Tuesday 7 June 2011

The future is (almost) here

What do you imagine when you think of "the future." I know for a fact that jetpacks will rank near the top of the list.

A personal jetpack 30 years in the making is about to come to a store near you. In about 18 months the Martin Jetpack, heralded as one of the world's most anticipated inventions by Time Magazine, is expected to be publicly available. Commercial users (medical aid providers, security / traffic monitoring systems) are likely to be flying the jetpacks by the end of this year, and shortly thereafter it will be made available to anyone with ~ $100 000 to spare.

The pack is basically two supercharged leaf blowers welded together, which operates on standard gasoline and generates about 200 horsepower from its 2 L V8 engine. Video below shows the pack soaring 1.5 km (5 000 ft) in a remote-controlled dummy test flight of the pack on May 21.


This jet pack is huge. It weighs about 250 lbs and can lift an additional 600 lbs. This is just under the limit to avoid strict US aircraft safety / licensing regulations. The operator controls the pack with two joysticks: left for pitch and roll, right for yaw and throttle. A display centered between the controllers shows the operator flight and engine information. The manufacturer claims that controls can be mastered in an hour of practice, and of course, it comes with a parachute for emergency situations.

So. Anyone care to pitch in to my I-Really-Want-A-Jetpack fund? Accepting all donations.

15 comments:

  1. Haha, how long does a full tank of gas last you?

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  2. i saw something like this on reddit a while back, only it was more like a hovering segway. I'm too lazy to look for the link though.

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  3. It has a 20 L tank, which gives 30 minutes of flight and a distance of 50 km (30 miles.) Of course, they're working on increasing those numbers.

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  4. Very cool, can't wait to see if they have a more affordable version in the next few years^^

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  5. really impressive dude, keep it up! :D

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  6. That's dope. If i could afford one, i think i would be like the thousandth person in line to buy one though. Just to make sure they work out any problems before i actually get mine. haha

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  7. If I could spare the change, I'd donate.
    But I'm sorry! I'm putting every nickel and dime into my own Jetpack-Fund.

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  8. Yeah, I'd rather wait for the second generation of jetpacks than get one the moment they're available. I'd like to see if they actually keep up to the expectations before getting near one.

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  9. "made available to anyone with ~ $100 000 to spare." Lol I love how you put that in there!

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  10. If I had a jetpack I would be Duke Nukem. :)

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  11. *blink*
    *blink*
    I WANT ONE!!!!

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  12. thats not a jetpack,,that is just a 1 person plane

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  13. I vote jetpacks to replace cars.

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  14. Jet Packs and Health Packs. All we need. Imagine turning the corner and then suddenly - a health pack!
    so much better than a grazed knee for a week.

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