Because We Need More Jet Packs and Rocket Belts

Just a quick note – With all the bad news these days, I figured I’d try to lighten things up a bit .

Boing Boing: Video and photos of rocketbelt conference

The self-proclaimed Rocketman, Ky Michaelson, drove 15 hours from Minneapolis to show off his shiny rocket-powered chair, scooter and a kid-sized ‘pack that my daughter Oona was lucky enough to try on. (In case anyone doubts how serious Ky is about all this, consider the fact that his son’s middle name is legally “Rocketman”).

No, this isn’t the caption for the above picture, but I think it’s one of the best parts of the article. I’ve known people like this. Some people think I’m like this. They might be right …

Jet packs are not inexpensive. They’re not economical. They’re not practical. They certainly aren’t the safest looking flying machines ever invented. But they sure do look like a whole lot of fun !

The biggest challenge I can see regarding jet packs and rocket belts is finding a way to make money with them other than by making them (and that’s probably a near-zero sum game). They’re a one person thing (unless someone’s got a passenger version on the drawing boards) so you can’t sell rides. Even with a two person model, getting the FAA approval to sell rides would be only slightly easier than achieving faster than light travel in my Chevy Cavalier.

I can see using them for aerial photography as a possiblity, but that would probably be better accomplished with a radio controlled aircraft such as a blimp or helicopter. Flight performances might work – I do live in Las Vegas after all .

The biggest problem with rocket belts and jet packs is that they can only stay up for a minute or so – not much time aloft. I’ve heard rumors that someone’s working on adapting small turbojet engines made for radio controlled model airplanes to the task, but that would probably still have short flight times due to fuel consumption.

Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to add one of these to my list of things I want along with the F-104 Starfighter, Ferraris, Corvettes, and the $1,000,000,000 in cash .