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A Working, Winged Jetpack from Switzerland
serutan writes "A Swiss airline pilot and self-described adrenaline junkie named Yves Rossy has developed a working jet-pack and flown it more than 30 times. Actually, it's a pair of rigid carbon fiber wings strapped to his back, with two small kerosene-powered jet engines on each wing — essentially a small jet airplane using the pilot's body as the fuselage. His flights have lasted up to 6-1/2 minutes at speeds over 100mph. Rossy's website and YouTube have some pretty cool videos of him flying around over the mountains like Buzz Lightyear. He is working toward ground takeoffs and landings, but currently he jumps out of an airplane, unfolds the wings and flies until he runs out of fuel, then parachutes to the ground."
That's not flying, it's falling with style.
It isn't the flying that's the hard part, it's landing with the bones in your body intact.
GAAH! MY PRINTER IS ON FIRE!!! PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!
Pretty damn awsome! The landing can be seen as well; he makes it look easy. The wings fold up and he simply parachutes down like its nothing. I was more shocked when I saw him simply jumping out of a plan with a giant pair of wings on his back; scary stuff.
The biggest engineering obstacle he had to overcome was how to fit in the corkscrew.
Don't exactly remember how he landed, though.
Painfully.
Formerly GNU/Anonymous Coward. This message has been determined to cause cancer in laboratory animals.
After him, several other people published books on building small jet engines, like this one, for instance.
... Just throw yourself at the ground and miss.
The dude jumps out of a plane with a homemade jetpack and flies around for six minutes, and you're not impressed?
Holy crap...
This guy is looking for sponsors. Richard Branson should get his wallet out. A truly stunning achievement. The last shot in the video is inspiring.
Join the British National Party
If you don't speak French, I'll give a brief summary of his comments.
Basically, at the beginning he explains a bit about how it was designed. One point he made was that his reason for the foldable design of the wings was so that it would fit in the plane. The other interesting thing he said was that the design was effectively that of an airplane - with his body serving as the fuselage.
After the flight he just explains that after he jumped out of the plane he did a little half-turn to catch the wind. He also mentions that the wing unfolded nicely - and that when he kicked in the gas that he moved forward and he could tell that at that point he was flying. He said it was really cool, too. (Which I think we'll all agree is the case!)
Also - I'm not a native French speaker. I'm American but lived in Paris a couple of years - any native French speaker care to comment on the guy's accent? Is that a Swiss accent? (I'm presuming so, but I was curious to know from a native.)
Sigh. My id isn't prime. 2 2 2 2 2 3 5 313
Dear Santa,
If it's not too late, I would like to add a jetpack to my Xmas list. You can cross off the PS3 if that helps.
Thanks!
www.sjbaker.org
I wouldn't think he'd be aerydynamic enough with a sack that large hanging underneath..
I'm impressed by the fact that he was his own test pilot ... ... learning the flight characteristics on the way to the ground ...
Obviously, a quick learner.
I'd be interested in knowing what his "Plan B" was in the event the wings folded up in flight, or one engine exploded.
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/207659/amasing_rc_je ts/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbITzCI2AU0
Those little hairdryers deliver up to 50 pounds of thrust and sell for $3000-$5000.
rj
"Oh father who art in heaven..."?
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
At first the videos don't seem so impressive when he's just gliding, then you see the thing with the vapor trails going straight out behind him...
I don't think the thing climbs very well because they don't show any dramatic shots of climbing. There's one shot that looks like a steep climb but that is after a power dive. Still it's pretty impressive to pull out of a dive and gain altitude using a short pair of wings strapped to your hips.
The most dramatic segment on the videos is an over the shoulder shot where you see him approaching a ridge. He's a little above it when he starts his approach, but if he's just gliding he's going to end up a greasy smear on the mountainside. He covers quite a bit of horizontal ground and it looks like he gains at least a little altitude on the approach. In any case, it shows either a great deal of faith in the jet engines or a serious death wish.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
engines grenade 2 feet from his groin
....but...
Its not like he was in any real danger...?
Its not like he was in any real danger...!!
Spheres.
Mighty spheres.
Especially the first time!
I don't care how many plan B's they had.
Cloned foods give the statement "We had that last week!" a whole new meaning.