This article is actually nine years old, but I missed it then... and I just need more "fun" news.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/finally-the-jetpack-weve-always-wanted
I saw one of the very first public demonstrations of a human strapped to a jetpack at Chicago's McCormick Place Convention Center in the very early 60s.
65 years later: "Where's my damn jetpack?!!?"
As the article points out (though in more detail in the article that led me there), what you saw was a *rocket* pack, not a jet pack. Everything you have seen in movies is a *rocket* pack.
The problem with the rocket pack is that it can only hold 30 seconds of fuel on board. This is a *JET* pack, which can fly for 10 minutes and, under the right conditions, not turn the pilot's legs to cinders.
picky, picky
OK, 65 years later: "Where's my damn rocketpack?!!?"
BTW, that flight seemed longer but -scrutinizing my memory- it was about 30 seconds. He had on a metallic/reflective jumpsuit and went from one lower rooftop to an upper-level one.
> picky, picky
For Chrissakes!! I've been posting here for over a decade. Were you expecting that I had suddenly changed my basic personality?
Anyway... to dig myself in just a bit deeper, the reason it makes a difference is that a rocketpack had to carry all the fuel, but a jetpack can burn atmospheric oxygen, so it has to carry a lot less fuel. So your rocketpack is just never coming. But your jetpack just might.
I listened to a fun documentary about one of the rocketpack pilots. There were only ever a tiny number (like maybe as few as two) and pretty much every appearance you ever saw - Bond movies, Superbowl, etc was this one guy. But they never could solve fundamental problems with the rocketpack and we stopped seeing them.
Here's what Bell says
QuoteMoore enlisted Bill Suitor, a young kid who used to cut Moore's lawn, to become the first trainee to fly the jet pack. Practicing in a hangar 60 feet tall, the 19-year old learned how to become the first flying man. Afterwards, Suitor performed the flight as a demonstration to pilots across the country and even in the hit James Bond movie, "Thunderball." Yes, Sean Connery does look great flying away from two bad guys but it was actually Suitor and stuntman Gordon Yeager who flew the rocket belt in those movie shots. Overall, Suitor amassed 1,200 flights in 35 years, adding up to six and a half hours of flight.
https://news.bellflight.com/en-US/162793-innovation-throwback-the-bell-rocket-belt
I think I found the podcast that I was thinking of on 99PI, which has a nice page on the topic
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/rocket-man/
But if you search for Bill Suitor rocket, you'll find tons of interviews and articles
>over a decade
In the early days I thought Pedanticist had joined us. hhh. LOVE that nic, btw, came close to stealing it when registering for a hardware forum.
When I was an interpretation ranger, they called me the literal interpretation ranger. What can I say. It's how my mind works. Very helpful sometimes. Very unhelpful others.
>literal interpretation ranger
You're not alone. It is generally accepted in our family that Louise & I do not interpret instructions --say, on an early ATM-- like 'normal' people.
>early ATM
Back when the first one was installed at our bank we went one evening to give it a try. Following the instructions exactly we came home with buckets of cash. It didn't do what it said.
I texted my brother for help. I got stuck at the gas station. The pump said, "Do not leave pump unattended under penalty of law." I didn't want to wait around for another person to show up since it was late at night.
I think it was in my nature from the get go, but after a career as an editor, I can't unseen plain readings of a text.