flight marks the first time that a pilot at the company combined hovering near the ground and performing ‘aerobatics’ – sophisticated flying manoeuvres – at high altitude in the same flight.  

This latest mission is also first time their pilots have taken off vertically – having previously had to jump out of a helicopter at high altitude. 

Vince Reffet as he takes off from the Sky Dive Runway on the Duabi coast. The test flight on February 14 was a first for Jetman Dubai, with previous flights requiring the wearer to disembark from a helicopter to get in the air

The video was posted by Dubai Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum on his Instagram account.

‘A major milestone in the quest to achieve 100 per cent autonomous flight,’ he said. ‘Well done boys.’

Hamdan is a keen sky diver and head of the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for young entrepreneurs.  

Reffet had previously filmed Swiss Air Force pilot Yves Rossy used the Jetwing to soar alongside a private jet in flight over the Dubai coast.

A video of the achievement was posted by Jetman Dubai’s Twitter account with the caption: ‘Approaching a private jet in flight… no CGI needed.’