Franky Zapata

This biography of a living person relies too much on references to primary sources. Please help by adding secondary or tertiary sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. Find sources: "Franky Zapata" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Franky Zapata
Zapata in June 2019
Born	(1978-09-27) September 27, 1978 (age 46)
Occupation	Pilot

Franky Zapata (French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃ki zapata]; born 27 September 1978)^[1] is a French personal watercraft pilot who is the inventor of the Flyboard and Flyboard Air, and founder of Zapata Racing. Since 2012, Zapata's efforts have been focused on the development and manufacture of personal flyers for land and aquatic applications.

On 4 August 2019, Zapata crossed the English Channel in 22 minutes, with a refuelling stop at midpoint, on a Flyboard Air.^[2] His 35-kilometre (22 mi) journey was completed with an escort from several French helicopters and warships, and aided by a backpack fuel reservoir.^[3]