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Martin Jetpack Climbs 5000 Feet Above Sea Level
rh2600 writes "For years the Martin Jetpack has stayed just a few feet off the ground, invoking frequent suspicion about its true abilities. Well, today that all changed [video] with the first climb test in New Zealand (with weighted crash-test dummy) reaching over 5,000 feet above sea level. The emergency parachute test was also a success. Kiwis can indeed fly."
Now I can FLY!!!
Where was this thing when you needed it the most???
Nothing here... So... SHOOO!!!
Highlights @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHPedpE70Es
Earlier in the program [2:03] Mr. Martin refers to 'flying around for up to 30 minutes'. and at [7:17] in the video there's a call of 800 ft/min climb rate. Methinks you can get a lot better than just up to 3500 ft AGL.
BTW - Aviation authorites have little or no sense of humour. Testing equipment with live (perhaps deserving) volunteers without testing the safety systems will get you shut down, in a very official and unpleasant manner.
A jetpack should be no bigger than a hiker's backpack. This thing is more like a small aircraft.
Not quite. That was an test of the new parachute system that is designed for catastrophic situations, something any sane test pilot is going to want before climbing on board and soaring more than a couple feet off the ground. Not sure they discussed flight duration, but soaring to 3000 feet and back to the ground under it's own power is certainly a minimum flight time.
I support metric but it's currently the standard world wide in aviation to measure altitude in feet.
Darwin is pretty far away from Christchurch. I guess they could get someone from there to volunteer, but I doubt anyone who has won some prestigious award would be into it.
Hell, Google Maps can't even figure out how to get there!
This is my footer. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
The pack is big and bulky enough that the addition of a small wing won't make much of a difference. With a wing, you can transition from vertical takeoff using thrust only, to horizontal wing-borne flight which uses much less power (and/or achieves a much higher speed).
There were a lot of inventors who had a fix wing aircraft before the Wright Brothers but the reason they get to say they invented it is because they could TURN the Wright Flyer. Before that they all flew in a straight line, even the French who didn't believe them, had to admit they won, when the Flyer banked away from a row of trees in Paris.
After the first twenty feet the ascension would be much easier as my bladder and bowels empty out, lightening the load...
Ken
Who keeps the Metric System down?
So to answer GP's question, the aviation industry.
This is very cool, but it looks more like a personal helicopter than a true jetpack. Certainly could get people into inaccessible areas, but with how much gear, and you couldn't bring much of anything back (like an injured hiker, etc..). Still, quite a feat of engineering. I hope he gets investors!
cheers, ben
Never miss a good chance to shut up -- Will Rogers
Despite Martin Jetpack's talk of its usefulness for remote search and rescue, the real money is for military purposes. This piece describes the first practical uses of helicopters in Korea for reconnaissance, supply, and medivac. A decade later, the next generation of choppers -- Chinooks and Hueys -- were doing serious delivery work in combat.
I, for one, welcome our new kiwi jetpack flying overlords.
Obi-Wan: "I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were sudden
I heard that everyone was shocked when it banked, assuming it had gone out of control.
Although the Wright Brothers first few flights were primarily about flying in a straight line. I wasn't until their third flyer that they managed what could reasonably be considered sustained controlled powered flight (No disrespect to The Wright Brothers. A much more important first.)
Richard Pearse (the kiwi being referred to) did mange to get off the ground for short hops, so it's reasonable to consider that an aviation first as well.
You are mostly correct, though you didn't mention the key word: control system. The patent that the Wright Brothers file was not for the shape of the plane, or the engine they used, but for the control systems that let them control the pitch, yaw, and roll of the aircraft. Indeed, controlling the aircraft in stable flight by defining parameters like pitch, yaw, and roll was a key insight of theirs. All their competitors weren't able to achieve stable flight because they were still guessing their way around how to keep their aircraft up and steady, and didn't really have a solution that let them control the aircraft.
There is no such thing as luck. Luck is nothing but an absence of bad luck.
Actually you can't test the parachute beforehand..... because the test was for rocket deployment, at altitude, from a machine that was recently operating... anything less (even tossing it from an airplane and triggering the parachute) would be considered only a partial test in aerospace circles.