Pedal-powered airship comes up short

October 1, 2008 — The Steven Spielberg movie, E.T., may have caused Stephane Rousson to dream as a child of flying over the moon on a bike. But last weekend the French pilot tried to do such a thing, but instead of aiming for the moon, he picked the English Channel. It was Rousson’s second attempt to pilot a human-powered airship across the channel, and shifting winds stopped his record-breaking attempt from succeeding. His attempt came two days after Yves Rossy, a Swiss pilot, became the first human to fly between England and France using a jet-powered wing. The Times Online reported that the 39-year-old Rousson had pedaled 23 miles and was only 11 miles from France when unfavorable winds developed. “I’m not disappointed,” he told the Times Online. “I feel happy because it had nothing to do with any technical failure; it was purely the wind that got in the way of this achievement.” Rousson has spent months waiting for the perfect weather conditions for the flight, and first tried to complete the crossing in June. In his latest attempt, the shifting winds left him hovering stationary across the channel, and after two hours, he deflated his airship and returned to shore aboard one of the two support boats that had been following him across. He said: “The success is not with me but I have had so much fun. My legs are a little bit burnt and I’m sure tomorrow I will be feeling a little sad…” Rousson said he hoped to be able to try again, if he could find a new sponsor. “All my money has gone into achieving this over the past five years. I’m quite a bit in debt. If I found a lot of money I would definitely try again, but I don’t have a large budget at the moment."

Stephane Rousson pedals his airship over the English Channel after leaving Hythe beach in Kent. Photo: Gareth/Fuller/PA A member of the public, left, helps Stephane Rousson prepare his pedal powered airship for launch on September 28, 2008 in Hythe, England. Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

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