---
title: "Someone Carrying a Rifle Just Flew Over Paris on a Hoverboard"
description: "Inventor of the Flyboard Air, Franky Zapata, flew over Paris on the hoverboard with a rifle to demonstrate its potential military benefits."
date: "2019-07-15"
modified: "2019-07-22"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin Houser"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kristin"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/carrying-rifle-flying-hoverboard-paris"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
tags:
  - "flyboard air"
  - "hoverboard"
  - "military"
  - "the digest"
---

# Someone Carrying a Rifle Just Flew Over Paris on a Hoverboard

![To demonstrate the potential military benefits of the Flyboard Air, the inventor of the flying hoverboard rode it above a parade while wielding a rifle.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/carrying-rifle-flying-hoverboard-paris.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Der Spiegel/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Hit Parade

You expect to see inflatable floats in the sky above a parade. What you don't expect to see is a man on a Green Goblin-style flying hoverboard wielding a rifle.

Thankfully, French inventor Franky Zapata was a planned addition to Sunday's [Bastille Day festivities in Paris](<https://gizmodo.com/french-inventor-touts-rifle-while-flying-turbine-powere-1836363914>), and he wasn't carrying the rifle because he hoped to harm any of the world leaders in attendance.

Instead, the weapon was [likely intended](<https://www.france24.com/en/20190714-french-inventor-soars-above-champs-elysees-flyboard-paris-parade>) to highlight the potential military applications of the remarkable device giving Zapata the ability to fly above the crowd: the Flyboard Air.

https://youtu.be/JvEMQalsHWs

## Float on Air

When Zapata initially invented the Flyboard, it was essentially a board that shot water out the bottom. Stand on the board, and it would lift you nearly 30 feet into the air above a lake or pool.

In 2016, Zapata [introduced](<https://futurism.com/flyboard-air-hoverboard-can-reportedly-soar-10000-feet>) the Flyboard Air, a version of the flying hoverboard powered by gas turbines. Now, anyone brave enough to hop on board could fly around untethered, reaching [reported](<https://www.twz.com/23854/one-company-thinks-flying-platforms-have-finally-come-of-age-but-will-the-military-hop-on-board>) heights of 9,000 feet and a top speed of 128 kilometers per hour (80 miles per hour).

## Flying Army

Zapata has long espoused the [potential military benefits](<https://www.twz.com/23854/one-company-thinks-flying-platforms-have-finally-come-of-age-but-will-the-military-hop-on-board>) of the Flyboard Air, and those benefits apparently aren't lost on Florence Parly, France's armed forces minister.

[According to *France24*](<https://www.france24.com/en/20190714-french-inventor-soars-above-champs-elysees-flyboard-paris-parade>), Parly noted prior to the parade that Zapata's device could "allow tests for different kinds of uses, for example as a flying logistical platform or, indeed, as an assault platform" — meaning Sunday's peaceful demonstration could help usher in a far more violent future for the Flyboard Air.

**READ MORE:** [French Inventor Totes Rifle While Flying Turbine-Powered Flyboard at Bastille Day Celebrations](<https://gizmodo.com/french-inventor-touts-rifle-while-flying-turbine-powere-1836363914>) \[*Gizmodo*\]

**More on the Flyboard:** *["Flyboard Air" is a Hoverboard That Can Reportedly Soar to 10,000 Feet](<https://futurism.com/flyboard-air-hoverboard-can-reportedly-soar-10000-feet>)*

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinjhouser>)