It's been a long time coming. While Arthur C. Clarke's satellites have taken to space, and James Bond's futuristic mobile technology has become common place, still the dream of sustained personal flight has eluded us. But the future is here! Finally we can all take flight as Martin Aircraft in New Zealand releases the first commercially-available jet pack!
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I heard this morning on the news that Sir Arthur C. Clarke has passed. NPR did a nice piece on him, if a bit focused on 2001: A Space Odyssey. Clarke was a big influence on me and my interest in science and science fiction, and I thought it would be nice to have a permanent memorial of sorts,…
"all human beings would like to be able to fly--not by plane or helicopter or oversize cannon, but strapped to a thunderous gadget with intuitive controls"
So, what's the problem with getting a functioning jet back off the ground? According a recent piece in Popular Mechanics, "everything."
First…
HAPPY 90th BIRTHDAY,ARTHUR C. CLARKE!
I'm personally indebted to Mr. Clarke for so many reasons: his profound optimism, particularly about our race as a unified system and our inevitable future contact with extraterrestrial life, has bolstered my ability to think globally; his unshakable commitment…
Everyone on ScienceBlogsTM is talking about Arthur C. Clarke. I put up a short post where I noted his passing. I wasn't a super fan of Clarke's fiction, though I found it interesting and thought provoking. My personal favorite was the The City and the Stars, which tells the story of a future…
Only $86,000 and a 10% down 12 month lead time.
I bet shipping from NZ is not cheap.
Other than Jet Pack being a misnomer (it uses a 4 cyl infernal combustion engine), it's pretty darn cool.
Very similar to the Solotrek of a decade or so ago. It had a few successful tethered flights before the funding ran out.
http://www.google.com/search?q=solotrek+xfv
Trek Aero had something similar years ago. It's incredibly expensive, but similar. I think the Dragonfly concept is really fucking awesome, though.
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As for the "jet" idea, it is, indeed, a jet in many senses of the word; it is just not a high temperature turbine. Jet skis operate under similar mechanisms (internal combustion engine turning an impeller pump which directs a high speed discharge of water-the "jet") as this "jet pack." Strictly speaking, a "jet" is not a type of engine, but the mode of propulsion. A helicopter may be, for example, powered by a turbine engine (turboshaft), but it is not a "jet powered" helicopter. Most modern aircraft are turbofan powered. A "jet," in your sense, includes anything which is turbine powered, rather than "jet propelled." A modern high performance hydroplane is "turbine powered" and not "jet powered," similarly, many older aircraft had turboprop engines which did little (usually, nothing) in the way of providing a "jet" of air for propulsion. A non-afterburning high-bypass turbofan has more in common with a ducted fan lift system than it has in common with a turboshaft engine. (it produces highly directional thrust as exhaust rather than developing torque to power a separate drive system)
[/pedant]
Fair enough, Jared.
I dig ducted fans.