Personal jetpack gets flight permit for manned test...Finally... to hit the market in 2014/2015

phys.org...
See link for picture

Coker said a specialised version of the jetpack designed for the military and "first responder" emergency crews such as firefighters should be ready for delivery by mid-2014.

"Changing the position of the jetpack's ducts has resulted in a quantum leap in performance over the previous prototype, especially in terms of the aircraft's manoeuvrability," he said.

No range or performance info in this article but the concept (military backing?) seems to be on solid footing..... Ballistic chute is about all you have if there is a failure of the power system...Would be fun as long as everything worked....Be my luck with a power failure by the time the chute deployed I would have become a lawn dart...

given it can reach 5000 feet its got a useful range for all sorts of things, could be great for fire/medical rescues where they need to get someone on a roof but due to overhead wires its too much of a problem for a chopper and if it could be remote piloted so they don't need to teach them how to fly the thing just strap in and off you go, doubt it'll ever be for special forces etc but for engineering units it could be great when you just want to nip across a swollen river or some other obstacle that would otherwise be a major pain

I saw the comments section. Apparently 5000 feet ceiling limit, 400 feet rise a minute, 30 minutes of use time, and speed is 40 knots whichs is 20.5777778 m / s or 74.08km/h so it could take you 32 kilomteres before it crashes to the ground. Though i'm not sure where they got the rest of the details from.

Firefighters using jetpacks that shoot flames out of them......sounds a little counterproductive to me.

Job security I guess.

Right now, with all the traffic congestions in my area, I would FIND a way to spit out the 200K $.. Would LOVE to!

Too bad this thing won't be allowed over populated areas in the near future.

Bringing with it a new meaning to the song "It's raining men".

Originally posted by rickymouse
Firefighters using jetpacks that shoot flames out of them...

...sounds a little counterproductive to me.

Job security I guess.

edit on 13-8-2013 by rickymouse because: (no reason given)

Aaaaand you didn't take a look at that machine, right? Because, if I may quote the article, "basically its two leaf-blowers welded together". No fire. Just two propellers. Maybe they might ignite smaller fires into bigger ones, but that is a problem those firefighters have to deal with

Ha, Bell Aerosystems had this thing beat ages ago.
Maybe they didn't want that mini jet getting into the wild...

rocketbelts.americanrocketman.com...

Im at 4000 feet and I realise I forgot to fill my Jetpack with gas..
Then what?

Originally posted by AthlonSavage
Im at 4000 feet and I realise I forgot to fill my Jetpack with gas..
Then what?

Well, then you're not at 4000' for very long and you have a very small window of time to kick yourself in the butt for being a doofus!

Originally posted by AthlonSavage
Im at 4000 feet and I realise I forgot to fill my Jetpack with gas..
Then what?

From 4000 feet, I doubt you will make that mistake again.

Originally posted by teamcommander

Originally posted by AthlonSavage
Im at 4000 feet and I realise I forgot to fill my Jetpack with gas..
Then what?

From 4000 feet, I doubt you will make that mistake again.

Unless you push the SHTF-button, and launch the parachute.

Originally posted by wirefly

Originally posted by AthlonSavage
Im at 4000 feet and I realise I forgot to fill my Jetpack with gas..
Then what?

Well, then you're not at 4000' for very long and you have a very small window of time to kick yourself in the butt for being a doofus!

From martinjetpack.com safety features page:

Production versions of the Jetpack will be equipped with a Ballistic Parachute system. This enables the pilot to be saved from a catastrophic failure down to a reasonably low altitude. Ballistic parachutes can open at very low altitudes, particularly if the aircraft has some forward speed. For this reason the "flight profiles" will be calculated to have the lowest risk possible.

Wow - whoda' thunk anyone would have thought of that problem and done something about it??