Video: Martin Jetpack flies again, but you still can't buy one
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted May 8th 2009 1:01PM
posted May 8th 2009 1:01PM
You know, for a device as potentially bad ass as the Martin Jetpack is -- the company boasts a maximum range of 31.5 miles at 63 mph, and the ability to hover at 8,000 feet above ground effect -- the video we've seen thus far has been pretty lackluster. Of course, you can't actually get your hands on one anyways (check back in January 2010), but that isn't stopping the company from accepting your $10,000 deposit for the opportunity to get in on the ground floor. Despite all that, we couldn't help but feel all a-flutter when we watched the newest clip and realized that someday soon our dreams of super heroism might be fulfilled -- and with a rocket strapped to our back, no less. Check it out for yourself after the break.
[Via Oh Gizmo!]
[Via Oh Gizmo!]
4-=5- years and it is still ultra-unportable, and ultra-useless. how long do you stay airborne? 5 minutes?
...and we will name it the Dangle 3000 or the What? I cant hear you!
Regardless of how impractical this is, I still totally want one.
take that mythbusters!
The video is "lackluster" likely because they know d#mn well how dangerous the thing could be if something goes haywire. Safety may also be the main reason for flying the thing indoors, as they did in the video.
Development of the helicopter was similarly "lackluster." From sikorskyarchives dawt com: "The VS-300 was first flown (tethered) on September 14, 1939 and the first untethered flight was on May 13, 1940. Testing continued and on May 6, 1941 Sikorsky piloted the VS-300 to a new world helicopter endurance record of 1 hour, 32 minutes and 26 seconds." So, 8 months after trying it out tied down, Sikorsky finally decided it was safe enough to try untethered. Many test flights were nothing more than getting it up in the air a few tens-of-feet and then setting it back down. Over and over. It may be lackluster, but it beats being dead.
I was wondering if traffic had a problem with this anytime soon...:)
Regards,
Shane Phillips
http://www.bodhost.com/
calling this a jetpack is a stretch... it's clear that the little human is strapped to the apparatus (not the other way around)...
For comedic effect the safety system should be modeled after that bouncing airbag system NASA used for its rover landings on MARS :D
Engine out, whoooooosssshhh! set of 20+ huge helium filled airbags surrounds you and you bounce to the ground, bouncing 30-40 feet into the air for a mile or two until you come to a stop (or land in a river, longer story)
heh
calling this a jetpack is a stretch... it's clear that the little human is strapped to the apparatus (not the other way around)...
Wow... it's a bigger, uglier, and [hard to believe it could be done] even less useful Segway. That hovers.
The answer to the question no one asked...
I wish I had gone to that air show in Oshkosh now.
Of course its huge. Of course it seems unnecessary. Of course most are laughing at it. It is an EARLY jetpack. Ever seen an early "portable phone?" http://qkpic.com/28e4a They showed up when I was a teenager. Oh how we laughed at them and made fun of people who had them.
Yes, a jetpack is a bit more "lofty" goal. But only literally. Remember your comments. They will sound short sighted in 10-20 yrs. This video will attract interest, money and know-how. It is "proof of concept" and a typical beginning. Not unlike the car, camera, phone, microwave, calculator, computer... and if you think one person strapped to a rocket is ridiculous, imagine a few hundred people in a tin can with wings flying over an ocean.
not a rocket...
So are these considered "aircraft"? Where are you going to be able to takeoff and land from?
It's VTOL.
It doesn't need a runway....you could just take/off land from your backyard. I'll bet it'd really freak out the neighbors dog too.
seems like a whole hell of a lot of effort to get three feet off the ground.
good thing he also built in the design a fully-plumbed toilet
I find myself wondering about hearing loss. You have a significant motor and two large fans attached to you about 2 ft form your head.
or you could get a water propelled one right now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-KczCp0OQ4
hmm
come on, make it easy to use like segway.
