

It's 2010 - finally my jet pack is here - elblanco
http://www.gizmag.com/first-commercially-available-jetpack/14423/

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oozcitak
For the metric headed readers like me:

    
    
        Dry weight: 113 kg (250 lbs)
        Pilot weight: 64 - 109 kg (140 - 240 lbs)
    
        Measures: 152 cm high x 167 cm wide x 152 cm long (5 ft high x 5.5 ft wide x 5 ft long)
    
        Rotor size: 52 cm (1.7 ft)
        Maximum thrust: 272 kg (600 lbs)
    
        Fuel capacity: 19 liters (5 gallons)
        Fuel burn: 38 lph (10 gph)
    
        Can reach: 2500 m (8000 ft)
        Range: 51 km at max speed of 101 kph (31.5 miles at 63 mph)

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elblanco
I've always wondered why metric users call measurements in grams "weight" when
it's really mass and measurements in Newtons is weight. Sorry, I'm an American
befuddled by perfectly sensible decimal based measurement systems.

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oozcitak
What is meant when using grams as force units is actually the gram-force
(which is not part of the SI units). But the -force suffix is typically
dropped in informal speech, so gram appears to be used as both a mass and
force unit.

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rbanffy
I also round 1 kilogram-force to 10 Neutons.

Unless you are trying to hit another planet, you'll be fine.

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spectre
A friend of mine is the test pilot for them. He said their quite cool to fly,
but scary as hell.

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rbanffy
If it's not scary, it's not cutting edge.

When did we start to assume that strapping yourself to an engine-and-
propellers (or ducted fans) gadget and flying around would be anything close
to safe?

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rbanffy
It's not really a jet pack. It's more a thing you strap yourself onto than
something you could carry on your back.

Would an A380 qualify as a jetpack if I managed to strap myself to its
underbelly?

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ugh
What’s the human/jetthingie ratio that turns it into a jetpack? :)

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dagw
If you can't walk a mile wearing it, it isn't a jetpack.

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hugh3
Who needs walking? I have a jetpack!

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RyanMcGreal
We Were Promised Jetpacks [1] will be delighted by the news.

[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Were_Promised_Jetpacks>

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shrikant
Looks more slick, but just as scary as the one shown in Arrested Development.

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tocomment
I think a water powered jet pack would be awesome. You could keep the pump and
power source on the ground so it would be a very small apparatus. You'd be
tied to the ground by a hose but it would still be fun.

In fact, I wonder if that could be an alternative to extension ladders.
Imagine cleaning your gutters riding on a jet of water.

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ldite
It exists; <http://www.jetlev-flyer.com/>

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tocomment
Cool! Just get the price down from ~100K to 1K and you have something that
could help with housework and construction.

I wonder how hard it would be to build one of these myself.

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sammyo
I think you can buy this one now: www.jetlev-flyer.com

It's connected to a water source which limits about a 10M altitude, and the
market seems to be focused towards a adventure tourist market.

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pw0ncakes
Not to sound like a curmudgeon, but: let's solve these oil and CO2 problems
before trying to popularize flying cars and jet packs.

