No Jetpacks Yet, Jack
November 3, 2021 1:59 AM Subscribe
Balloons? Pfft. It was obviously the planet Venus.
posted by flabdablet at 5:26 AM on November 3, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 5:26 AM on November 3, 2021 [5 favorites]
I suppose they were inflated with marsh gas.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:04 AM on November 3, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:04 AM on November 3, 2021 [3 favorites]
I call bullshit! Balloon-men can't fly jetpacks! They have no muscular system!
posted by dobbs at 6:12 AM on November 3, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by dobbs at 6:12 AM on November 3, 2021 [7 favorites]
They're just softening us up for the news that those Navy destroyers were actually chased by Buzz Lightyear.
posted by Western Infidels at 6:47 AM on November 3, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by Western Infidels at 6:47 AM on November 3, 2021 [3 favorites]
I, for one, welcome our new flying humanoid overlords.
posted by otherchaz at 6:54 AM on November 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by otherchaz at 6:54 AM on November 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
This is precisely why the hype over UFOs is just so much sound and fury, signifying nothing.
posted by tommasz at 7:08 AM on November 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by tommasz at 7:08 AM on November 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
"It would appear that one of the several jetpack sightings near Los Angeles International Airport was merely a very large Jack Skellington balloon."
posted by neuron at 7:17 AM on November 3, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by neuron at 7:17 AM on November 3, 2021 [6 favorites]
Nightmare Before Christmas 2: Jack's Jetpack. You know this is really just viral media pushing the new film. /s
posted by deadaluspark at 7:43 AM on November 3, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by deadaluspark at 7:43 AM on November 3, 2021 [4 favorites]
My backpacks got jets!
I'm Skellington...the Jack?
Nah, this news can't be true. It won't work with the song.
posted by stannate at 7:56 AM on November 3, 2021 [7 favorites]
I'm Skellington...the Jack?
Nah, this news can't be true. It won't work with the song.
posted by stannate at 7:56 AM on November 3, 2021 [7 favorites]
LAX’s j-pack axed; Jack’s fact.
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:13 AM on November 3, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:13 AM on November 3, 2021 [7 favorites]
Has he learned nothing from Sally?
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 8:30 AM on November 3, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 8:30 AM on November 3, 2021 [2 favorites]
I am disappoint.
posted by carmicha at 8:35 AM on November 3, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by carmicha at 8:35 AM on November 3, 2021 [2 favorites]
As stupid as balloon boy -- its video, clearly, no body inside (not even a six-year-old's); and this new video, clearly, just something hanging from a balloon. No jet-pack, no Rocketeer.
posted by Rash at 9:15 AM on November 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Rash at 9:15 AM on November 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
I wanted to believe.
posted by mhoye at 9:27 AM on November 3, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by mhoye at 9:27 AM on November 3, 2021 [2 favorites]
I find it weird that no passengers noticed it whatever it was.
posted by bleep at 11:38 AM on November 3, 2021
posted by bleep at 11:38 AM on November 3, 2021
They would have done, but the guy in the window seat has very sensitive skin.
posted by flabdablet at 12:09 PM on November 3, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 12:09 PM on November 3, 2021 [2 favorites]
I find it weird that no passengers noticed it whatever it was.
William Shatner and John Lithgow both tried to report it but no one believed them.
posted by mochapickle at 12:15 PM on November 3, 2021 [18 favorites]
William Shatner and John Lithgow both tried to report it but no one believed them.
posted by mochapickle at 12:15 PM on November 3, 2021 [18 favorites]
I find it weird that no passengers noticed it whatever it was.
