Inventing Iron Man (21 page)

It seems fairly clear that the skill set needed to invent Iron Man requires someone with an extraordinary and fertile mix. Creative thought, a strong will to succeed and pursue ideas at all costs, a technical knack for electrical and mechanical engineering, a deep appreciation of the neuroscience and kinesiology of how the body moves and works, and a ridiculous sum of money to enable the fulsome pursuit of all this. One of the interesting twists on the inventor angle for Iron Man is that Tony isn't just someone who creates the device but is also the very person who depends on the invention to survive.

I want to focus on three modern-day inventors and technological pioneers in this chapter. Of relevance to the idea of Iron Man and Tony Stark, these three have all developed and actually used the devices they created. They are Yoshiyuki Sankai, creator of the HAL robotic exoskeleton; Phil Nuytten, diving pioneer and inventor of the Newt-suit; and Yves Rossy, inventor and pilot of the jetpack fixed wing.

You will notice that I am limiting the discussion of invention and Iron Man to those inventors who intended to use their inventions and not just create something for others. Examples that come to mind that are relevant to the risky idea of robotic armor are the exploits of “birdmen,” sky flyers, and the Wright brothers. With any development idea, the concept of trial and error testing is pretty commonly applied. This means slowly making incremental progress on a problem by testing whether some new change helped or hindered. What is less obvious possibly is the fact that this means the inventor risks being part of the error. And if the device you are working on is something that is implantable and links directly to your nervous system or allows you to make very large powerful movements—even flying were the technology and energetics available—that error could be fatal. I want to explore this idea to put in perspective just how spectacular an invention Iron Man would really be. And how extra-ordinary
it would be for any inventor to actually survive the process right through to the end.

Since many of the images in Iron Man comic books and in the movies involve seeing Tony Stark flying around with his suit on, let's begin with the concept of human flight. Please don't think I have double-crossed you here! We did of course agree right up front in the introduction that the energetics and physics of really flying around in the Iron Man armor don't currently exist and are unlikely to exist any time soon. I still think we can use this as a metaphor for the creative process and dangers associated with inventing such a device. This brings us very close to the idea that genius and madness and derring-do of invention and foolhardiness are all intimately related. With that said, let's move on to the brilliant and daring Yves Rossy and his “fixed wing flyer.”

Once upon a time a little Swiss boy named Yves Rossy (born August 27, 1958, in Neufchâtel) had a dream to fly like a bird. Lots of little boys (and girls, of course) have had a similar dream of being able to fly. (We can safely assume that Tony Stark had this dream sometime, perhaps many times, during the time after he developed the original Iron Man gray armor—although his initial dreams clearly involved also a whole lot of ammunition.) Often that dream goes unrealized and remains a really fanciful idea from youth. If it is realized, it often takes the form of becoming a pilot or in skydiving. Typically the dream would end there. And it did for a while for Yves Rossy. Yves was very fond of sports and did lots of running and biking but then became very interested in extreme sports.

He initially trained as an engineer and then qualified as a fighter pilot in the Swiss military. For eight years, he flew the fighter jets Hunter, Tiger F-5, and Mirage III. He then flew commercial jets like the DC-9 and Boeing 747 for 12 years. However, those more than 20 years of military and civilian piloting didn't relieve the itch of flying like a bird. Nor did his extensive experiences doing skydiving, hang gliding, paragliding, and aerial acrobatics. He needed to fly like a bird and that meant having wings and some form of power strapped to his back. So, Rossy became a skyflyer, someone who goes up in a plane as if to parachute to the ground but instead glides using wings.
As described by Michael Abrams in his book
Birdmen, Batmen, & Skyflyers
, the ultimate goal is to be able to actually fly, not to fall more slowly. That means covering lots of horizontal distance with little vertical drop (think of a bird flying overhead—literally).

You can see Yves Rossy in flight in
figure 8.1
. Panel A shows Yves on the ground, panel B is just after exiting the plane, and panel C is under power and flying. Many have attempted to do this over many centuries but one of the closest to this so far was Rossy. Using his customized carbon-fiber-based wing design, in 2003 he covered 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) of horizontal distance while falling only 3 kilometers (1.9 miles). However skilled he is at “flying man,” Rossy apparently preferred the idea of “jet-man” and so added a pair of kerosene-fueled jet engines to his repertoire. Using the jets with his wings allowed Rossy to make a groundbreaking flight on June 24, 2004. While gliding down using his wings he then ignited his engines and was able to fly horizontally (about 15 meters above the ground) at almost 190 kmh (120 mph) for over four minutes. Yves Rossy has now performed sustained human flight at speeds of over 200 kmh (124 mph). In May 2011 he completed a historic eight-minute flight over the Grand Canyon. These successes have not come without risks, though, and that is something I want to highlight. Yves has had his share of crashes. Since Yves is a pioneer in the use of jet-pack flight with his fixed wing and this is the closest approximation we actually have to Iron Man in flight, I thought it might be interesting to talk to him. The following interview comes from that exchange.

EPZ: What interested you in creating a jet-powered fixed wing? At what age did your interest start?

YR: Many years ago! Flying is a passion; it's a dream since I was a young child. I always wanted to fly. I was a fighter pilot; I am working now as a captain for Swiss Airlines, and I tried lots of sports such as skydiving, for example. It was great but finally it was only a fall. I decided then to create a wingsuit—to fly longer—and then a wing, to fly level and finally to fly up! I created a jet-propelled wing to realize my dream.

EPZ: How is the “feel” of the fixed wing compared to your experiences in fighter jets?

