Jet Pack Runs For Hours On Water

Ponca City, We love you writes "Jet packs have been around for half a century, but there's always been one problem: they run out of fuel in around 30 seconds. Now a German company has taken the standard jet pack design, run a fat yellow hose out the back, and connected it to a small unmanned boat that houses an engine, pump, and fuel tank and sends pressurized water up the hose, where it's shot out by two nozzles just behind the wearer's shoulders. Called the JetLev-Flyer, the design purportedly can reach a height of 15 meters, a speed of 72 kph, and a range of 300 kilometers based on four hours of flying time. A digital fly-by-wire system is used to control the throttle. Future designs may achieve higher altitudes, higher top speeds, and extended range, and even travel below the water's surface. The American manufacturers claim it is 'amazingly easy to learn and operate' and they're taking orders now at $130,000 each."

Comments

So it doesn't run on water at all?

[richy freeway]

It actually runs on whatever powers the engine that drives the pump.

Re:Dollars are cheaper than pouns!

[andy.ruddock]

The web site advertises two models :

155 HP = EUR 99,000 which is $125,116 (£88,122)
215 HP = EUR 119,000 which is $150,392 (£105,924)

so the Telegraph has the prices wrong.

(Exchange rates courtesy of Google)

Re:are you crazy?

[ToadMan8]

lol; I think they mean the boat / pump thing will be underwater, not the jetpack. Divers are limited by physiological things when ascending and descending, not how fast they can swim. SCUBA certification organizations will tell you one foot per second up and down is about the limit. They already have underwater propulsion things (little units you hang on to that you point in the direction you want to go, and they run of batteries) to combat currents, long distance requirements, etc. that are about as good as required.

Yes it is!

[camperdave]

I struggle to see this as a jet pack.

Go and look up what a jet actually is. Here. Let me help you.

jet (plural jets)

1. A collimated stream, spurt or flow of liquid or gas from a pressurized container, an engine, etc.
2. A spout or nozzle for creating a jet of fluid.
3. A class of airplane using jet engines rather than propellors.
4. An engine that propels a vehicle using a stream of fluid as propulsion.
5. A part of a carburetor that controls the amount of fuel mixed with the air.

Pay particular attention to number 4.