H2O powers Jetpack for Hours

February 11th, 2009 |

I want one of these, don’t you?

Remember in Lost in Space, Prof. John Robinson flew around a desert planet looking for the lost Chariot SUV.

Ok maybe not, but jet packs have been around since the 1930s in both reality and sci-fi, but there’s always been one problem: They run out of rocket fuel super fast.

(See some fun facts about the jet packs below).

A German company has an alternative fuel: Water, lots of it.

Called the JetLev-Flyer, the German design can at best reach a height of 50 feet, a speed of 45 mph and a range of 186 miles, based on four hours of flying time. You need a big body of water to make this puppy go.

MS Watersports GmbH of Itzehoe, near Hamburg in northern Germany, takes the standard oil-based jetpack design and runs a ugly fat yellow hose out the back.

The hose connects to a small unmanned boat, which houses an engine, pump and fuel tank and sends pressurized water back up the hose, where it’s shot out by two nozzles just behind the wearer’s shoulders.

But hold on, did I say it uses fuel? Maybe not the jet pack, but the engine does. Guess they are still working on that part of the jet pack.

COST

It won’t be cheap, so if your one of those must have it gadget guys and still have extra cash under your mattress, then go for it.

The company is taking orders, but be ready to shell out 100,000 euro, or $130,000 at today’s exchange rates.

That price does include training.

Click here for the official JetLev Web site.

Click here for the first of 5 training videos (in English) on YouTube.

What is a Jet Pack?

A Jet pack is a personal transport vehicle that enables a single individual to fly using a device strapped to the back that ‘expels gasses’. Though the technology is not very practical, it became popular in science fiction in both television and movies.

Swiss pilot Yves Rossy (the Jet Man) became the first man to fly across the English Channel using a jet-propelled wing attached to his back on September 24, 2008.

Jet pack sci-fi history

(L-R) Lost in Space, Johnny Quest, Iron Man, Jango Fett

John Robinson used a jet pack on the original Lost in Space
The Rocketeer used a jet pack, both in the comics and in the movie
James Bond notably used a jet pack in Thunderball
King of the Rocket Men, a 1949 serial, starred a hero in a jet pack-like “rocket suit”
George Jetson used one in 1962.
Dr. Quest used a jet pack on Johnny Quest in 1964.
Jango Fett and his son Boba Fett used a jet pack in the Star Wars films.
In the 2008 Iron Man movie, Iron Man doesn’t wear a jet pack as he becomes a jet pack. The rocket thrust comes from the bottoms of his feet. Way cool if you ask me.