Dubai Buys Commercial Jetpacks For Firefighters (martinjetpack.com)

_Sharp'r_ writes: Want to fly a jetpack? Join the fire department in Dubai. In a skyscraper filled city where cops drive Ferraris and Lamborghinis, it was actually cheaper to buy twenty $150K jetpacks (plus two simulators) for fire rescue rather than find 2700 ft ladders. Slashdot has had stories about these coming for five years. A VR-headset based jetpack flight-simulator for the masses would be fun, too, even better if the object were to put out fires in skyscrapers..

Comments

Firefighting Capacity

[zuckie13]

How much water or other suppressant can it carry? Doesn't help if you can get to a fire, and not have anything to put it out.....

Re:Firefighting Capacity

[Dutch Gun]

Doesn't help if you can get to a fire, and not have anything to put it out.....

A person trapped in a burning building might disagree. Firefighters do other things besides put out fires, you know.

These are obviously to be used for observation or search and rescue ops, not for fighting fires directly. Since these can be remotely piloted, you could theoretically fly them up, have people strap in, and fly them back down. Unlike a helicopter, you can land these things just about anywhere, even without a dedicated helipad. You might even have a chance at rescuing someone though a window or from a balcony, though that might be pretty dicey.

Let Dubai pay for the expensive first-gen models and try them out. If they're actually useful, maybe they'll get adopted elsewhere. While it's more akin to a tiny aircraft than a jetpack, this is still pretty cool tech.

Is this some luddite anti-tech site?

[Anonymous Coward]

They are commercially available Jetpacks dammit! They are incredibly fucking cool! What is wrong with you all?

Why does nobody have anything positive to say about personal fucking flying machines? What would it take to get you jaded miserable sods excited?

Re:Is this some luddite anti-tech site?

[Compuser]

These are no jetpacks, no matter what the media labels them as.
First, they are turboprops. There are no jets. In other words, it is a slightly shrunk down versions of a personal helicopter with all that implies for maneuverability and speed.
Second, they are not "...packs". These devices are huge. The cool thing about jetpacks is that they would be devices you could carry with you and they would be the size and weight of a normal bag but then you strap it to your back and you can fly. And when you fly, these devices would not stick out much from your back, thus allowing you to clear very narrow gaps between buildings and so on.
There is a reason why bicycles are not generally considered cool but skateboards are. You need to park one but not the other.
Finally, these devices are totally useless for their intended purpose. If the building is in trouble (e.g. on fire) then these will not help you put the fire out. To search, survey, or monitoring you are better off with much small drones. They can hang in the air much longer, they provide clear picture and they can navigate much tighter spaces than this monster, plus they have no operator to endanger. If the building is not in trouble but you have e,g, a medical emergency on the top floor then you are better off with an elevator. Part of the reason people are smirking is because this is clearly someone in Dubai buying himself a bunch of toys with public money. Corruption is not sexy.

It takes multiple fire fighters to control a hose

[gurps_npc]

One man holding a fire house on full power = a house splaying around randomly. That's a man using his full weight to hold it down.

Also, these things tend to have heavy weight restrictions. No way it can carry a firefighter, in full gear, holding a full grown Adult - not even a thin one.

About the only use for this might be to save a kitten or a child. Maybe a very thin women.