 |
First Jetpowered Flying Man
Yves Rossi, a Swiss airline pilot, has developed a working jet-pack. Think Icarus, but without that clumsy flapping.
(Yves Rossy Human Jet)
The jet-pack consists of wings with a total three meter span with four model engines built under the wings. Speeds of up to 200 kilometers per hour are possible. So far, the device does not allow powered take-offs. So, he jumps out of a plane, stabilizes his flight, and then powers up. Up to four minutes of powered flight at speeds of one hundred knots have been achieved.
Science fiction readers may remember the copter harness from Robert Heinlein's 1954 novel The Star Beast:
They were half way home when a single flyer, hopping free in a copter harness, approached the little parade. The flier ignored the red warning light stabbing out from the police chief's car and slanted straight down at the huge star beast.
(Read more about Heinlein's copter harness)
If you like this device, you'll soar with these:
-
- Skyray Human Glider Flight
- AirScooter II Ultralight: Heinlein's Copter Harness?
- Springtail EFV-4B Personal Air Vehicle From Trek Aerospace
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 12/25/2006)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion (Back On) ( 7 )
Related News Stories - (" Vehicle ")
BMW Plans Fully Autonomous Cars By 2025
'She woke just before the signal from the car which would have called her... '- Robert Heinlein, 1941.
EU Parliament Requires Electric Cars To Make Noise
'...a sound tape to supply the noise of a soi-disant "[internal combustion]" engine...'- Robert Heinlein, 1985.
Pepper The Parrot's Bird Buggy
'Someone had put them on mobile platforms, the skrodes.'- Vernor Vinge, 1992.
Tesla Model S Declared Car Of The Year By Motor Trend
'They can therefore roam over the roads of the entire hemisphere [combining] the sensations of coasting with the interest of seeing the country well.'- John Jacob Astor IV, 1894.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Current News
MIT Robot Cheetah Video Shows Gait Transition
'The legs are long, curled way up to deliver power, like a cheetah's.'
TrackingPoint Smart Rifle
Not your typical 'smart bullet' approach.
'Hello, Computer!' Google Now Highlighted at IO13
'Hello, computer!'
Sky City's 220 Stories Are Go
'It rested among green parklands and... stood in total isolation, a glittering block of whites and flashing windows dotted with colors.'
CARMAT Bioprosthetic Total Human Heart Replacement
'George Walt's corporate existence proved the workability of wholly mechanical organs...'
Personal Sniffer Robots
'...The ticking combinations of the olfactory system of the hound.'
Physical Exam? We've Got Apps
See the future of handheld, personal medical devices.
The Interplanetary Internet, Vint Cerf Speaking
'This was the center of Interplanetary Communications.'
Drosophila Robotica, The Mechanical Fly
'... the Scarab [flying robot] buzzed into the great workroom as any intruding insect might...'
Robo-Raven Flapping Wing Robot Bird
'When he had first built them, they had been crude indeed, flying mechanisms with little more than a reflex-response unit.'
Japan's Nursing Home Robot Plan
Let's make the Roujin Z-0001 Robotic Bed!
Samsung Smart TVs With Gesture Control
'He waved his hand and the circuit switched abruptly.'
Swiss HCPVT Giant Photovoltaic 'Flower'
'...leaning against one of the slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector.'
Mini-Livers Made By 3D Printer
Organleggers may experience an employment downturn.
Smartphone Sensor System Tracks Gunfire
'Sound trackers on the roof could zero in on weapons action...'
Bacteria Now Make Biofuel Like Oil
'They have ... germs that eat pretty near anything, and produce oil as a waste product.'
