Hello JAW.
Zapata made a strategic mistake.
For some reason he had to try to do something his FlyBoard-Air is not capable to really do.
I suppose that some "smart" military of the French Army asked Zapata (Zapata's company is sponsored by the French Army with 1.3 million euros, so far) to do it.
And Zapata had to obey.
And the only way was the refuelling.
He started from France carrying 50 litters (37Kg) of fuel on his back; this fuel was burned into ten minutes.
And then he refuelled at the middle of the channel with another 50 litters of kerosene fuel to pass the other half of the channel.
Not a true crossing, however everybody on the earth saw a French inventor taking off from France, "crossing the channel" and landing on the UK.
100 litters of fuel were burned in order a single person to travel a distance of 35Km (22 miles)!... And this with a refuelling at the middle of the channel.
In his first try, Zapata fell into the sea during the refuelling, which is the most risky part of the trip.
Imagine Zapata covering a decent distance, say 300Km.
He would need to refuel 15 times (and consume about 1,000 litters of fuel).
Worse even, he would need to risk 15 landings for the required refuellings (provided the fuel stations are arranged on the right "super" positions).
With the Portable Flyer we dream to pass from Crete to Athens (some 300Km distance) without refuelling.
According the calculations, it is possible.
It is the crossing of the Aegean sea the ancient Greeks dreamed of (Daedalus and his son Icarus).
Thanks
Manolis Pattakos