hsntnovel Chapter 73: Personal Flying Vehicles
Chapter 73: Personal Flying Vehicles
"Huh!?"
Guo Yi couldn't help but exclaim in surprise when he saw the title of the second newest product.
Because the second latest product is actually a personal jetpack!
A personal jetpack, also known as a jetpack or rocket backpack, is a single-person controllable aerial flight device. Its core function is to achieve vertical takeoff and landing through a power system, meeting the needs of single-person aerial mobility.
Its concept and prototype first emerged in the 1960s: During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military urgently needed a flexible and deployable individual flying device. Therefore, Bell successfully developed a prototype of the personal jetpack in 1967 and completed its test flight.
This early prototype was named the Bell Rocket Belt. It used hydrogen peroxide as a propellant and was designed for short-distance vertical takeoff and landing. The flight time was about 30 seconds, the flight altitude could reach 10-50 meters, and the speed was about 40 kilometers per hour.
The backpack carries approximately 23 liters of hydrogen peroxide propellant, along with high-pressure nitrogen and silver coated with samarium nitrate as catalysts. It generates high-temperature, high-pressure steam through a chemical reaction to provide power. Therefore, users must wear heat-resistant clothing to avoid being burned by the high temperature.
Although this prototype successfully verified the feasibility of single-soldier flight, it was limited by the propellant capacity and the shortcomings of the power system, resulting in a very short flight time and extremely high operational difficulty, making it suitable only for professional personnel to operate.
In addition, the prototype was easily exposed during flight, making it difficult to adapt to the needs of actual combat. Ultimately, the prototype was not put into military use, but served only as a technology verification prototype, providing an important foundation for the subsequent development of the industry.
In 1981, New Zealander Glenn Martin began to focus on personal jetpacks.
In 1984, at the opening ceremony of the 23rd Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, performers wearing rocket backpacks descended from the sky, and personal jetpacks appeared in the global public eye for the first time, instantly igniting people's yearning for solo flight.
The rocket backpack showcased this time is a simplified optimization based on the Bell prototype, which extends the flight time and improves flight stability.
Although it still cannot achieve long-duration, long-distance flight, it has shown the world the possibility of personal flight and has also prompted more companies and researchers to devote themselves to the technological development of personal jetpacks, opening the prelude to the transformation of personal jetpacks from "technical prototypes" to "practical equipment".
In 1998, Glenn Martin officially founded Martin Aircraft Company, focusing on the research, development and commercialization of practical jetpacks.
In 2008, Martin Aircraft unveiled its first practical personal jetpack prototype, the Martin Personal Jetpack, at an air show in the United States.
The backpack has a cubic structure, is 1.6 meters high and 1.5 meters wide, weighs 115 kilograms, and is equipped with twin propellers and a four-cylinder gasoline engine. It can take off and land vertically and is suitable for everyday scenarios such as outdoor exploration and short commutes.
In 2009, the backpack completed its first public flight demonstration, with a top speed of 74 km/h, a flight time of up to 30 minutes, and a maximum flight altitude of 150 meters.
Thanks to its innovation and practicality, the backpack was named one of the 50 best inventions of 2010 by Time magazine.
While Martin Aircraft Company was pushing for practical applications, Jetpack Aviation in the United States was also gradually rising to become another core company in the fuel-powered route.
Founded by David Mayman, the company's R&D team included Nelson Taylor, a core developer of the Bell Rocket Pack, and achieved a major breakthrough based on early technology: using a micro turbojet engine as the power source, replacing traditional rocket power and ducted fan power, which greatly improved flight endurance and handling stability.
The company subsequently launched two core products, JB-9 and JB-11, which can use JP-8 aviation kerosene, ordinary kerosene or diesel as fuel.
The JB-11 model has a maximum flight speed of over 190 km/h and a maximum flight altitude of over 4000 meters, making it suitable for outdoor exploration, high-altitude photography, and other scenarios.
In 2015, David Mayman personally piloted a JB-9 jetpack around the Statue of Liberty, bringing the company into the industry spotlight.
In 2016, the company was officially registered and established, further advancing the research and development of electric jetpacks, expanding the application scenarios of the products, and taking into account both professional and civilian needs.
On the other hand, Gravity Industries stands out with its unique product positioning, becoming a distinctive core company in the industry.
The company launched the JetSuit jet suit in 2017, which uses five micro gas turbine engines, one mounted on the back and four on the arms, with a total power of over 1000 horsepower. It can use various fuels such as aviation kerosene and diesel, and has a maximum flight speed of 80 km/h and an endurance of about 10 minutes.
This equipment is suitable for scenarios such as military performances, outdoor adventures, and high-altitude operations.
In 2019, the device was also used by British special forces for rapid boarding tests at sea, further expanding the military application scenarios of personal jetpacks.
Its unique control method and agile flight performance make the company an important representative of differentiated development in the industry.
As power battery technology continues to mature, electric drive technology is gradually emerging, and various electric personal jetpacks are being launched one after another, with related core companies also gradually making their moves.
Founded in 2021, Dongda Collier Aircraft Co., Ltd. focuses on the research and development of intelligent aircraft. Its independently developed high-energy-density lithium polymer batteries provide core support for electric jetpacks, which in turn led to the launch of the KLG series of wearable aircraft with a range of up to 8 kilometers. These aircraft are suitable for civilian applications such as extreme sports and high-altitude photography, making Dongda a core representative of local electric jetpack companies.
In addition, Copterpack, an Australian company, test-flew the world's first electric helicopter-style flight backpack in June 2021. It uses a dual-rotor and autopilot system, has a low operating threshold, and can be used by ordinary people after simple training.
This also marks the official entry of electric personal jetpacks into the practical application stage, making the company a key representative of the electric drive route.
At this point, the technological roadmap for personal jetpacks became completely clear, forming three main categories: fuel-powered, electric-powered, and fuel-electric hybrid.
Entering the second decade of the 21st century, breakthroughs in core technologies such as lightweight composite materials and artificial intelligence control have enabled personal jetpacks to completely break free from the early limitations of "short flight time and difficult control," ushering in a period of rapid development.
Major core companies are accelerating the iteration of technology: Martin Aircraft continues to optimize its ducted fan technology, changing its power to a hybrid mode of ducted fan and gasoline engine, further improving flight endurance and stability, and adapting to more outdoor scenarios;
Jetpack upgrades its turbojet engines to expand applications in high-altitude and complex environments, meeting the needs of specialized fields.
Gravity Industries has optimized the layout of its arm-mounted engine to improve maneuverability and adapt to more special scenarios.
Companies like Collier and Copterpack are focusing on electric technology, promoting miniaturization and environmental friendliness of their products to make electric jetpacks more suitable for civilian use.
Today, personal jetpacks can be flexibly applied to various fields such as outdoor exploration, aerial photography, emergency rescue, and military reconnaissance. They are no longer just simple technology demonstration products, but have truly achieved a leap from "concept" to "practical".
However, it is still a little far from being widely adopted.