YR: It is such a different experience—it is very hard to compare. A 747, a Mirage Fighter Jet, and my wing do have a similarity though. The decisive moments are at the same time, when you take off. After that, it is only pleasure! The same in a 747, after the take off, you often fly using the autopilot. But I chose to devote all of my spare time to fly in the purest sense. Flying with my wing is an incredible feeling of liberty. It is awesome!

Figure 8.1. “Jet-Man” Yves Rossy in action. Panel A courtesy Babylon-Freefly and panels B and C courtesy Blaise Chappuis.

EPZ: What is the most dangerous moment you have experienced in inventing or piloting the fixed wing?

YR: The most dangerous moment is when I jump out of the plane and deploy my winglet (the foldable parts). I need a few seconds to stabilize my wing. It is the most difficult moment. I had a lot of incidents, but never a real accident. I have never been seriously injured. Because in case there is a problem, I can drop my wing and become a normal parachutist. That's why I never fly under 800 meters [about 2,600 feet], in order to have enough time to drop my wing and open my parachute. I always have a plan B in case of a problem, and if I am not self-confident, I don't fly. I don't want to take any unnecessary risks; I am cautious.

EPZ: Have you had any crashes?

YR: I had many failures! I had to drop my wing many times. But I learned a lot from my mistakes and from the bad test flights. Every incident allows me to optimize the wing. I have two parachutes. In case of a problem, I always have a plan. For example, I sometimes lose the control of my wing and there are oscillations. My military experience taught me how to move my arms in order to stop the oscillations. So, I'm ready to face each eventuality.

EPZ: Do you see the fixed wing as making an important contribution to society? That is, to push the limits of human ability or something else?

YR: I think it is an important progress, because from the very beginning every man has dreamed to fly. I also think that it is important to put the human back in the center, to refocus on the man, not only on the machine or robots. It's what I've tried to do with my wing, as did the pioneers in aviation, Leo Valentin or Clem Sohn, for example. The only flight instrument I have is a fuel lever and an altimeter, nothing else. I steer myself in the air thanks to the movements of my body: I turn my shoulders right to go right, and so on. Human species have a bigger adaptability than any machine. Machines must be the slaves of the man, and not the contrary!

EPZ: How much focus and attentional demand does it take and could it ever be maneuverable enough to fly—like Iron Man—as a fighter itself?

YR: I am more focused when I fly my wing, and I use all my senses. For example, in a commercial airplane, you don't need the sense of touch or smell. But with my wing, I need to hear the noise of the engines, the hardness of the air on my skin, and so on. In a commercial airplane, you need to be very concentrated only for short periods: the take off, the landing, if there is a storm, and so on. Then you usually fly with the automatic pilot. Flying a fighter plane needs more concentration, because again there is a third dimension (you can fly vertically, which you cannot do with a commercial aircraft). It's the same with my wing; I can go right, left, down, and up. The biggest differences are the number of senses you use and the time you need to be very concentrated: from a commercial aircraft (only a few senses and not a long time) to a fighter plane and my wing (all the senses and all the time).

I am now developing a new wing, which will be smaller, more powerful, and easier to handle. So, yes, it will be very maneuverable, ready for acrobatics (looping and so on).

I know how to react in case of emergency. Not to panic, but to think and react! So it's very intense, I am very concentrated, but not “stressed.” I need to multitask, because I need to to react and also to anticipate my trajectory. But to engage a dog fight combat is not my aim at all. I don't want it. I've already been contacted by some foreign armies, but I am not interested in adapting my invention to a weapon. I would be very happy to fly with other people, but only to share my passion with them, to play and have fun in the air, not to fight them! I am also thinking to take off from the ground, but this will be for coming years. The only problem is the power; I need to put on engines powerful enough to take off from the ground and then fly. It's theoretically possible to take off from the ground now, but then I will have no more fuel to fly!

EPZ: How much training would be needed to use the fixed wing? Would you need full fighter jet training or could someone without flight training being able to use it?

YR: You have to be a skydiver to be able to fly my wing. If you are a good one, you can learn quickly (a few weeks, full time),
because you are already used to steering yourself in the air. I plan to teach people how to fly with my jet-propelled wing but only to experienced skydivers. I don't think that one day my wing will become a means of transportation. It will probably become an extreme sport, as the hang glider for example.

EPZ: As an inventor, what do you see as the key parts of your personality that have allowed you to go so far on this project?

YR: Discipline, perseverance, and above all, passion! I think it is important to try to achieve your dreams. To be able to go back and start from the very beginning when necessary. To keep believing in your projects and in your dream!

EPZ: Can you estimate the hours of development that the suit has taken so far?

YR: I worked 15 years on my project, building and testing more than ten different prototypes. I spent a lot of money and all my free time, but it really is worth it! Flying is a great feeling of freedom. The ten first years, I devoted all my free time working on my prototypes. But since 2007, I am on a sabbatical leave, so it's a full-time project! It really is impossible to count the number of hours.

EPZ: How many of the advances that were necessary to achieve the fixed wing occurred “accidentally” or by chance? That is, how difficult was it to plan the discoveries and technological uses?

YR: I work on my wing with this idea: “Learning by doing” (and sometimes crashing!). I always test my prototype, and when there is a failure, I try to fix it and keep working on it until it works. There were no advances that occurred by chance, nothing that happened accidentally in the development of my prototype. It was always the result of discussions, deductions, and tests. I learn a lot of every failure, so I can say that the advances occur thanks to the incidents in flight but not accidentally! I think that it is not difficult to plan the discoveries (it comes from the imagination); the most difficult is to make your invention become a reality and working!