The trials of the jet pack

Popular Mechanics has an informative piece on the many trials and tribulations of the fledgling “jet pack” industry, starting with the deceit in the name itself:

Then there’s the bad news. First, these jet packs aren’t what they seem: Jet-powered devices are in development (and models were tested as early as the ’60s), but all models on the verge of availability are, in fact, jet-free and called, officially, rocket belts. Second, while last year there were two commercial rocket-belt manufacturers–Mexico’s Tecnologia Aeroespacial Mexicana (TAM) and Colorado-based JetPack International–there are now three: Thunderbolt Aerosystems, based in California, plans to start selling its ThunderPack TP-R2G2 rocket belt to customers this summer. Why is another entry in the fledgling human-flight business bad news? After all, three companies might be just enough to spur the kind of innovation that a healthy niche industry needs.

Well, that’s the problem with so-called jet packs: everything…

[BTW: Here’s a piece I did on the original Bell Rocket Belt many moons ago.]

The Inside Story of When Jet Packs Really Are Coming [via] Link