‘Flying soldier’ arrives for Bastille Day parade on 118mph hoverboard as Emmanuel Macron tries to show off French’s military might
A “FLYING solider” flew over crowds on an 188mph “Back to the Future”-style hoverboard in Paris during Emmanuel Macron’s Bastille Day military parade in Paris.
Franky Zapata, 40, soared at high speed above world leaders including Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel while brandishing an unloaded rifle.
He soon landed his so-called Flyboard, which he hopes to sell to the French military.
Lord Edward Llewellyn, Britain’s Ambassador to France, shared a video of the moment saying: “A flying soldier!”
He added: “Military innovation on display at this morning’s Bastille Day parade here this morning in Paris.”
Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly said the board will be “tested for different uses, for example as a flying logistical platform, or indeed as an assault platform.”
Mr Zapata calls it the Flyboard Air, and admits it bears resemblance to the hoverboard used by Marty McFly, played by Michael J Fox, in the Back to the Future films.
The entrepreneur from Marseille developed the turbine engine powered board in his garage at home.
It can reach speeds of up to 118mph and can stay in the air for up to 10 minutes.
Political leaders Mrs Merkel, EU commissioner Jean-Claude Juncker, Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte joined Mr Macron and his wife Brigitte for a day of celebrations in the capital’s Champs-Elysees Avenue.
Bastille Day commemorates the 1789 storming of the Bastille fortress in Paris during the French Revolution and is marked every year by a military parade.
The French president laughed and joked with world leaders as far-right protesters booed and jeered at him.
Yellow Vest protesters were removed by police as Mr Macron waved to crowds from a military command vehicle.
After the military parade, protesters took to the streets and clashed with riot police while Mr Macron hosted a lunch.
French police fired tear gas at protesters, who chanted anti-government slogans.
Cops tried to disperse dozens of protesters, who were knocking down security barriers erected for the parade and setting fire to refuse bins.
As of 5pm on Sunday, a Paris police spokesman said the number of arrests was 175, mainly for public order offences.
The country, and in particular the capital, have been rocked with weekly Yellow Vest protests against Mr Macron’s government.
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Today’s violence has been the worst in Paris since March.
However, demonstrators were not wearing the signature yellow vests because police barred them from wearing them past the barriers.
Some were seen carrying yellow balloons instead.
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