Icarus famously said that 'all limits are self-imposed'. But for Yves Rossy, the sky is the only limit with his Jet Man contraption (Stephanie Thomet/Reuters)
Icarus famously said that 'all limits are self-imposed'. But for Yves Rossy, the sky is the only limit with his Jet Man contraption (Stephanie Thomet/Reuters)
Big deal. I've been watching Wile E. Coyote do this for years.
Amazing!
--there is a recent book on the history of this type of flight which I had from the Clark Co, NV (Las Vegas) library within the last couple of months--I've tried all the search terms I can think of and can't find it--somebody out there might know of it--
Bah! Buck Rogers didn't even have to use wings as he zipped around the sky ogling Wilma.
Of course, Buck is from the 25th century. Maybe global warming will have created lots of thermals, and that's why Buck didn't need wings.
How does he land ?
Is the snow still coming down in CO?
That's amazing!
$20 says he can't maintain a fixed altitude.
What is the difference between this guy strapping wings on his back to me strapping a full airplane to my body? Birds fly, Man eats bird. We win, dammit.
ping
Why Fly?
SpecialOps will be looking into this soon instead of their long-distance gliders. Cool.
I thought I read a similar article in Popular Science but I can't find it there. Here's where the military is taking this kind of technology...
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1648903.htm
'Wings' to carry paratroopers 200km
A new military parachute system which fits wings on soldiers could enable them to travel up to 200 kilometres after jumping, Jane's Defence Weekly reports.
The system, which involves the development of new modular carbon-fibre wings, will mean that aircraft can drop parachutists from 9,150 metres into an area of operations without flying into a danger zone.
Trials of the modular wing are being developed by the German firm Elektroniksystem und Logistik and Draeger.
They are due to finish by the end of 2006, with the entire parachute and wings combination expected to be available during 2007.
Peter Felstead, the editor of Jane's Defence Weekly, says the new system has been in use with the German Army since 2003.
But he says the development of the new wing means soldiers can travel much further than the current 48 kilometres.
"The new wing will also reduce the impact of wind conditions on the jumper and allow operatives to travel up to 40 kilometres carrying loads of around 100 kilograms," Mr Felstead said.
"The system is reportedly 100 per cent silent and extremely difficult to track by air on ground-based radar systems."
Jane's Defence Weekly reports that the next stage of the development will utilise small turbo-jet drives, as used on unmanned aerial vehicles, allowing jumpers to be carried longer distances without jumping from such extreme heights.
...A near perfect reflection upon the never-ending war between autocrats and those who yearn to be free....
Type: JetCat
Model:P-200
Thrust: 50
Diameter: 5.12
Weight: 5lb
Cost: $4,995.00
Now maybe I'm missing smth here, but with 6-8 of these you can create a set of wings, harness and tanks with a better than 1:1 power to weight ratio. Or on par with an F-15
That would allow a VTOL flight with a set of slightly larger wings.
Copyright Infringement!