
NASA’s Puffin Is Way Cooler Than a Jetpack - MaysonL
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/01/nasa-puffin/
======
lssndrdn
Cool. It looks like it would be a big strain on the neck, having to hold your
head up like that, but on the other hand, it's only for short flights...

But the real questions is: how do you see the ground while you're landing, if
you're facing up?

~~~
nzmsv
This needs some VR goggles. Not only would they solve the neck strain problem,
but could assist non-professional pilots with landing.

------
JshWright
What's with the FedEx plug at the beginning of the video? Is it just to make
it look "airporty"?

------
TallGuyShort
I disagree. Jet Packs are way cooler.

------
jff
If you think every schmuck will be able to handle one of these, forget it.
This is what I always think of when I see a "lol flying car!" story.

Lacking door-to-door autopilot, you'll still have to take all the usual
pilot's training. Remember that idiot who nearly ran into you today because
he/she was texting and trying to drink from a Starbucks cup? People have a
hard enough time handling two dimensions--but when you screw up piloting your
Puffin, you don't get a fender bender, you get two 1,000 lb objects dropping
from 4,000 feet into my back yard.

------
blackguardx
This isn't really new. It looks very similar to the Convair Pogo.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_XFY>

------
rue
Not a fan of the head-first approach. Crashes and the aforementioned neck
strain.

On the other hand, I would imagine it would be possible to construct an
L-shape sitting cockpit that could rotate in relation to the engines so that
the pilot would be head-up in both takeoff/landing and flight.

------
TrevorJ
My sense is that the Osprey is pretty complex due to it's VTOL features. I
don't quite see how this is any less complicated, I wonder how reliably this
could be made to operate.

~~~
apowell
The entire rotor assembly on the Osprey pivots. On the Puffin it is fixed and
the entire craft changes its orientation between takeoff, flight, and landing.
Whether that makes it more reliable or easier to operate, I have no idea.

~~~
rbanffy
It sure does. Changing the orientation of the Osprey's rotors must subject the
whole assembly to some nasty forces.

~~~
TrevorJ
Ah, good points here guys. I had not thought of that.

------
kingkongreveng_
Why is a federal agency developing this? How is this in the national interest?

~~~
markbnine
NASA has a long history of working on jet packs. Initially these were proposed
for hopping around the moon:

<http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/Projects/RPIF/beta/>

~~~
kingkongreveng_
Regardless of precedents I see no justification for taxpayer dollars.

~~~
nzmsv
Umm... flying mech commandos? :)

------
Groxx
No bugs in my teeth? That definitely makes jetpack > puffin. Electric jetpacks
are a way off, though, so it definitely wins there.

Free protein!

