By Robert Emslie
We’ve seen jet-powered cars, and rocket-powered jetpacks, however neither of those was very good at multi-tasking. But now, for only $86,000 and a permanent butt-pucker, you can sail over traffic jams in a V4 piston-powered turbofan jetpack. The Martin Jetpack has a 280-lb load capacity (sorry tubbos) and a 31-mile range at an FAA-regulated 63 mph. And while its 8000-ft ceiling would technically allow you entry into the mile-high club, it looks like it takes both hands to operate it.
Image source: [flightglobal.com]
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Jeff Glucker
The pedant in me wants to point out that a V4-powered propeller engine isn't a turbofan, as there's no gas turbine involved. The 6-year-old in me, however, is just screaming "WANT!" over and over at the top of his lungs.
excellent. i wonder if my insurance company covers men falling from the sky with turbofan backpacks on its collision claims?
Skitter totally fell out of the sky and crushed my damn Hyandai with his jetpack. No way did he beat it to oblivion with a sledge, this was a single impact.
If it is possible to have sex while strapped into a jetpack, I'm pretty sure America's innovation hub – the porn industry – will find a way to film it and put it on the Internet.
I sure hope so. I'd pay a dollar for that.
"…Cum fly away with me…"
another crazy invention coming to you from the home of the hoon – new zealand
Wow. A million things just hit my mind at once. FAA-regulated.. do I need a pilot's license? Or can I just tie on some steel-toed combat boots and take a flight?
How do I feel about my steel-toed combat boots being my first line of defense during a crash episode? What if they surrounded the pilot/dude with a giant shock-absorbing ball of some kind? Is the pilot (pictured) practicing on a rig of some kind? Wouldn't that be the best carnival ride ever invented?
Does the unit have a kickstand so I can park it somewhere? Can I "land" on my office building's roof? Will maintenance give me a key for roof access?
IIRC, it qualifies as an ultralight aircraft, so no pilot's license is required, but you can't fly it in populated areas. The company makes you go through a training program when you buy it. It has a built-in emergency chute in case thing go pear-shaped. The stand is integral; it's what you're seeing as a safety rig.
Here's the website: <a href="http://www.martinjetpack.com/” target=”_blank”>http://www.martinjetpack.com/
Just don't make contact with your steel-toed boots with a high tension line while flying around in this nightmarish eggbeater contraption and you'll do just fine. Don't make contact with anything while driving it. Actually, don't make contact with this thing at all. Let your buddies do it, and take pictures. File this under "Let's Don't, and Said We Did."
"Let's don't, but god-damned if he sure did…… You see that sh*t!?"
31 miles should be enough to get me over the border. Just need to find someone to package up 80 lbs of coke and leave it next to a fast fueling rig, and this thing will pay for itself.
Regular, or Premium fuel? I am having a delightful time picturing someone landing at a gas station, walking up to the pump and filling up. Standing, while the gas goes, tapping a foot, looking around…. DING. Walk out to the sidewalk and take off… Damn, that shit is soooo 2010!
We've been asking "where are the flying cars we've been promised since the 1950s…?" Now, we've still got no flying cars, but we DO have flying pedestrians…
Soon to be falling pedestrians. It could literally be raining men.
The website says it's "the first practical jetpack." Exactly what part of this thing is practical?
Where is your time,where is your achievement. Cheap MBT Shoes, When befriended,remember it;when you befriend,forget it. MBT M.Walk Women’s,Victory won’t come to me unless I go to it. MBT Women’s Lami ShoesA great man is always willing to be little.Adversity makes a man wise , not rich.
That is certainly some inspirational stuff. Never understood that viewpoints might be this diverse.
I had a German uncle (from Düsseldorf, rather than Bavaria). He came to the UK as a PoW in 1944 after having a bridge blown up underneath him by his own side and stayed (I thought these people were supposed to be my enemies?). When he went back for the first time in twenty years, his main comment on getting back was They do nothing there but eat.