October 6, 2022

If "showing off" means inviting criticism and mockery.

31 comments:

Tom T. said...

Criticism and mockery? Those look awesome! I'm not sure of the combat application, but any job that involves climbing (reconnaissance, line or tower work) could benefit.

typingtalker said...

In peacetime they have two big jobs -- Maintenance to keep the boats afloat and recruiting to keep the canon-fodder coming.

In any case, it looks like flying around that way would require some skill and be a lot of fun.

Xmas said...

The Iron Man movie accidentally solved the jet pack problem. I.e. thrusters controlled by the hands greatly improve the flyers stability.

Temujin said...

I see no reason to criticize or mock. I want one.

mezzrow said...

Needs some goalposts to fly through. I'm having a flashback.

I want one too, T. Check back in a few years.

Howard said...

One step closer to Starship Troopers

Amadeus 48 said...

Totally awesome.

Where do I sign up?

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

Those jetpacks must be louder than sin. I didn't see any ear protection. Noise canceling headphones would work and provide communications. I wear them when operating my 25hp diesel tractor. I'd go deaf otherwise.

Rusty said...

I don't care if it has no military use at all. It's still cooler than shit. Pretty soon they'll be selling those at Costco.

Joe said...

Strap one on Joe Biden.

JK Brown said...

I sure hope that thing doesn't run on fossil fuels. If it does, what are they thinking in the new Woke military?

TreeJoe said...

No military use? lol.

I once worked on a project that used an advanced camera that could assess the metabolic needs of a person healing from a bed sore/pressure ulcer.

I learned that to humble myself because I had no clue the creativity of humankind to see something and create military use of it.

(P.s The Camera could be used to perform immediate battlefield triage by untrained personnel based upon ranking wound severity)

Aggie said...

It's a pretty neat story - as I understand it, the whole concept was engineered and prototyped by a British back yard / garage tinkerer. He kept working to perfect it and then eventually demo'd the working prototype. Imagine his satisfaction levels now.

mikee said...

If it moves the engineering world even a bit closer to the long-delayed production of flying cars, I'm for it. I want my flying car!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I want one.

iowan2 said...

I wear them when operating my 25hp diesel tractor. I'd go deaf otherwise.

I spent 100's of hours operating tractors, with no cabs, in the 80-to 150 HP range in my growing up years, For some reason, in my mid 60's no appreciable hearing loss. Not saying I did the right thing. Just got lucky.

But, to the subject. What is here to mock?. Maybe people ignorant of new technology. When I was in high school, our Business teacher told us, unequivocally, personal computers would NEVER happen. In effect, he mocked the notion, his mind could not comprehend. Today way are growing soybeans yielding 80 bu. per acre. Not a single expert in soybean breeding, made such a prediction 30 years ago.

My point, only the ignorant are so untethered from facts, as to feel comfortable mocking those things they cannot conceive.

EdwdLny said...

Hah, take my money ,please !

Rabel said...

I'm thinking that you have to have the skill level of a professional acrobat to operate that without killing yourself.

If the down force from one of the hand units gets the least bit offline you're going over with little chance to recover.

Wilbur said...

Sounded like at the very end someone doing the Curly Howard Woo woo woo.

Saint Croix said...

I'm officially a pacifist but my first thought was, "he really needs a laser to go with his jet pack, that would be awesome."

Of course anything that makes war fun is dangerous as shit, morally speaking.

But it's hard to mock awesome. And that jet pack is awesome.

Sean Connery used a jet pack in Thunderball, and you might be able to mock that a little bit. He's wearing a fucking suit, for one thing. I don't want to call Sean Connery "Dukakis in a jet pack," but you could do that.

My second thought was, "Damn, jet pack technology has gotten really good in 60 years."

I would love a jet pack. Not for fighting or killing. Just flying over shit like Superman. It would be awesome. I would pay for that.

Howard said...

Althouse proves Peterson right that Women are difficult to satisfy, especially with gear and gadgets.

gspencer said...

The British army along with the French army - always there when they need us (US).

Not Sure said...

Anybody posting anything on social media is inviting criticism and mockery. This one ranks pretty low on the mock-worthiness scale.

Howard said...

I just noticed something funny about my comment. It reminds me of one of my favorite bands you know the one they produce the album called pretzel logic.

Owen said...

Those jet packs look like the ones appearing a few months ago in a cool video of a simulated mountain rescue flight up the side of (IIRC) Ben Nevis. The old record to hike the mountain was over an hour. The guy in the jet pack did it in 5-6 minutes and in zero/zero conditions (no way to rescue anyone by helicopter).

The tech is IMHO extremely cool and I lust for it. Current price is a quarter million dollars or so, and flight time is very brief.

Owen said...

Check out Gravity Industries. The demo was in the Lake District, not Ben Nevis.

CWJ said...

From the same navy that brought you the VTOL Harrier jump jet. I assume they can no longer afford the jets, so they substituted VTOL pilots.

effinayright said...

This reminds me of a cheesy Steven Segal movie (is there any other kind?) where a helicopter filled with grim-looking Seals whop-whop-whops its way to attack a ship filled with evil doer.

The chopper can be heard a mile away, so one of the bad guys hears it and calmly reaches for his convenient "Bad Guy" Brand Stinger Missile, fires it, and watches with satisfaction as the copter explodes and crashes into the water.

Same here: these jet packs are so noisy they are useless in achieving surprise. What's more the time it takes the soldier to extricate himself when he lands makes him very vulnerable.



Lurker21 said...

Those have been around for about 60 years, though with very short flying time. They haven't gotten much closer to mass production and use, have they. The flying platform which has been around for about as long if not longer looks like a better bet if that's what you're into.

Ralph L said...

It's weird, you can see the shadow of the camera stick, but not the stick itself.

Tony from London said...

"The British Royal Navy showed off people in jet suits..." I can understand CBS not wanting to call the person with a beard a man but a little bit of research would have identified a UK military person wearing a green beret as a Royal Marine. Time to update the motto "Per Mare Per Terram"?