A company in New Zealand is getting closer to making a real-life jetpack. The future is almost here!The Martin Jetpack isn't really a jetpack. It's basically a one-passenger hovercraft. It has no tail rotor, which makes it much safer than helicopters, which often crash when the tail rotor strikes trees and power lines.
The jetpack sounds like a giant weed whip. It's made of carbon fiber and uses a two-liter two-stroke gasoline engine. It has payload capacity of 100 kg, range of 19 miles, maximum speed of 40 knots and a running time of half an hour. It should be able to reach altitudes of more than mile.
Originally targeted at the leisure market, they're trying to sell it for other applications such as firefighting and military reconnaissance (that is, to organizations that have enough money to pay for it). The design incorporates features that make it safer to fly than other VTOL craft like helicopters. It will hover in place if the pilot provides no input. It has a roll cage and a quick-deploying parachute, which you can see in the video of one of their remote-controlled test flights. Even with the parachute, if you lose power at altitudes too low for proper deployment you'll be in for serious hurt.
Martin's goal is to make a recreational jetpack available for about $100K. But if all you're interested in is getting off the ground, there are other options available at a much lower price. Several companies offer jetpacks that are connected by a hose to a jet ski for less than $10K (hardware modification of your jet ski is required):
It ain't rocket science, but it looks like a lot of fun!
The first iteration of the Martin Jetpack is unlikely to be practical for anything other than recreation: unmanned drones will be better for aerial reconnaissance. Air search and rescue in rugged areas that can't afford a full-fledged helicopter and pilot would seem an obvious fit, but range and flight time are extremely limited. It doesn't have enough payload capacity for a pilot, a passenger and equipment. But it could get a paramedic to an injured person on a mountain faster than anything else.
Immediate practicality is beside the point. The Wright brother's first plane was made from bicycle parts and only flew for a few seconds. In just 60 years the X-15 was flying on the edge of space. The engineers at Martin are making this sort of technology cheaper, safer and more accessible to non-pilots.
As long as we keep dreaming and pushing, anything might become possible.
1 comment:
You wouldn't like New Zealand - the liability laws are much laxer. You want to strap that contraption to your back - go ahead mate - just don't even think about suing if something goes wrong. You assumed the risk.
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