Paris  - After several delays caused by bad weather, Swiss adventurer Yves Rossi - also known as Fusionman - on Friday became the first person to fly solo across the English Channel between Britain and France using a single jet-propelled wing, French media reported.

Rossy, 49, leaped from a plane at more than 2,500 metres above the French port of Calais, fired up the jets on his home-made wing and landed 13 minutes later at Dover in southern Britain.

Rossy, a former Swiss airline pilot, followed the flight path of French aviation pioneer Louis Bleriot, who became the first person to fly across the Channel in a plane in 1909.

He crossed the 35-kilometre stretch at speeds approaching 200 kilometres per hour, using a carbon-composite wing equipped with four simple, kerosene-burning jet turbines.

The wing had no steering devices, meaning that Rossy used his head and back to control the wing's movement.

He was guided towards Dover by a support aircraft and followed by two helicopters - one to film the attempt and another to rescue him in the event of a splash landing.