Homme de Fusée
January 11, 2007 9:47 PM   Subscribe

Rocket Man. One three-meter wing + four model engines + one crazy Swiss dude = Yves Rossy, the world's first jet-powered flying man.
posted by gottabefunky (21 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Looks like a good start. He should make an Eglish-dubbed version of the video, though (unless one of those on his website do that. Bandwidth restrictions down here.)

But the whole thing is nothing more than yet another promise, so long as he can't take-off with his wing, and triple the flight time. 6.5 minutes beats the old jetpacks, but still just a tease.
posted by Goofyy at 10:06 PM on January 11, 2007


At first I was planning on coming in here and being that pedant that points out that rockets do not equal jets, nor vice versa. Then I watched the video, and decided that I couldn't care less what was on that pack (looked to be microjets), it was freaking cool. I'm sure it's dangerous as well, but I would love to try it.

---

If you will forgive an offtopic-ish aside, this reminds me of a half joking idea for the ultimate extreme sport: JATO base jumping. The idea was that you would stand on the ground with the equivalent of a RATO/JATO unit strapped to your back along with a parachute. You would fire straight up into the air, and after the rocket had finished, you would freefall to a HALO styled landing.

I can't think of a bigger rush that this. I called it JATO-HALO.

Rich venture capitalists, I am standing by for you to throw fistfulls of money at me to figure out a way to make this happen. It will be like the dot-com thing all over again. Only with people flying. Really fast.

/offtopic
posted by quin at 10:31 PM on January 11, 2007


I'm glad to see that ACME, though only a shadow of its former glory, is still making sales..
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 10:39 PM on January 11, 2007 [2 favorites]


Finally I get my jet-pack!
posted by Effigy2000 at 10:42 PM on January 11, 2007


That's not your jetpack, that's my jetpack! No jetpack for you! Not yours!
posted by loquacious at 10:43 PM on January 11, 2007


damn, no stabilizer? me want wind tunnel info!
posted by mwhybark at 10:47 PM on January 11, 2007


This man could jump and fly through the air at whatever chosen moment: Batman… the Cartoon character created by Bob Kane.

And like Batman, when he flies alongside airplanes they can only look and admire him when he activates the acceleration button which makes him disappear at an incredible speed through the blue skies.


What? Since when could Batman fly at will?
posted by quite unimportant at 11:51 PM on January 11, 2007


And here the truth comes out. For all his wonderful comments over the years, and his even handed dealings with divisive topics; when it comes right down to it, when the brass tacks are on display; loquacious is just an angry four year old when in the presence of a personal jet pack.

I have nothing more to say beyond pointing this fact out.

Other than 'it's mine. I was here first!'
posted by quin at 12:32 AM on January 12, 2007


quite unimportant :
What? Since when could Batman fly at will?


In Batman Beyond he had this ability. But that is the Future, so I don't know if it counts.
posted by quin at 12:35 AM on January 12, 2007


There was someone did this a year or two ago using two model turbojets, one strapped to each ankle. Wing was a flexible sugar-glider type thing and the flight was launched from a balloon. It could sustain level flight but not much more: a lot more compact than this swiss guy but probably a lot less performance.

Here we go
posted by polyglot at 3:11 AM on January 12, 2007


Jet Pack
posted by polyglot at 3:15 AM on January 12, 2007


This Rocket Man jumps out of a plane and lands with a parachute. The bit in between does indeed include a bit of jetting along like Buzz Lightyear with little rigid wings strapped to his back, but it won't be really interesting until he can take off without the plane or at least land without the chute.

Something like the "Jet Pack" links from polyglot are what people really want (though with at least 100 times the range).
posted by pracowity at 3:19 AM on January 12, 2007


A jetpack that requires a Cessna is not a jetpack. I'm sorry.

But good effort.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:28 AM on January 12, 2007


This looks within reach for most of us regular guys...
posted by theemperorhasnoclotheson at 5:02 AM on January 12, 2007


From the video, it's hard to tell whether he is getting powered level flight, or just picking up enough momentum for a dive-swoop. I always get suspicious when I see choppy editing.

But still, it looks cool, and that's what really counts.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 5:09 AM on January 12, 2007


Why wasn't anyone jumping along side, so we could see him deploy the wings, in free fall? This seems a convenient omission, not up the standard of other sky-diving photography I've seen elsewhere.
posted by Goofyy at 5:21 AM on January 12, 2007


And like Batman, when he flies alongside airplanes they can only look and admire him when he activates the acceleration button which makes him disappear at an incredible speed through the blue skies.

I'm such a pedant, but yeah - wtf? Maybe he's thinking of that colourfully dressed alien with the immaculate haircut. I guess this guy is too busy tinkering with his wicked mental rocket wings to actually read any comics, but I salute him. Go fruitcake, go!
posted by 6am at 5:37 AM on January 12, 2007


That was so anti-clamactic I'm shocked.

Also, what good is it if he has to be dropped out of a plan?!

There was a video posted earlier in the year of a guy who dropped out of a plane and had glider wings on and he went further than this guy appears to. That was awesome, this not so much so.
posted by dobbs at 6:55 AM on January 12, 2007


Arn't the "jetpacks" that polygot links too actually rocket packs? Like these
posted by delmoi at 7:06 AM on January 12, 2007


That's not your jetpack, that's my jetpack! No jetpack for you! Not yours!

*ahem*

Actually, that's my jetpack.
posted by rocketman at 7:15 AM on January 12, 2007 [2 favorites]


Go Metafilter. This guy isn't promising jetpacks for everyone. All your pedantic sphincters are still flinching from too much vaporware. It's just a guy having fun in such an awesome way. I want to fly with giant rigid wings that don't allow much movement but has four model airplane sized jets strapped on. I would also like to fly with that giant delta wing that dobbs is talking about where the guy zooms down the mountain surface. The Mercury-esque jets on ankles would probably be pretty fun too. Oh and sign me up for a jet/rocket pack too.
posted by Phantomx at 3:25 PM on January 12, 2007


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