JETPACKS!

As a child I always fantasied flying with a jetpack tied on my back!

Yeah!  The Jetpack from the movie “spy kids” has always been my wildest dream or I should say dream machine.

Humans from ages have envyed a bird’s ability to fly and perhaps that’s the reason why people have been since always looking for a way to fly. There is nothing in the shape of a human that creates lift i.e. we are not aerodynamic creatures. Leonardo da Vinci designed flying machine commonly known as “Ornithopter”. This device have never been fabricated it was just drafted to show how humans can fly like bird. Another popular flying device is Air Screw. Many experts claims that modern helicopters are somewhat based on the Air Screw’s design by Leonardo da Vinci.  Jetpacks development has been under construction from the start of 19^th century, when the concept was portrayed in science fiction comics (Buck Rogers) for the first time. The first jet pack was put up in mid of 19^th century; however this design was not much practical.

Till the recent time jetpack has been practically used by astronauts during space flight. The development of jet pack will benefit commercial markets, including civil defence, military and recreation.

The short comings in the jetpack development include heavy weight; consumption on large amount of fuel for small flight time (lasting for a few seconds only), noise produced by the engine (that make it impossible to be used in defence operations), etc.

The development of jet pack has undergone a long evaluation phase from Aerojet’s Small Rocket Lift Device (SRLD) to Turbojet pack and NASA's Manned Manoeuvring Unit (MMU) up to a recent development of martin jetpack. Martin jetpack is first of its kind and planet’s first practical jetpack.

Martin aeronautics has been indulged in the jet pack development. From last 30 years, they have developed many prototypes. The factor that makes this one practical are

·         30 minutes flight time. That leaves behind rocket belt’s 30 seconds!

·         Safety features include a rapid deploying parachute, cage structure and shock absorbing support.

·         Easy to use with pilot training systems.

It runs on standard petrol, and uses 5 US gallons for 50 kilometres, at a speed of 100 kilometres per hour. There are two hand controls, one controlling pitch and roll, the other controlling yaw and the throttle. Martin Aircraft Company is targeting an initial sales price of US$100,000 for the recreational version of the aircraft.

It’s just the start of a feasible jetpack machine let’s see what the future holds for this technology.