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The Future Now: Jetpacks to Go on Sale Late This Year
FOXNEWS ^ | 03/13/10 | Jeremy A. Kaplan

Posted on 03/13/2010 8:52:39 AM PST by Doogle

UPDATE:Flying cars and robot maids may still be far from reality, but one Jetsons-era vision of the future is very real: the jetpack.

After nearly 30 years in development, New Zealand's Martin Aircraft Company is finally gearing up to sell its jetpack: two rockets driven by a 2-liter, 200-horsepower engine that can theoretically take you as high as 8,000 feet.

The company is currently taking commercial orders, but Martin expects it will be selling the devices to individuals late this year.

With a range of 31 miles and a maximum speed of 63 miles per hour, you'll be able to jaunt to the store at will, or to the gas station for a fill-up. That's right, Martin's jetpack uses ordinary gasoline, not jet or rocket fuel.

The future is now, though it'll cost you around $100,000. So why buy a jetpack rather than, say, a midsize sailboat or a high-performance motorcycle?

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Hobbies; Miscellaneous; Science; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: jetpack; napl; thiswontendwell
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To: Doogle
Anyone remember the legendary Hal Graham?


21 posted on 03/13/2010 9:28:01 AM PST by Daffynition (What's all this about hellfire and Dalmatians?)
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To: Doogle

How impressive. An air-segway. Now you can break more than just your nose tripping over an obstruction...


22 posted on 03/13/2010 9:30:40 AM PST by Hardraade
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To: Centurion2000
Approves...........


23 posted on 03/13/2010 9:32:24 AM PST by Daffynition (What's all this about hellfire and Dalmatians?)
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To: mdmathis6

2L is the engine displacement.


24 posted on 03/13/2010 9:32:36 AM PST by rahbert
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To: wally_bert

25 posted on 03/13/2010 9:32:39 AM PST by Candor7 (Now's the time to ante up against the Obama Fascist Junta ( member NRA))
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To: Doogle; MeekOneGOP; Conspiracy Guy; DocRock; King Prout; Darksheare; OSHA; martin_fierro; ...
Soooooo...who wants be a beta tester?


26 posted on 03/13/2010 9:35:25 AM PST by Slings and Arrows ("Jim Robinson is the onle person that sweets proper nut sweet. leave the man alone."--Sarah-bot)
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To: AdmSmith; Berosus; bigheadfred; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Fred Nerks; ...

I won’t be doing business with any auto insurance company that also insures these. Period. Count on it.


27 posted on 03/13/2010 9:43:06 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Freedom is Priceless.)
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To: Candor7; Doogle
A Water-Powered Jetpack


28 posted on 03/13/2010 9:49:10 AM PST by Daffynition (What's all this about hellfire and Dalmatians?)
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To: SunkenCiv
Geez ...somebody got up on the wrong side of bed this morning. Call me on your rotary phone ...we need to talk about this. ;-P


29 posted on 03/13/2010 9:52:06 AM PST by Daffynition (What's all this about hellfire and Dalmatians?)
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To: Doogle
God bless Kiwi ingenuity, but there may be a reason why all of the "pilots" but one shown in the video were slender women and the one man (at the end) looked skinny as Hell and was just standing there with a grin on his face.

But it's an interesting attempt at something people have been dreaming about since the days of Dick Tracy cartoons.

30 posted on 03/13/2010 9:54:17 AM PST by katana (Interesting Times)
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To: Doogle

They may look like a cool thing to alot of people, but a lot of people will die on these things too.


31 posted on 03/13/2010 9:58:37 AM PST by valkyry1
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To: Doogle
Hmmmm.

Tempting. The concrete parking area in front of my new house has been compared to a helipad. Looks like the perfect take-off/landing area.

32 posted on 03/13/2010 10:06:25 AM PST by southernnorthcarolina (Now with ConstructionCam! Click on my name and follow the progress.)
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To: valkyry1

There will be Chinese copies I’m sure, and I bet there will be plans for a new generation of kamikaze Jihad fighters lining up for suicide missions, like into Israel.


33 posted on 03/13/2010 10:06:25 AM PST by Eye of Unk ("Either you are with us or you are for the terrorists." ~~George W. Bush)
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To: Eye of Unk

They could be used by suicide jihads here in the States too, it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to come up with several types of missions right off the top of ones head.


34 posted on 03/13/2010 10:10:31 AM PST by valkyry1
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To: Doogle

You articulated two great points. Do you want the prize behind door number 1, door number 2 or door number 3?


35 posted on 03/13/2010 10:11:14 AM PST by mlocher (USA is a sovereign nation)
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To: Daffynition

Maybe you’re right... could lead to more production of, and lower prices for, peroxide, in turn to more blondage...


36 posted on 03/13/2010 10:11:50 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Freedom is Priceless.)
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After nearly 30 years in development, New Zealand's Martin Aircraft Company is finally gearing up to sell its jetpack: two rockets driven by a 2-liter, 200-horsepower engine that can theoretically take you as high as 8,000 feet.
Of course, then the fuel runs out, and you're on your own...
37 posted on 03/13/2010 10:12:24 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Freedom is Priceless.)
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To: valkyry1
Don't see kites stuck on power lines much anymore but I guess now we'll start seeing these jet packers.
38 posted on 03/13/2010 10:15:05 AM PST by Hillarys Gate Cult (The man who said "there's no such thing as a stupid question" has never talked to Helen Thomas.)
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To: valkyry1
They may look like a cool thing to alot of people, but a lot of people will die on these things too.

This is a cool thing, but it will be deemed an inappropriate toy if HC passes. The gov't will stop providing health care benefits to people injured on these.

39 posted on 03/13/2010 10:15:33 AM PST by mlocher (USA is a sovereign nation)
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To: All

Still no images from Lost in Space or Jonny Quest?


40 posted on 03/13/2010 10:18:17 AM PST by william clark (Ecclesiastes 10:2)
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