Is A Jet-Pack Considered A 'Other Vehicle"?
 

This is a pretty awesome video. Actual flight over Dubai is about 6:40 in. I guess after your initial nuts in your throat feeling, it's probably pretty awesome to do this:

http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2015/...bai-yves-rossy

I've never had "Nuts in my Throat".

But your story intrigues me; Do tell me of your "Nuts in the throat" adventures.

well that escalated quickly...

get it, cause its a jetpack? Jk. We know I wasn't talking about that.

Wah wah wahhh

you had me at jetpack

Great video!

Sign me up! It's just unfortunate (and a matter of practicality) that you can't take off or land with the wing (need a lift vehicle and a parachute to land). I think eventually it will get there though.

Liar.

This one time.. at band camp... :lol:

Who's nuts?

DEEZ NUTS???!!!!!!!

Deez...........dis be dem:

Attachment 109553


:D :lol:

Strap a skateboard to your chest. Good 2 go.

Or you end up with something a little less sexy but probably more practical.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq5jHxj4vUw"]Martin Jetpack in-flight video - YouTube[/ame]

Kidding aside, anything I couldn't autorotate down scares the shit out of me.

Autorotate?

Gliding down through the use of air rising up through the blades and spinning them keeping the airfoil alive. Helicopters do this on power out. You have to keep your downward speed up enough so that the lift created by the blades turning fast enough supports the aircraft and it doesn't fall like a rock.

Gyrocopters use this to fly in general. The prop on the back pushes the plane through the air which turns the rotor on top creating lift.

A turning rotor forms a plane that is equivalent to an airplane's fixed wing surface. Airplanes have the advantage in that they turn into gliders when the power goes out with no real effort on the part of the pilot. As long as you keep control, you will glide to a landing, assuming there is an appropriate (or close enough) landing site around.

These both have ballistic 'chutes so I'm (sorta) OK with it enough I would do it. That transition between about 20 feet and 300 ft or so would always be a little scary though!

The Martin Jetpack can be limited to flying just above the ground, or only within certain parameters, so you could force it to fly only minimal time in the "danger zone".

@53Driver, autorotate, or chute?

Not all fixed wing aircraft are created equal, just as in all helicopters are not created equal. Some fixed wing have a power out glide ratio not much better than a brick (see F-104 Starfighter for example). Speed and altitude at time of engine(s) failure is also a critical part of the equation.


Same goes for helicopters. That's why I flew a helicopter with three engines!


Once again, lots of things to consider here. Considering most helicopters spend most of their time operating at low altitudes, a parachute isn't going to be of much use. Also, the blades would need to be explosively separated from the aircraft prior to parachute activation. There are some ejection seat equipped helicopters so that's my vote if I could choose anything. Once again though, blades get explosively separated from the aircraft prior to ejection seat departure.

Understood, and totally agree. I was referring more to general aviation aircraft and not models like Starfighters. I was talking in generalities.

That's the same reasons "drones" or quadracopters don't scale up well to human size. They are basically unstable devices that once they lose power they fall out of the sky, and are pretty much impossible to control for mere humans without computer intervention.

If a Jet-Pack isn't your style..........how about this then?:


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrY6OJk-z0I"]BIG RUSH - World's Tallest Rope Swing - YouTube[/ame]

Back in 86, one afternoon on the Carl Vinson I was watching flight ops from the crow's nest when an F-8 pilot lost his brakes and ejected just as the nose gear dropped off of the port side. Even with the added height of the flight deck he only got a swing and a half by the time his chute inflated. It all happened really quickly.

Looks like fun, but I want the JetPack to get to work. I don't think they make a rope swing big enough to cover those 40 miles unless there is a helicopter involved...

I could rock an Air. Love the open cockpit. Not sure about the landing gear.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr44Q8MQHL0"]Mosquito Air Helicopter - YouTube[/ame]

Yea doesn't exactly look forgiving. May have to attach some exercise balls to it or something for the first few practice landings!

I'm not going to start an argument over this, but still not completely true what you said. A lot of fixed wing have poor glide ratios if they have total engine(s) failure. People tend to think that a fixed wing airplane becomes a "glider" if they lose their engine(s), not really true. With Remotely Piloted Aircraft (drones) some would actually have better glide ratios than their manned counterparts. Look at their wing/fuselage design. While I certainly don't have any of their performance charts in front of me, just looking at the design of say a Predator it has a lot more in common with a glider than an F-15/F-16/F-18/F-35/F-22 etc. I'm just pointing out that the common perception that you're much safer in a fixed wing vs. a helicopter because of the whole "gliding" myth is just not true in most cases.


One of my best buddies from flight school is no longer flying because of an ejection experience. He was an AV-8B bubba and went on a night bombing run only to experience controllability issues during the flight. On final approach back to the airfield, the aircraft snapped inverted at less than a 1,000' (above ground level) and the aircraft departed controlled flight.


He said all he remembers is pulling the handle, a flash/bang and then he woke up on the ground about a minute later with a large fireball from where the aircraft crashed about 1/2 mile away. The safety investigation concluded his parachute barely deployed completely before he hit the ground. Basically 1 second later and he'd probably have been dead. Needless to say, he decided that flying was no longer for him.

Big-assed furniture glides :bonk:

No I agree it varies greatly but most general aviation aircraft that "mere mortals" get to fly and/or ride in have decent glide ratios. I guess I just dumbed it down too much.

Absolutely agree, in the hands of a capable pilot they can be equally as safe in an engine out scenario.

And a viable landing spot (for fixed that equals runway or long, flat and smooth surface). At least with a helo I can land in someone's front yard. ;)

So true, as we were reminded in Atlanta last week when a Piper PA32 crashed after taking off from PDK on I-285 at 10:00am. Absolutely no where to go on an engine out there.

Fortunately only clipped a truck and a car, but all souls onboard were lost.

Most dangerous time for any aircraft is on climbout. Preaching to the choir, I know.

When I was on the west coast several decades ago we lost two Voodoos in one summer. Not only do they not glide they make very crappy boats when they hit the ocean.