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Thread: Gravity Industries - Jet Pack Boarding Exercise.

  1. #1
    Grand Master Chris_in_the_UK's Avatar
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    Gravity Industries - Jet Pack Boarding Exercise.

    When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........

  2. #2
    Master
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    Amazing!!

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    Grand Master AlphaOmega's Avatar
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    Impressive.

    A swarm of those would be quite a sight.

  4. #4
    Master alfat33's Avatar
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    I hate to be a spoilsport but wouldn’t a well aimed machine gun have them all in the sea pretty quickly?

    Looks a lot of fun though.

  5. #5
    Grand Master
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    If they can make them near silent...

  6. #6
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    Couple of years ago a student at Lboro uni helped redesign the motor thrusters.
    One dinner he did a flying exhibition in a large cordoned off area.
    He wanted to appear coming over the design school but h&s had a hearth attack.
    It was supposed to be a slow demo staying well away from the crowds.
    Let’s just say if you got lent a Ferrari would you drive it at 30mph
    Another student in the Towers had a sense of humour with the theme to Ironman blaring out.

  7. #7
    Master Christian's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by alfat33 View Post
    I hate to be a spoilsport but wouldn’t a well aimed machine gun have them all in the sea pretty quickly?

    Looks a lot of fun though.
    That was what I was thinking. Sitting duck...both arms tied up to the thrusters with a jet engine making it impossible to be stealthy. No amount of cover fire could prevent him from being an easy target.

  8. #8
    Grand Master Chris_in_the_UK's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Christian View Post
    That was what I was thinking. Sitting duck...both arms tied up to the thrusters with a jet engine making it impossible to be stealthy. No amount of cover fire could prevent him from being an easy target.
    No more sitting duck than a helicopter?.

    Proving a concept perhaps?.
    When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........

  9. #9
    I'm sure there's plenty of military applications that would benefit with fast insertion that doesn't require simultaneous blazing guns.

    Quote Originally Posted by g40steve View Post
    Couple of years ago a student at Lboro uni helped redesign the motor thrusters.
    One dinner he did a flying exhibition in a large cordoned off area.
    He wanted to appear coming over the design school but h&s had a hearth attack.
    It was supposed to be a slow demo staying well away from the crowds.
    Let’s just say if you got lent a Ferrari would you drive it at 30mph
    Another student in the Towers had a sense of humour with the theme to Ironman blaring out.

    https://youtu.be/Gl3oXslewlA

    R
    Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.

  10. #10
    Grand Master TheFlyingBanana's Avatar
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    The boarding the ship video is awesome - really impressive.

    A couple of questions that spring to my mind, that someone who knows more about this than me might be able to answer:

    1 Given the temperatures that jet engines operate at, and the heat of their exhaust, if the pilot slipped even slightly and that exhaust touched his leg, surely he'd be hideously injured?
    2 Are the trousers fire-proof then?
    3 Does the pilot have to have extremely strong arms to do this? Those four engines must be generating considerable thrust and stress on his arms.

    Sorry, that was three questions.
    So clever my foot fell off.

  11. #11
    Grand Master Neil.C's Avatar
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    Haven't they had this technology since the 1960's?

    Cheers,
    Neil.

    My Speedmaster website:

    http://www.freewebs.com/neil271052

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by TheFlyingBanana View Post
    The boarding the ship video is awesome - really impressive.

    A couple of questions that spring to my mind, that someone who knows more about this than me might be able to answer:

    1 Given the temperatures that jet engines operate at, and the heat of their exhaust, if the pilot slipped even slightly and that exhaust touched his leg, surely he'd be hideously injured?
    2 Are the trousers fire-proof then?
    3 Does the pilot have to have extremely strong arms to do this? Those four engines must be generating considerable thrust and stress on his arms.

    Sorry, that was three questions.
    Judging by the founder of Gravity there's a need to be strong and fit:

    https://youtu.be/EAJM5L9hhBs. (Really informative video too).

    R
    Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.

  13. #13
    Grand Master TheFlyingBanana's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Neil.C View Post
    Haven't they had this technology since the 1960's?


    I guess so, yes, and certainly it was in use for real in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics opening ceremony:




    Perhaps the issue is more around control and flexibility of true flight, and I seem to recall these early packs had flght times of just a minute or so.

    But I could well be wrong.
    So clever my foot fell off.

  14. #14
    Grand Master Chris_in_the_UK's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheFlyingBanana View Post
    I guess so, yes, and certainly it was in use for real in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics opening ceremony:

    Perhaps the issue is more around control and flexibility of true flight, and I seem to recall these early packs had flght times of just a minute or so.

    But I could well be wrong.
    This one has a flight time of 10 minutes.
    When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by TheFlyingBanana View Post
    I guess so, yes, and certainly it was in use for real in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics opening ceremony:




    Perhaps the issue is more around control and flexibility of true flight, and I seem to recall these early packs had flght times of just a minute or so.

    But I could well be wrong.
    5 10 minutes currently, the main factor being the weight of fuel (1 gallon per minute).

    But talking of weight:



    R
    Last edited by ralphy; 4th May 2021 at 14:08.
    Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.

  16. #16
    Grand Master Saint-Just's Avatar
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    I suppose the guy with the jet pack got the short straw, and he flies to draw fire on one side while the RIBs with his mates board from the other
    'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.

