Consumer Jetpacks?!

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New Zealand company to produce jetpacks for personal use

These packs are capable of traveling up to 30 miles at 60 miles an hour on a 5-gallon tank of gas, and are rumored to cost around $100,000.

Useless and impractical. They are toys for the rich.

ruveyn

No doubt that is what they said about the first motor cars too.

I can remember when the first personal computers cost $5000 and could do very little.
People asked "Why would you possibly want a computer in your home?"

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDIojhOkV4w[/youtube]

We do have practical jet packs. They are called commercial airline planes powered by jet engines.

ruveyn

It is not the same. A computer won't kill you if it fails, and won't kill the person below you on the ground. And your family won't sue the maker for negligence or wrongful death.

Jetpack is a death trap because there is no plan B and there's ZERO margin for error. It fails = you die. An airplane is inherently safe because a passive non-moving part provides the lift (wing). There's plenty of time to figure out what to do when an engine fails on an airplane.

Have you seen all those spectacular rocket failure videos? Yeeeeeaaaah. Zero margin for error and no way to recover the vehicle if anything went wrong with the engines.

If they were cheaper they would sell like hot cakes to to the same people who buy motorcycles, jet skis and hang gliders.

Go to YouTube and search for "rocket man". Some crazy dude made a rocket belt and flew over the English Channel with it.

Yee ha! Slam down your Pepsi Max and fire that baby up!

Would you buy a cut rate jet pack? Remember once you are more than 30 feet off the ground unsupported you are in The Ranks of Death.

ruveyn

This is rather insane, but no more insane than jumping out of a perfectly good airplane with one parachute. Ohh well it will probably win some folks the darwin awards, cuz you know some people are likely to be trying to film a home version of jack@ss flying through some ring of fire supsended off a bridge and then they will go out like that big blimp did back in the day.

Jetpacks that go 60mph get 5mpg
my car goes 60mph getting 35mpg
my car could get over 10mpg going 120mph

hmm....I think I'll stick with my car.

But there are no traffic jams for jet packs. An additional degree of freedom makes all the difference.

ruveyn

There are no traffic jams for my car either, that's the wonderful thing about avoiding major cities.

Well it will end up selling for alot less after the patent expires and everyone gets one and there will be uncontrolled consumer jetpack traffic...and cars will be dinosaurs, and roads will have no use but for the poor folks who cant afford a jet pack. The roads will not be re-paved because the rulling elite will not want to fund the way for the lower income in order to let them die in car wrecks. It will be anarchy!! btw...jk

Jetting through a rainstorm or a hailstorm. Sounds like fun.

The jet pack, as a practical means of transportation, is a loser.

ruveyn

You are all missing the point. They will never be practical transport except for Special Forces soldiers, who could find many uses for them.

They would be great fun for cashed-up ultimate sports freaks. The same ones who now pay a ton of money on drag racers, ultra light aircraft, and racing speedboats.

Tell me it wouldn't be fun to go flying through the air like Superman or those flying cycles on Star Wars. Or what were those insane death machines Darth Vader raced when he was a boy?

It wouldn't be fun because it would be difficult. People should just stick to land whenever possible.