Flying With A Jetpack – A Very Dangerous Occupation.

I’ve just built a new Jetpack (also known as a JetBelt or RocketBelt).

Flying my new Jetpack – the contrails go on for ages. In real life, fuel for these Peroxide/liquid oxygen jetpacks lasts for only twenty seconds – so there’s an advantage that Second Life has. Flying here at 50,000m into the sunset.

This is a fairly close model of the Jetpacks as built by Bell for the USA military in the 1960s and as seen in the James Bond film Thunderball. Originally costing $250,000 dollars in 1960 (many millions at todays prices) the idea has been resurrected by the TAM company, who are building a modern day version of them, for only $250,000 including training – a bit of a bargain. The TAM company say – “Be aware of people that offer plans, parts or a rocket belt that has not flown and tested because you could be killed. The Rocket Belt is NOT a machine that you can make and fly easily, if someone offers to you plans or parts to make a “cheap” Rocket Belt ask for a demonstration and see an actual flight, don’t be the test pilot of a deadly machine. ”

Theyve got a really interesting website with some videos of their Jetpack in action (sort of – look for the safety wires.) It’s good to see that there’s still some crazies around!
Here’s their website….
http://www.tecaeromex.com/ingles/RB-i.htm

And here’s a couple of shots of Second Life going wrong – I fell asleep while flying my JetPack – More than a little dangerous I think!!

~ by slconceptual on May 2, 2007.