  17. #17
    Grand Master Chinnock's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Saint-Just View Post
    I suppose the guy with the jet pack got the short straw, and he flies to draw fire on one side while the RIBs with his mates board from the other
    Roger “Decoy” Ramjet at your service.

  18. #18
    Grand Master PickleB's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheFlyingBanana View Post
    The boarding the ship video is awesome - really impressive.

    A couple of questions that spring to my mind, that someone who knows more about this than me might be able to answer:

    1 Given the temperatures that jet engines operate at, and the heat of their exhaust, if the pilot slipped even slightly and that exhaust touched his leg, surely he'd be hideously injured?
    2 Are the trousers fire-proof then?
    3 Does the pilot have to have extremely strong arms to do this? Those four engines must be generating considerable thrust and stress on his arms.

    Sorry, that was three questions.
    Take a look at the second link in:

    Quote Originally Posted by PickleB View Post
    See Gravity's YouTube Channel for more videos...including Race Testing!.

    And here is another link...https://youtu.be/Ic082qZELNE?t=510...where I've jumped to the inventor explaining his concept. The earlier bits are worth a watch too, IMO, but may not be everyone's cup of tea.

    They must have done quite a lot of flights, testing and demos by now and seem pretty aware of the health and safety issues. The good news being that I haven't seen anything in the press about a major accident.

    That said, a Google search brought up: www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPeQKrmMyJk.
    Last edited by PickleB; 4th May 2021 at 14:31.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheFlyingBanana View Post
    I guess so, yes, and certainly it was in use for real in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics opening ceremony:




    Perhaps the issue is more around control and flexibility of true flight, and I seem to recall these early packs had flght times of just a minute or so.

    But I could well be wrong.
    The Thunderball / '84 Olympics ones used rocket motors, not a jet. I googled this:

    https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/articl...cs-1984-rocket

    The Olympics rocket pilot did some of the filming for Thunderball. A couple of years ago I watched a fascinating documentary about an Australian guy who was trying to make his own jet pack; it wasn't man-in-a-shed engineering or anything like that, I think he had his own company. He'd burned himself a few times and had people standing by with water hoses for take off and landing.

  20. #20
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    Impressive; I note they picked a nice calm day to film that; I wonder how they would cope with 50 knot winds and rolling seas ...

  21. #21
    Grand Master TheFlyingBanana's Avatar
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    You just wait until I release the anti-gravity boots I have been working on in my shed for the past week.

    They use massively powerful magnets in the soles to repel the earth's magnetic field.

    So far I've buggered up three watches when I've bent down to tie the laces... but I think it's a price worth paying.
    So clever my foot fell off.

  22. #22
    Grand Master PickleB's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Montello View Post
    Impressive; I note they picked a nice calm day to film that; I wonder how they would cope with 50 knot winds and rolling seas ...
    That's where I'd start experimenting before working up to more harsh conditions. I expect they're wondering about that too...plus whether or not it's worth training a bootneck to use one of these things.

  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheFlyingBanana View Post
    You just wait until I release the anti-gravity boots I have been working on in my shed for the past week.

    They use massively powerful magnets in the soles to repel the earth's magnetic field.

    So far I've buggered up three watches when I've bent down to tie the laces... but I think it's a price worth paying.
    Sounds like the perfect excuse to buy a Millgauss.

  24. #24
    Grand Master TheFlyingBanana's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Montello View Post
    Sounds like the perfect excuse to buy a Millgauss.
    Got one, wearing it now... my favorite Rolex.

    😁
    So clever my foot fell off.

  25. #25
    Grand Master JasonM's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheFlyingBanana View Post
    You just wait until I release the anti-gravity boots I have been working on in my shed for the past week.

    They use massively powerful magnets in the soles to repel the earth's magnetic field.

    So far I've buggered up three watches when I've bent down to tie the laces... but I think it's a price worth paying.
    Reminded me of Terry Pratchett on the subject of 7 league boots:

    A means of magical transportation once used by the wizards of Unseen University. The enchanted boots allow the wearer to travel twenty-one miles with each step. However, accidents and severe groin strain (as well as, presumably, some severely dislocated bodyparts) were common and the boots are no longer in use.
    Cheers..
    Jase

  26. #26
    Craftsman
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    Militarily, utterly, utterly, utterly pointless.

  27. #27
    Master Christian's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brauner Hund View Post
    Militarily, utterly, utterly, utterly pointless.
    Agree. It's a cool project but the near future of this thing is just shows for crowds...thats why the chap says he's pursuing the air racing angle.

  28. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by Brauner Hund View Post
    Militarily, utterly, utterly, utterly pointless.
    Yes, sitting ducks.

  29. #29
    Grand Master AlphaOmega's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brauner Hund View Post
    Militarily, utterly, utterly, utterly pointless.
    Quote Originally Posted by General Melchett
    Precisely.

    That is what's so brilliant about it.

    It will catch the enemy completely off guard.

    They will never expect us to be so stupid as to use them.

  30. #30
    Grand Master
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    Have a go yourself for £2.4K

    https://gravity.co/flight-experience
    Cheers,

    Ben



    ..... for I have become the Jedi of flippers


    " an extravagance is anything you buy that is of no earthly use to your wife "

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