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http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/05/mart ... commercia/



In 3 years time, everyone will be able to buy it, I think they might impose a license on its usage though. And the possibilities for new extreme sports , cant wait

I want one!

The problem with previous models has been the endurance (burn time of 40 seconds) and the fuel (100% pure hydrogen peroxide) which is hard to come by, expensive and very, very nasty stuff.

There is a small personal helicopter available also, however you do need to get a license for anything that flies. Not sure what classification this one comes under though.



Knight

Dubai Knight wrote:I want one!

The problem with previous models has been the endurance (burn time of 40 seconds) and the fuel (100% pure hydrogen peroxide) which is hard to come by, expensive and very, very nasty stuff.

There is a small personal helicopter available also, however you do need to get a license for anything that flies. Not sure what classification this one comes under though.



Knight

DK Have you got a death wish?

I suppose I should say "Live fast, die young!" However I have been living fast pretty much all my life and, to my knowledge, have still not died yet. Got close a few times and as a result it holds no real fear for me now.

I am actually off skydiving today and hope to be there when DD2 does his first tandem jump later.

I still want a personal jetpack...



Knight

Dubai Knight wrote:I suppose I should say "Live fast, die young!" However I have been living fast pretty much all my life and, to my knowledge, have still not died yet. Got close a few times and as a result it holds no real fear for me now.

I am actually off skydiving today and hope to be there when DD2 does his first tandem jump later.

I still want a personal jetpack...



Knight

I take it by DD2 you mean Dubaidog? Now Knighty, I think, if you ask DD, he will consider himself DD1 and the other an imposter!
Well I'll go with you meaning Dubaidog and not DDS. That man is just having too much fun before he leaves Dubai and at this rate we'll never get shot of him. Why is he leaving it so late to do his first tandem jump?

I'm just off to check to see if he's paid the rent just in case it all goes horribly wrong.

Ah...thereby speaks a true capitalist!



Knight

Dubai Knight wrote:I want one!

The problem with previous models has been the endurance (burn time of 40 seconds) and the fuel (100% pure hydrogen peroxide) which is hard to come by, expensive and very, very nasty stuff.

There is a small personal helicopter available also, however you do need to get a license for anything that flies. Not sure what classification this one comes under though.



Knight

I'd imagine if this thing uses some kind of explosive fuel, it would never be manufactured for civilian use, seems this one works on less volatile fuel, what I dont get is, why dont they make it with rechargeable batteries, its not like you can use this for trip across the small country, I'd say it would be a cool and attention grabbing way of throwing the trash, or saying hello to that hot neigbour who lives on the 10th floor

Apparently marshall the company that makes these, have been working on this prototype for about 5 years now, why is the development slow ? Could be a funding issue, it also seems the FAA could be a huge hurdle before mass manufacture of it is possible.

Ah i remember those personal helicopters, as you said such a bummer you need to get a helicopters license for it !, why can they just accept my bike license hmmm

The type of fuel depends on the method of propulsion. It could be a series of small turbine jets that run on AvGas or kerosene, but the duration would be limiting as these are thirsty unless operating at high speed and high altitude.

A prototype can take many years to develop and refine from a pure safety perspective, it then takes a further 2 years of extensive tests and evaluation by the FAA to obtain a Certificate of Airworthiness...or would if it fitted into one of the pre-defined aircraft categories. This would classify under the 'Fixed wing VTOL' category, if it had wings. It does not have rotor blades I can see so it doesn't fit in the rotary wing category either.

Perhaps it should be classified as a 'camel' as this is a "Horse designed by a committee."?

I still want one just to flick the finger at the traffic and Salik gates on the Sheikh Zayed Road.



Knight

zubber wrote:I'd imagine if this thing uses some kind of explosive fuel, it would never be manufactured for civilian use, seems this one works on less volatile fuel, what I dont get is, why dont they make it with rechargeable batteries,

Aah you mean civilians wouldn’t normally have access to petroleum spirits, liquefied natural or petroleum gasses?

Five Litres of petroleum spirit/heavy oil weighs around 3 Kg and delivers around 34 Kwh of energy.

