INVENTOR

Franky Zapata

1978 - Today

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Franky Zapata (French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃ki zapata]; born 27 September 1978) 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. His 35-kilometre (22 mi) journey was completed with an escort from several French helicopters and warships, and aided by a backpack fuel reservoir. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in 15 different languages on Wikipedia. Franky Zapata is the 427th most popular inventor (down from 422nd in 2024), the 6,448th most popular biography from France (down from 6,028th in 2019) and the 39th most popular French Inventor.

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Among INVENTORS

Among inventors, Franky Zapata ranks 427 out of 426. Before him are Boyan Slat, Jarkko Oikarinen, Thomas Knoll, Jack Andraka, Tony Fadell, and George Hotz. After him are Wendell Brown, Simone Giertz, Ryan Dahl, Sangeeta Bhatia, and Gitanjali Rao.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1978, Franky Zapata ranks 1,132. Before him are Marios Joannou Elia, Darko Stanić, Laurel Hubbard, Andrej Jerman, Gennaro Delvecchio, and Agata Zubel. After him are Carlos Castro, Sutee Suksomkit, Edílson José da Silva, Rati Aleksidze, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, and Otryadyn Gündegmaa.

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In France

Among people born in France, Franky Zapata ranks 6,448 out of 6,770. Before him are Stanislas Guerini (1982), Michaël D'Almeida (1987), Thomas Fanara (1981), Hugo Gaston (2000), Delphyne Peretto (1982), and Sylvain Marveaux (1986). After him are Tony Gallopin (1988), Sinik (1980), Alba Gaïa Bellugi (1995), Nicolas Devilder (1980), Abdelhamid El Kaoutari (1990), and Perturbator (1993).

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Among INVENTORS In France

Among inventors born in France, Franky Zapata ranks 39. Before him are Alphonse Beau de Rochas (1815), Henri Fabre (1882), Louis Lumière (1864), Léon Gaumont (1864), Georges Beuchat (1910), and André Blondel (1863).

French born Inventors

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