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The First 'Practical' Jetpack May Be On Sale In Two Years
Daniel_Stuckey writes "This week, New Zealand-based company Martin Aircraft became certified to take what it calls 'the world's first practical jetpack' out for a series of manned test flights. If all goes well, the company plans to start selling a consumer version of the jetpack in 2015, starting at $150,000 to $200,000 and eventually dropping to $100,000. 'For us it's a very important step because it moves it out of what I call a dream into something which I believe we're now in a position to commercialize and take forward very quickly,' CEO Peter Coker told the AFP."
Could someone just lend me $150,000.. I have something I need to buy.
Just sayin'
From the people that brought you the horseless carriage comes... the chairless helicopter!
30 minutes max... 400 pounds.... starting at $150,000
I think this guy has a skewed idea of practical.
Now we just need to get a Kickstarter going to fund Spinfusor development.
This is the VTOL equivalent of the ultra-light aircraft: take away everything but the barest essentials, and a "jet pack" is what you have left.
Unlike conventional ultralights, "the barest essentials" in this case don't even include wings, due to the greater thrust of jet engines.
Computer control is clearly very important to making this thing work--I bet there is a very clever stablization algorithm at work in the background, and various emergency control and landing modes that make it relatively idiot-proof.
Blasphemy is a human right. Blasphemophobia kills.
This thing is heavier than some ultralight helicopters.
If you want an ultralight helicopter, they're available for as little as $6,000.
Only it's not practical, a jet, or a pack.
The best part is how quiet it is ... can't want until hundreds of people are commuting in that :)
I thought they were available now.
If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
A portable, one man blimp with pedal power.
just try to keep me out of your cactus farm now!
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Looks like the Coyote strapped some jets to grampa's rocking chair.
seen those in RC planes. they're not jet engines, but they'll fly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtDykslL954
Prepare yourself for a shock. I'm the Rocketeer.
You can say it's the "first practical jetpack".
It costs over $100,000.
It's not allowed in "urban areas"
Not practical for 99.999999999999999% of people.
I could add more 9's but it isn't practical.
For every benefit you receive a tax is levied. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
I can't imagine a situation where these would be allowed unfettered flight over urban areas because of the noise. From the video, it seems like full ear protection is required even for the ground crew. The noise limits the useability.
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Super Expensive Fan Chair.
Thanks.
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Reminds of a mini Moller Skycar M400 M400, except it works. I've been following the M400 since about 1990 in hopes it might actually make it somewhere, unfortunately, this is as good at it has gotten. I've never understood why the last decade in computer advances haven't lent something towards stability for that crazy thing. Maybe they should take a lesson from this. I've given up on Moller's sky car, yet things like this make me still dream about it. Oh well...
Reminds of a mini Moller Skycar M400 , except it works. I've been following the M400 since about 1990 in hopes it might actually make it somewhere, unfortunately, this is as good at it has gotten. never understood why the last decade in computer advances haven't lent something towards stability for that crazy thing. Maybe they should take a lesson from this. I've given up on Moller's sky car, yet things like this make me still dream about it. Oh well...
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Can't wait to take my jetpack to the Hyperloop station so I can commute to my job in Atlantis.
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
Apparently this was built using a Beowulf cluster of leaf blowers. Your neighbors will be thrilled with you when you jet off at 6 AM. But it sure looks damn cool to fly around in.
99% is all but one in a hundred, or 1e2.. add a power of ten for each 9, and you get.. 1e17, or all but 1 in 100 million billion. People? That's more people than ever existed. I think this thing is at least practical for the promoters, or at least whomever has been recieving the money they spend on devlopment and promotion. You'd still be off if you counted each person's individual cells.
No, you've added quite enough already.
Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do. (Isaac Asimov)
Look at the Mosquito aviation stuff: http://www.innovator.mosquito.net.nz/mbbs2/mosqspec.asp
1 hour endurance at 70mph at 5 gph. 1/3 the horsepower and higher cruise speed.
The mosquito costs $30K. for a kit, 200 hours build time.
People build helicopters rather than lift-jets because moving a large volume of air slowly is more efficient than moving a small volume of air quickly. (force is goes as (M/s)*V, power as (M/s)*V^2).
A compact jet pack you could wear would be great, the this isn't it.