To deliver the same amount of energy from batteries would take around 30 heavy duty car size batteries, each weighing around 15 Kg making 450 Kg in total which is nearly half a tonne! So you couldn’t possibly carry the batteries with you on the Jet-Pack.

You could of course mount the batteries on a trailer and tow the batteries from the Jet-Pack but then maybe the rope and feeder cables would get tangled up in the Jetstream and the trailer would sink if the pilot inadvertantly flew over water?

Maybe this is why it is called a Jet-Pack, what do you think Zubber?



-- Sat Apr 09, 2011 1:01 pm --

So after looking at the video, the engine sounded more like a conventional ICE rather than a class 2 Jet engine and after looking further I found the following article;

Driven by a pair of washing machine-sized fans strapped to your back, this personal transporter will give you a pretty cool 30 minutes of flight time and comes with a bunch of redundancy systems to ensure any mistakes don't turn fatal. The rotors are built out of a carbon / Kevlar composite and are powered by a two-litre V4 two-stroke Petrol engine, capable of delivering 150 kW.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/10/mart ... on-be-able

So then strictly speaking, it should really be described as a twin rotor, petrol engine driven mini helicopter, rather than a Jet-Pack driven by expansion gasses.

@dk - Ah, thanks for the clarification I was unaware of the prototype approval process with the faa , the way I see it , this jet pack;s design would be based on the same manner as aircraft that do a vertical take off and hover around, therefore I thought it shouldnt take so much and researching to make a smaller version to be put in a jet pack

@Dillon - Oh I was unaware of how much energy is produced with those fuels you have mentioned, I imagined that perhaps the jet pack was not based on rotary engines but was more like a tiny jet ( which i understand was a wrong idea) , hence the tiny jet would require something more volatile then those, maybe a mixture of more than on type of fuel , perhaps Yes I see why batteries wouldnt be feasible, Since it is still in the prototype stage, perhaps they would also design more compact baterries with a higher output, Fuel wouldnt be a good idea imho, Otherwise the size of the whole thing wouldnt be reduced

@zubber. There is nothing like an intelligent English man!

@Bm - Well, I'd still do Elizebeth Hurley

zubber wrote:@Bm - Well, I'd still do Elizebeth Hurley

Hmm... I don't think so Zubber, I believe Elizabeth is very particular, not peculiar.

Dillon wrote:

zubber wrote:@Bm - Well, I'd still do Elizebeth Hurley

Hmm... I don't think so Zubber, I believe Elizabeth is very particular, not peculiar.

I disagree , i'd say she'd be as ez as pie

zubber wrote:

Dillon wrote:

zubber wrote:@Bm - Well, I'd still do Elizebeth Hurley

Hmm... I don't think so Zubber, I believe Elizabeth is very particular, not peculiar.

I disagree , i'd say she'd be as ez as pie

I heard she doesn't mind Indians, just couldn't eat a whole one.

I like the jetpack idea, however I think you'll see more of these sooner:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/20 ... transition

Bethsmum wrote:I heard she doesn't mind Indians, just couldn't eat a whole one.

Agreed , That idiot knows jack about holding on to something like liz

-- Mon Apr 11, 2011 2:10 am --

Chocoholic wrote:I like the jetpack idea, however I think you'll see more of these sooner:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/20 ... transition

The idea of flying cars have been floating around for more than decade, i havent seen even one working prototype as of date sadly

Had a closer look at this one and it is clever.

Its 2 ducted fans, which is the same technology that powers the small airships around today, using a simple aircooled 2 stroke engine like a Rotax. Good reliable tried and tested aviation technology. It also incorporates some safety features such as an instant deployment parachute as used by hang glider and ultralights, a shock absorbing landing gear and several redundant electrical systems.

The main difference is the AMU (Avionic Management Unit) which is a much simplified system as used by the new Typhoon Eurofighter. This is essentially a gyroscopic control that keeps the machine stable and in the air.

I still want one!



Knight

Yes, I think I'd feel more confident with a 2 stroke petrol engine strapped to my back rather than a micro jet engine providing the driving force and I would think that the cost of maintenance of a two stroke would also be more beneficial towards a lower total cost of ownership too.

Good luck in your endeavours DK!