On July 25th, French inventor Franky Zapata plunged into seawater while making the bold attempt to cross the English Channel on his Flyboard Air, a jet-powered hovering device he created.

7月25日，法国发明家弗兰基·萨帕塔试图驾驶他研发的喷气动力“飞行滑板”——Flyboard Air，横渡英吉利海峡，重现当年的人类壮举，但是途中萨帕塔跌入大海，行动以失败告终。

Zapata was expected to make the roughly 35-kilometer crossing from Sangatte, France to Dover, England in less than half an hour by traveling at a speed of 140 kilometers per hour.

萨帕塔原计划从法国的桑加特起飞，飞行大约35千米后，抵达海峡对岸的英国多佛，整个航程最短可以在半小时内完成，最高飞行速度可以达到140千米/小时。

The plan was to land on a refueling boat about halfway through the trip before completing his journey to England. It was a maneuver he had practiced many times before. But in the middle of the channel, the conditions were more treacherous than the placid waters he had left behind.

按照计划，飞行的中途会有一次加油过程，在海面上的一艘加油船上进行。这项操作萨帕塔之前练习过多次。但是在海峡深处，情况要比沿岸的水面来得复杂得多。

The boat was rocking, and while Zapata could see it shifting from side to side, he couldn't see how the waves were tossing the boat up and down. When trying to land, the boat hit his flyboard, causing him to plummet into the English Channel. Zapata was saved immediately after the crash, but the adventure also came to termination.

当时，加油船在风浪中颠簸不已，萨帕塔能看见船体在左右摆动，却无法觉察到船本身也跟着海浪上下大幅摇摆。当他试着降落到甲板的时候，船体向上与飞行板形成撞击，一下子把他抛入了大海之中。萨帕塔立即被救起，但是飞越行动也宣告失败。

The aviation enthusiast had chosen that day for his attempt as it marked 110 years since French pilot Louis Bleriot made the first flight across the English Channel in 1909. Ahead of his attempt, Zapata told the reporters that "we created a new way of flying, we don't use wings. You are like a bird; it is your body that is flying. It is a boyhood dream."

这位飞行狂人之所以选择7月25日当天进行海峡飞越，是因为当天今年的7月25日正好是人类成功飞越英吉利海峡的110周年纪念日。1909年，法国飞行员路易·布雷里奥首次完成了这一壮举。在行动开始前，萨帕塔曾对记者说道，“我们创造了一种新的飞行方式，无需借助翅膀便能完成。我们更像是鸟儿一样，用自己的身体便能翱翔，这一切如同儿时的梦想成真一般。”

Earlier last month, Zapata made waves when he hovered over Paris' Place de la Concorde as part of France's Bastille Day military parade. That successful flight even won attention from French president, Emmanuel Macron. He said the defense ministry was looking at ways to integrate Zapata's invention into the country's armed forces.

上月早些时候，萨帕塔已经赚到了不少人气。在巴士底日阅兵式上，他驾驶着自己的飞行板成功飞越巴黎协和广场，甚至吸引了法国总统马克龙的注意。马克龙表示，国防部正在设法研究将萨帕塔的飞行板技术运用到国防中的可能性。

Questions For All: Is The Story Over Yet?

那么问题来了：故事结束了吗？

The French inventor Franky Zapata on Sunday made his second attempt to fly from France to England. “I followed my dream and that's huge,” he said after landing successfully.

精彩还在后头——10天后，就在上周日（8月4日），萨帕塔第二次尝试乘坐“飞行滑板”横渡英吉利海峡，成功飞跃。降落后，他对记者说，“我所做的事虽渺小，但我追随了我的梦，热血浩瀚的梦。”

VOCABULARY

hover: v. 翱翔；盘旋

treacherous: adj. 有潜在危险的；不可信任的

plummet: v. 暴跌；骤降

aviation: n. 航空