I?m a bit astonished at the negativity and somewhat bad-spirited comments about the Martin Jetpack from what is normally an optimistic, forward-thinking group.
Yeah, their jet-pack is pretty impractical in its present form. Yeah, it?s powered by a snarly 2-stroke instead of the implied ?jet? that everyone dreamed of in their youth. But holy cow, folks, it HAS flown numerous times under its own power (with human safety-tethers following it around to ensure the operator?s safety in this early phase of its testing.) Did you even watch the
videos?
Are we all so jaded that we?d prefer that designers never pursue the development of such cool devices? (Or at least not mention them at all until they're 100% market-ready and available at your local Sharper Image store?) It?s
Oshkosh, by gosh! The host organization is the Experimental Aircraft Association! What better place to display the fringes of aeronautical development? You want perfectly slick, finished products? Go to Farnborough.
So you ?wasted? a half-hour in a big crowd, only to see the top of the guy?s head as he hovered a foot off the ground? Gee, what a horrible experience. Blame EAA for getting caught up in the excitement of the whole thing, and promoting the event as something that simply could not be fulfilled due to insurance requirements. But don?t blame the poor Martin guys, who are just trying to show off their work in progress. Anybody who booed their display was very rude, IMHO.
I applaud their initiative and for bringing a truly interesting flying device to Oshkosh and attempting to show it off. Perhaps their invention
will just fade away, just like the Moller Air Car and that other odd, ducted-fan plane from a few years ago. But so what? The world needs innovators like that -- they keep some of us inspired and curious about what?s next. Nothing wrong with that, even if the product doesn't eventually make it.