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posted by janrinok on Saturday August 13 2022, @03:23PM   Printer-friendly
from the photoshopped-the-broom-out dept.

Residents Astonished When Man in Jetsuit Cruises Through Arch in Bridge:

Residents in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, were shocked to see a man in a jetsuit blast over the city's Grand River, and even dive through an arch of a nearby bridge earlier this week.

As it turns out, the man with the jetpack was none other than Alex Wilson, who has been testing the unusual gear for the UK-based company Gravity. In fact, according to local news, Wilson has already donned the suit at more than 200 events.

"It's genuinely so intuitive and so natural to fly that anyone can do it," he told local reporters. "This isn't another aircraft, it's really you flying."

Gravity's suits, which the company likes to refer to as "1,000 horsepower jet suits," make use of jet turbines attached to the wearer's arms and back.

The company is confident enough to allow inexperienced thrill-seekers to test out the jetpack at a training facility just outside of London, UK.

It seems that this technology will be available long before the flying cars that we were once promised. So, how many of our community fancy giving it a try? Where would you want to fly and why?


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  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 13 2022, @04:26PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 13 2022, @04:26PM (#1266453)

    Ratchet-strap him to the top of a Tesla

    Literally killing two birds with one stone.

    • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Saturday August 13 2022, @04:40PM

      by FatPhil (863) <{pc-soylent} {at} {asdf.fi}> on Saturday August 13 2022, @04:40PM (#1266455) Homepage
      You'd need to strap 3 of him to the top to get the full Mythbusting effect. I say go for it.

      Jetpac dudes have pissed off plenty of pilots, I'm wondering if some of the UAP reports are him.
      --
      Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
  • (Score: 5, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 13 2022, @05:17PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 13 2022, @05:17PM (#1266458)

    It's a Miracle!

  • (Score: 5, Funny) by donkeyhotay on Saturday August 13 2022, @06:28PM

    by donkeyhotay (2540) on Saturday August 13 2022, @06:28PM (#1266466)

    All is well until you scratch your nose

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by JoeMerchant on Saturday August 13 2022, @07:16PM (2 children)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Saturday August 13 2022, @07:16PM (#1266471)

    >the Jet Suit has a range of about 3 miles (5 km) and a flight time measured in minutes – up to four, but typically one to three depending on conditions.

    Call me when the range is improved by two orders of magnitude.

    --
    Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 13 2022, @08:03PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 13 2022, @08:03PM (#1266478)

      1 order of magnitude would accomplish most of what you want to do with it. You don't want to be using one of these death traps for 100 minutes.

      • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday August 14 2022, @03:16AM

        by c0lo (156) on Sunday August 14 2022, @03:16AM (#1266534) Journal

        Strapped to a 1000 HP contraption (aka 0.735MW)? Not gonna catch me near it even for 1 second.

        And the next order of magnitude would either involve portable nuclear energy or will be a flying car.

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 14 2022, @12:29AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 14 2022, @12:29AM (#1266512)

    One of my friends had to give up his old tow truck because California changed a law and his old truck no longer would pass.

    So how many MPG do these get, and how much CO2 per person-mile?

    • (Score: 4, Funny) by legont on Monday August 15 2022, @12:20AM

      by legont (4179) on Monday August 15 2022, @12:20AM (#1266662)

      He should have given up California like normal folks do.

      --
      "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
  • (Score: 2) by JustNiz on Monday August 15 2022, @08:19PM

    by JustNiz (1573) on Monday August 15 2022, @08:19PM (#1266848)

    So how reliable are those small jet engines anyway?
    Whenever I've seen anyone doing anything like this with them it's almost always been over water. I'm guessing that's for a good reason.

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