I've had stuff fly by me and you'd be surprised at how quickly it's gone. First, seeing other stuff in the air is actually quite difficult - especially if you're above it and looking down at the ground. Second, even if you do spot something depending on your relative velocities and your angle of approach it can pass through your field of vision super fast and then be blocked by other parts of the aircraft.
posted by backseatpilot at 12:29 PM on November 3, 2021 [3 favorites]
I've had stuff fly by me and you'd be surprised at how quickly it's gone. First, seeing other stuff in the air is actually quite difficult - especially if you're above it and looking down at the ground. Second, even if you do spot something depending on your relative velocities and your angle of approach it can pass through your field of vision super fast and then be blocked by other parts of the aircraft.
posted by backseatpilot at 12:29 PM on November 3, 2021 [3 favorites]
I find it weird that no passengers noticed it whatever it was.
Landing speed for a commercial jet is about 170 mph. No one was going to get much of a look at it.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 12:54 PM on November 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
Landing speed for a commercial jet is about 170 mph. No one was going to get much of a look at it.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 12:54 PM on November 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
The pilot that identified it as a jet pack is almost certainly getting a new call sign.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 12:55 PM on November 3, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 12:55 PM on November 3, 2021 [4 favorites]
What's this... WHAT'S THIS?!
And for a moment, why, I even touched the sky
And at least I left some stories they can tell, I did!
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 1:29 PM on November 3, 2021 [6 favorites]
And for a moment, why, I even touched the sky
And at least I left some stories they can tell, I did!
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 1:29 PM on November 3, 2021 [6 favorites]
Jetpacks and flying cars always disappoint.
posted by sammyo at 1:42 PM on November 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by sammyo at 1:42 PM on November 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
The structure of this object does not appear to be Jack Skellington. You can see a shape that looks like a backpack which clearly motivated the "jet pack" claims.
That being said, it doesn't appear to be making any sudden movements, and it definitely looks like it could be a balloon floating in the wind. Maybe Iron Man instead of Skellington.
posted by lewedswiver at 1:57 PM on November 3, 2021 [2 favorites]
That being said, it doesn't appear to be making any sudden movements, and it definitely looks like it could be a balloon floating in the wind. Maybe Iron Man instead of Skellington.
posted by lewedswiver at 1:57 PM on November 3, 2021 [2 favorites]
In related recent news...you can buy one of the seven jetpack prototypes from Martin Jetpack Aircraft's liquidation. Make sure your life insurance is up to date.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 2:39 PM on November 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by inflatablekiwi at 2:39 PM on November 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
American Flight 1997: "Tower, American 1997, we just passed a guy in a jetpack...
Tower: "Jet Blue 23, use caution, a person in a jetpack reported 300 yards south of the LA final at about 3,000 feet, 10 mile final."...
Another pilot chimed in: "Only in LA."
from previously post link.
posted by clavdivs at 3:07 PM on November 3, 2021 [2 favorites]
Tower: "Jet Blue 23, use caution, a person in a jetpack reported 300 yards south of the LA final at about 3,000 feet, 10 mile final."...
Another pilot chimed in: "Only in LA."
from previously post link.
posted by clavdivs at 3:07 PM on November 3, 2021 [2 favorites]
Shocked, locked, and barreled.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 3:43 PM on November 3, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 3:43 PM on November 3, 2021 [4 favorites]
Like I said last time around, we're definitely well within the realm and time frame where someone with a distinct lack of a sense of self preservation can put together a wide variety of jet packs and hover boards without that much spare cash or disposable income on a hobbyist budget.
And considering people used to spend tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars on hobbyist RC aircraft like quarter scale combat or commercial aviation aircraft models relatively speaking those prices have plummeted.
You can get ready to fly high performance RC aircraft complete with 2.4 ghz digital radios, servers, motors, batteries and a nearly indestructible foam airframe for under $200-300 these days, if not much less, and that sort of thing used to cost a lot more.
People are already doing manned flight with hobbyist jet turbines - and shorter flights with all electric multirotors and electric ducted fan engines are happening on various scales and levels raging from seconds of flight to minutes of flight in direct lift modes. There's people out there making oversized multirotors that are big enough to take a human pilot using easily obtainable hobbyist supplies, and they're making them do aerobatics like flips, dives and inversions just like small FPV racing multirotors.
