The Jetpack - how cool is this?

[skeptical]

It appears that flying with a jetpack will become an experience available to the general public next year. OK, initially it will be just a limited ride near the ground. But, development is under way, and this beast can fly for much longer distances than any previous rocket or jet pack design.
News ||

It is able to travel for 30 minutes at a speed of 100 km per hour, thus covering 50 kms in one fuel load. This so massively outperforms rocket packs, such as James Bond wore, that the two are not even in the same ball park.

Its potential performance is massively more, but aviation laws have forced the inventors to tone down the thrust and the fuel tank size (now only 5 gallons). I have a sneaky feeling that the high powered version will be available only to the military. Oh well.

 

[Nik]

Not a 'jetpack', but a strap-on helicopter with ducted rotors.

Neat, but...

 

[skeptical]

Sorry Nik

Not so. Those are actual jet engines. A genuine jet pack. Of course, jet engines have rotors too, but the thrust comes from the exhaust - not from rotating helicopter blades.

 

[Parson]

Sorry Nik

Not so. Those are actual jet engines. A genuine jet pack. Of course, jet engines have rotors too, but the thrust comes from the exhaust - not from rotating helicopter blades.

But when I hear jet engine I'm thinking of a jet which operates by igniting fuel and directing the explosion for thrust. Not a gasoline engine which spins blades by the thrust of the exhaust.

Still, very cool, and something that might develop into personal aircraft in residential areas.

 

[Ursa major]

A jet engine that drives a propellor is called a turboprop. The engines used on modern passenger aircraft are turbofans, where some air passes through the engine core, while the rest only through the fan.

While the Martin Jetpack uses ducted fans, I suspect (no more than that) its engines have more in common with turboprops.


Frankly, I do not view a future where the sky is full of people barely in control of their jetpacks with much enthusiasm. And it hardly looks like an efficient use of fuel (though TEIN will probably point out that it doesn't really matter in the scheme of things, given how little time we all have left anyway).

 

[mygoditsraining]

Does anyone else get alarm bells ringing when they direct you to another page for enquiries to purchase, and that the company in the other site has a similar but not the same name?

I distinctly recall hearing about a guy a few years ago who pulled a stunt that was basically selling tech that he had developed to technology venture capitalists using a company that possessed all the IP and rights to the technology as bait, and a similarly named but entirely worthless company as the switch.

More fool them for not doing their due diligence, but I'd be really really suspicious of a company that says "hey, wire us $10,000 and we'll get back to you!" - the agreement you have to send with that is a joy to behold:

"Buyer may cancel agreement if" clauses include the glorious:

The Martin Jetpack has not met one or more of the following performance guarantees by the date of expected delivery of the Jetpack:

7.2.1 Qualifying as an ultralight aircraft under 14 CFR Part 103 of the Federal Air Regulations

7.2.2 Having a payload of not less than 220 pounds (100 kg)

 

[Parson]

Frankly, I do not view a future where the sky is full of people barely in control of their jetpacks with much enthusiasm. And it hardly looks like an efficient use of fuel (though TEIN will probably point out that it doesn't really matter in the scheme of things, given how little time we all have left anyway).

Oh ye of little faith!

 

[Ursa major]

I suspect that a goodly percentage of them will have Aim for Windows rolleyes - no doubt with a Blue Sky of Death state - as their operating system, so I remain to be convinced that it's a good idea.

 

[skeptical]

I seriously doubt that anyone on this forum will ever buy one. What I think is cool is that we may all get the chance to try one. It is a bit like the helicopter ride at the fairground. We pay our hard earned dollars and get 10 minutes. We aint never gonna buy one.

Nor will we see these things buzzing about the sky in large numbers. I suspect that the biggest user will be the military. I could imagine them being used in Afghanistan to attack across difficult terrain. Sad. I hate to think of something so cool being used as a murder weapon.

 

[Ursa major]

Rest assured, skeptical, that the armed forces of the United Kingdom will be the last to adopt these (unless, that is, the UK government thinks it can persuade the British public that each one of these counts as a real helicopter, in which case we might buy a handful).

 

[Nik]

Well, UK.Gov have just done something *astonishing*-- They've ordered 40 Eurofighters !!

Okay, they put the thumb-screws on the consortium and got a 20% discount, but...

 

[Parson]

I suspect that a goodly percentage of them will have Aim for Windows rolleyes - no doubt with a Blue Sky of Death state - as their operating system, so I remain to be convinced that it's a good idea.

"Blue Sky of Death state" LOL! You are one funny guy err, bear, err, whatever.

With a parachute (a standard safety feature) this should be safer than your normal car. I can almost see myself making pastoral visits from the sky. An angel, so to speak.