Jetman Yves Rossy and his flying partner Vince Reffet delighted the crowd at the Palm Dropzone on Wednesday by linking up their jetpack wings with aerobatic ace Zoltan Veres and his three-man team.

“We had three planes and two jets flying together,” said Rossy after landing. “It’s a first. And this is how the Jetman project progresses. I’ve flown one to one with Zoltan before, but this is the next step.”

It was touch-and-go for a while as Rossy and Reffet, who launched themselves from a helicopter, struggled to locate Veres and his team mates. The smoke trails from aerobatic planes can be hard to see from the sky, and with the clock ticking, they had to peel out of the helicopter and locate the planes from the sky.

“We had a nice speed,” Rossy said of the 120 knots he used to match Veres’ airspeed. They created an A formation over the 4,000-strong crowd watching from below, which was timed to coincide with the United Arab Emirates National Day public holiday.

Rossy, the Dubai based, and Swiss pilot, said: “It’s an honour to fly on National Day, and over the Palms, which are so beautiful. It’s great to be able to share this pleasure with the spectators.”

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