Brushless DC motors are getting really wild out there with actual power to weight ratios, and batteries and controllers are getting increasingly efficient. There's a whole class of DIY ebikes and small electric vehicles using these small, light, high powered motors.
Flight times widely vary depending on a given budget and configuration, but that's the same as it ever was in aerospace engineering.
I just watched a new video from a fairly well known RC aircraft hobbyist that was an electric powered pusher for paragliding made up out of about 50 tiny brushless motors and props, and it was a super quick and janky looking build held together with tape and zip ties and stuff. The flight duration time sucked but it was also a fraction of the weight and price of the usual sort of gas powered pushers used for powered paragliding, and it was also built out of recycled parts from a previous (and equally ridiculous) RC aircraft build that was basically a cardboard brick about the size of a small Cessna with 50 small brushless motors hot glued into it.
As soon as someone comes up with a battery that's even more energy dense and capable of high amp draws than modern LiPo battery packs this stuff is going to take off. (Uh, I swear that pun wasn't intentional. These things just happen to me. It can stay.)
This stuff is developing so fast that as recently as 10 years ago if you told me there was going to be a solar powered coaxial helicopter flying around Mars and it was just sort of thrown in there on that mission as an afterthought or proof of concept I would have had all kinds of negative and technical things to say about how it wasn't going to happen.
posted by loquacious at 5:49 PM on November 3, 2021 [4 favorites]
And considering people used to spend tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars on hobbyist RC aircraft like quarter scale combat or commercial aviation aircraft models relatively speaking those prices have plummeted.
You can get ready to fly high performance RC aircraft complete with 2.4 ghz digital radios, servers, motors, batteries and a nearly indestructible foam airframe for under $200-300 these days, if not much less, and that sort of thing used to cost a lot more.
People are already doing manned flight with hobbyist jet turbines - and shorter flights with all electric multirotors and electric ducted fan engines are happening on various scales and levels raging from seconds of flight to minutes of flight in direct lift modes. There's people out there making oversized multirotors that are big enough to take a human pilot using easily obtainable hobbyist supplies, and they're making them do aerobatics like flips, dives and inversions just like small FPV racing multirotors.
Brushless DC motors are getting really wild out there with actual power to weight ratios, and batteries and controllers are getting increasingly efficient. There's a whole class of DIY ebikes and small electric vehicles using these small, light, high powered motors.
Flight times widely vary depending on a given budget and configuration, but that's the same as it ever was in aerospace engineering.
I just watched a new video from a fairly well known RC aircraft hobbyist that was an electric powered pusher for paragliding made up out of about 50 tiny brushless motors and props, and it was a super quick and janky looking build held together with tape and zip ties and stuff. The flight duration time sucked but it was also a fraction of the weight and price of the usual sort of gas powered pushers used for powered paragliding, and it was also built out of recycled parts from a previous (and equally ridiculous) RC aircraft build that was basically a cardboard brick about the size of a small Cessna with 50 small brushless motors hot glued into it.
As soon as someone comes up with a battery that's even more energy dense and capable of high amp draws than modern LiPo battery packs this stuff is going to take off. (Uh, I swear that pun wasn't intentional. These things just happen to me. It can stay.)
This stuff is developing so fast that as recently as 10 years ago if you told me there was going to be a solar powered coaxial helicopter flying around Mars and it was just sort of thrown in there on that mission as an afterthought or proof of concept I would have had all kinds of negative and technical things to say about how it wasn't going to happen.
posted by loquacious at 5:49 PM on November 3, 2021 [4 favorites]
The structure of this object does not appear to be Jack Skellington
Yeah, that one is more Buzz Lightyear shaped.
posted by flabdablet at 2:25 AM on November 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
Yeah, that one is more Buzz Lightyear shaped.
posted by flabdablet at 2:25 AM on November 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
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posted by Fleebnork at 5:12 AM on November 3, 2021 [31 favorites]