Consider this. Near as I can tell the guy flying that thing is ~16 years old. Were you doing anything nearly as cool at 16? I sure as hell wasn't! Feasible, practical or not... admit it... when most of us were just getting our licenses this kid is flying what will likely become the grand-daddy of future personal flying kits. (Sorry, couldn't come up with a better way of saying that.) Also consider that early cars and such were damn crude too; but look how far they've come. I'd love to play with one, and certainly wish this company well.
I agree, you might as well put a seat on that thing, a glass/plastic enclosure and you've got yourself an undersized, slowly-maneuverable 30-mile range helicopter at about a third the size of a regular helicopter, which isn't really worth it, especially from an energy-efficiency perspective.
When they can make that thing about 5 times smaller, more energy-efficient and able to be supported by a normal person's back, then that would be a jet pack. They shouldn't use the name pack for this, because it doesn't resemble a pack in any way, it's two small gas turbine powered fans, or mini jet engines, not strapped to a person's back but rather just a self-supporting vehicle resting on the ground, to which a person can strap themselves.
It's still good that they're doing stuff like that though. I feel that it'll be many decades of energy research until they figure out how to
Buyer beware. I wrote about this when it was first unveiled last summer at the big airshow in Oshkosh, WI.
For an aerospace engineers perspective on this, go to http://aerospaceagenda.com/2008/07/31/martin-jetpack-fails-to-wow-me.aspx
Don't need a AN engineering degree to tell you if he gets tipped over the guys getting pummeled to the ground. Shouldn't we wait until until they come out with anti-grav and micro fusion before we build a jetpack.
10 grand deposit for a flying leaf blower? 10 mph wind is deadly in this thing.
well he just looks stupid.
Even if this is as sexy looking as strapping a garbage container to your back I must say this is the first video I've seen that shows what seems to be really controlled, precission flying. At least they are making progress. But I wont be happy until I get my own little backpack that can take me the 30 km to work in minutes, and sporting 5 meter afterburner flame at takeoff :)
re: The CIRRUS Ballistic Parachute
We had a CIRRUS have an Engine Failure on take off in Gaithersburg MD and it worked flawlessly. The great thing was all the 911 calls that all said the same thing. :We just saw the Plane crash and it looked like some guy in a Parachute was falling right behind the plane also".
I believe the CIRRUS Ballistic Parachute has been deployed no less then 5 times, all with 100% success rate. The Ballistic Chute is a very big boon to General Aviation. Now if they can just get one on a Commercial Airline we would be set. But then again, a 747 drifting ever so gently onto your house still may cause some injuries!! If interested, this site has pictures of the plane after the Chute Deployment. It suffered a broken Wing when it landed on a Delivery Truck and a broken Tail Cone. www.FlightAware.com
Come on Apple, time to make the iJetPack.
I can see it now - drunk college dudes flyin' around peeing on people, and soccer Moms having accidents as they text while JetPackin'.
I can't believe there are so many boneheads commenting on something they know little to nothing about here. The reason they are operating in a controlled environment is called a "long and thorough testing process". The same kind of structured methodical tests certified aircraft go through to become F.A.A. type certified.
Once the flight envelope and emergency procedures have been thoroughly explored, then and only then will they release this new piece of machinery to the public in general.
One fatal crash early in a public release involving a paying customer would undoubtedly draw a company crippling law suit and enough bad publicity to ruin all the hope for this amazing machine. So a thinking person would want to demonstrate some patience and let the revolutionary Martin company have the time necessary to get ALL the technological issues sorted out.I can't believe there are so many boneheads commenting on something they know little to nothing about here. The reason they are operating in a controlled environment is called a long and thorough testing process. The same kind of structured methodical tests certified aircraft go through to become F.A.A. certified.
Once the flight envelope and emergency procedures have been thoroughly explored then and only then will they release this new piece of machinery to the public in general. One crash early in a public release with a paying customer would undoubtedly draw a company crippling law suit. So a thinking person would want to show some patience and let the revolutionary company have the time necessary to get ALL the technological issues sorted out.