I am Sooo buying one of these!!

[NY65912]

The Martin Jetpack - Martin Aircraft Company || The Martin Jetpack


How cool is this?

About the cost of a high end motorcycle.

[jyl]

Extremely cool.

Would that be the greatest way to beat traffic or what? I wonder what is the minimum altitude for the ballistic parachute to be effective? I'd like to see a more explicit rollcage, and room for a briefcase.

[Racerbvd]

I saw that on TV, but they said it would cost $100K

[m21sniper]

Very subtle and nuanced.

Dottore would love it.

[NY65912]

It has a service cieling of 8000 ft.

It really is the perfect commuting device.

You do not need an FAA license as it is considered an ultralight.

I WANT one!

"They" told me when I was a kid that cars would be obsolete in 1970 and everyone would be flying to do chores and commuting. I've been waiting for this since 1959!

[stomachmonkey]

One thing not in the FAQ's, what's the range?

[NY65912]

Snipe,

You could mount the AR on it for crowd control!

[jyl]

Per FAQ, range 31 miles w/ 5 gal fuel, 10 gph consumption, and top speed 63 mph - 5 gal limit is FAA Ultralight restriction, I imagine the machine has the payload to carry more.

In PDX this would be a waste, but in the Bay Area - step onto the deck of your home in the Berkeley Hills, take off and fly across the Bay, land on the roof of your office building, door to door commute might be 15 minutes, by car over the Bay Bridge it can take an hour.

I wonder what it is like in winds? In fact, I wonder if they've flown it any significant altitude or distance at all? In the video, he never gets more than ten feet "altitude".

[MotoSook]

Approx. 31 mile range. Not far enough for me to commute with, buy I would buy one. And carry a man-mounted aux tank. Would that pass the FAA scrutiny?

[MotoSook]

The speed thing is a little misleading. If I want to go faster I could just gain some altitude as I leave the house, then dive bomb the office . I'd just need enough fuel. Not like there's a governor that can slow it down.

[NY65912]

My commute is approx 10 mi in a straight line through some rough neighborhoods. So I would have to be out of range from ground fire

I can take off from my backyard and land in front of my shop no problem.

It's the weather that would be the deciding factor.

[cgarr]

Does it have a chute for engine out? I don't think you will auto rotate this thing!

[flatbutt]

yeah....I can fly. to cool.

[vwbobd]

uhh......where do you mount the stereo

[aways]

A fun toy, but pretty impractical for commute. At a fuel burn rate of 5 gal to go 30 miles, you're talking about ~6 mile/gal, or about $18 a day commute cost if you live 15 miles from work. If you do much hovering, it gets worse fast. Also it's too bad that the max flying time is only 30 mins without refuel. That will really limit what you can do.

[m21sniper]

They just need to ramp the hell out of efficiency.

I doubt the engine in it is cutting edge. (?)

[jyl]

Originally Posted by Soukus

The speed thing is a little misleading. If I want to go faster I could just gain some altitude as I leave the house, then dive bomb the office . I'd just need enough fuel. Not like theirs a governor that can slow it down.

Most people care about speed in the horizontal direction . . . I know, we're all wimps.

[sammyg2]

no cupholders.

I'm just sayin .......

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

no cupholders.

I'm just sayin .......

LOL, I can just see the threads now.

[rouxroux]

This song will explain it:
Warning, NSW!
YouTube - Tim Wilson - Jetpack