Besides the hearing loss of those who fly without hearing protection, your not going to be sneaking up on anything.
I can see one at every circus or event that want themselves noticed, loose gravel/dirt flyover areas to really get some attention.
On the other hand for Wildlife management this would be very helpful if there's a need to constantly "herd" animals;
not to mention being fun as heck to fly.
Now we're going to be deluged with nitwits careening about the place.
Rich nitwits, but still nitwits.
So why are these ultralight helicopters mainly controlled by a person? It seems to me they would be safer if fly-bi-wire with a computer doing most of the work of stability.
The helicopter needs a lot more room to land. Now this isn't terribly important until the "jetpack" is cleared for flying in populated areas but if/when it is the ability to land in a very small space will be a big deal.
Looks like a cross between a drum set and a giant bag clip.
The jet blast will need a fair bit of open space as well, Not sure how it compares to the helicopeter. (which has a 18' rotor diameter).
I don't know what the jetpack does in the event of an engine failure. The helicopter can autorotate (at least in theory -its tricky in real life).
I don't know what the jetpack does in the event of an engine failure.
It does 32.174 feet per second squared.
So why are these ultralight helicopters mainly controlled by a person? It seems to me they would be safer if fly-bi-wire with a computer doing most of the work of stability.
Weight. If you add the mass of the computer control and actuation systems necessary for fly by wire it would no longer qualify for the ultralight category. Oh, and it would cost a lot more than $30k, but possibly less than the $150k "jetpack" proposed here.
Knowledge Brings Fear
The FAA has only one question: "What happens when it quits?"
For whatever reason there you are you are 200+ feet in the air with NOTHING holding you up!
Helicopters can autorotate (sorta) and save themselnes MOST of the time, but a jet pack?
In aviation they refer to this as a "once in a lifetime event".
To be a jet pack, I need to be able to carry it on my back. Walk around with it, and then take to the sky at will.
That was the dream of the jet pack. That it would give a person the ability to walk around and then leap into the sky at will.
This thing does fly... but you can't really walk with it.
Its sort of like calling something a sea plane when it can't float. Yeah... it might fly... but... if it sinks when it hits the water its not a sea plane.
This isn't a jet pack. Try again.
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A real world feasibility study regarding Jet Packs as a mainstream transportation tool: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X18UYqzV0s Needless to say the results are positively SHOCKING.
People build helicopters rather than lift-jets because moving a large volume of air slowly is more efficient than moving a small volume of air quickly. (force is goes as (M/s)*V, power as (M/s)*V^2).
...An convenient illustration of this is the Atlas Human Powered Helicopter which uses massive slow-moving rotors to compensate for a human's puny power output.
One advantage the Martin has is that the blades are enclosed. I'd have better luck getting permission to land a Martin in the carpark than a Mosquito.
30 minutes at max speed of around 60 mph : would probably be enough for me to do a return trip on one tank - if only the damn airport wasn't in the way!
(Not that I have a spare US$150k)
fuel is on top of that as well FAA fines / jail time if you mess with other air traffic.
Not really.
Source: 25 year aerospace engineer
Be careful not to wear it upside down.
I'm not sure where, if anywhere, this would fall under FAA rules, but I would bet that it works out that you can;t fly it period outside of model airplane or model rocketry areas.
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
We already did this with less ages ago and it looks cooler...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_X-Jet
I can only see tow things coming out of this.... Putin Flying one to wow the crowds and Chuck Norris crashing one in the desert. Nice though, but still, a world where these would be flying around would be rather a dangerous place indeed since most people still haven't mastered driving.
End of Line.
This thing seems not better and much larger than the Hiller flying segway from 50 years ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiller_VZ-1_Pawnee
Just sayin'.
Where is Commando Cody when you need him?
All this needs is a microphone, loudspeaker and vocoder so you can convince all of the onlookers below that you are their supreme overlord.
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A similar link was posted above, which included ones for $6,000. Which puts it on the edge of practicality for most people (except for the training needed and the issue of safety), whereas $150K isn't practical for except for a very few people.
In other words: it might be more practical for me to go the 5 miles to work by ejecting myself (somehow) along a ballistic trajectory, and using a parasail for terminal deceleration and guidance :)
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