A Water-Powered Jetpack

25 points by yaj 16 years ago | 11 comments

theklub 16 years ago |

I'll be the first to say that is awesome and I hope its not vaporware.

jseifer 16 years ago | |

This does look like a ton of fun, though the "hose" attachment didn't seem to go too far. It's also not cheap. But kudos to the developer of the thing! It's an incredibly original invention and application. Plus, since it runs in the water and is attached to something you can't go too high and there's a smaller risk of injury.

Also, I chuckled at the pun of calling this "vaporware" :)

pshc 16 years ago | | |

"incredibly original"

Well, we can't be sure about that: ;)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_Sunshine

TallGuyShort 16 years ago | | |

I'm sure with a more powerful engine (which is planned), longer hoses will become possible. However, it says that the drag caused by the boat added significant stability during forward flight, so a short hose attachment actually increases the quality of the flight.

biohacker42 16 years ago | |

If it's not too expensive I can definitely see this becoming very popular. Looks way more fun then a jetsky.

yan 16 years ago | | |

They say it's planned to cost $130,000. You can get quite a few jet-skis for that.

mcav 16 years ago |

Water-propelled, not really water-powered.

jpwagner 16 years ago | |

wait, what does that say about your definition of "high-powered"?

paulgb 16 years ago |

I'm not a physicist, but this paragraph struck me as incorrect (or at least misleading):

Li, however, figured that if he attached a hose to his pack, and put the engine and water pump in a separate vessel that dragged behind him, he could seriously reduce his weight, and therefore the amount of thrust needed to stay aloft.

If the engine and pump were part of the jet pack, even if the engine and water pump were weightless, wouldn't it be impossible to get enough thrust to provide lift? The propellant is being thrown back in the direction it came, so doesn't the momentum cancel out?

gchpaco 16 years ago | |

There's a great deal of extra momentum being added through the engine and water pump that you're not accounting for.

devin 16 years ago |

That thing would rip your feet off if you got in its way.