For years, if not decades, now, people have been waiting for the jetpack technology to be developed. There were prototypes in the past but were considered dangerous or unstable technology that still needs to be worked on. Finally, the long wait has now ended, and this week, a company called Jetpack Aviation managed to strap a civilian with no prior training or experience on its JB-10 Jetpack, and this person managed to fly it.
A video blogger from Los Angeles, Mischa Pollack, is now officially the first civilian to ever fly a jetpack. He was selected by the Jetpack Aviation, and with less than 10 hours of training, he was allowed to try out the new technology.
Even though his “flying” consists mostly of hovering across a section of an avocado orchard with his jetpack tethered to a cable, this is considered to be a major achievement for this company, for they have worked long and hard to develop this technology.
Jetpack Aviation CEO, David Mayman, said that this proves that anyone can be trained to fly one of these Jetpacks.
“I think this speaks to the stability of the machine and the intuitive nature of flying this thing; it really is like a bike,” stated Mayman in his interview with New Atlas.
Even though many agree that this technology is pretty much beyond cool, the real reason why companies pushed for its development is the jetpack’s practical use.
Dubai scientists are developing a jetpack technology called the Dolphin system that is being designed to help with getting access to some of its more challenging locations. For example, it should be able to help firefighter’s battle fires in some of the hard-to-get places, such as bridges, boats, and places along the city canals.
It’s also seen as a way to get faster emergency responses in cities. This is mostly being seen as helpful when it comes to accessing tall structures like skyscrapers and alike.
And, of course, there is also its military application. There have been reports of a four-turbine jetpack that is being developed to aid the US military. If developed, it could speed up the response times in the field, provide more efficient ways of getting supplies delivered to the assigned locations, and so on.
These are only some of the cases where this technology could be used to speed things up, and since timing is half job done, a speedy reaction could really make a difference.
