Right Lane Cruiser
11-25-2008, 07:02 AM
Eric Scott's Plan B was not pretty. (http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_11066141)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/jetpack.JPGJason Blevins - The Denver Post (http://www.denverpost.com) - Nov. 25, 2008
Will we ever have personal transport of this type? How about an antigravity belt? -- Ed.
"There is no parachute. There is no safety net. There is no air bag. But there is 800 horsepower on my back," said the former TV stuntman who on Monday piloted his hydrogen-peroxide-powered jet pack across the 1,053-foot-deep Royal Gorge.
In a 21-second burst of deafening thrust, 45-year- old Scott soared across the 1,500-foot-wide chasm, setting all kinds of first-ever records in the nascent world of rocket-strapped flight as hundreds of spectators gaped.
He had never flown more than a few hundred yards. Never been near that high. He had only 33 seconds of fuel on his back, and some of those seconds were needed for starting and hovering to land. So he'd have to
fly his NASA-styled jet pack at speeds he had never reached before.
That's a lot of never-evers with only sheer cliffs and a long, long fall awaiting any mistakes.
"Fear either makes people suck it up and get it right or they lose it," Scott, of Denver, said moments before he twisted his hand throttle and leapt into the chasm. "I'm the.... http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_11066141
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/jetpack.JPGJason Blevins - The Denver Post (http://www.denverpost.com) - Nov. 25, 2008
Will we ever have personal transport of this type? How about an antigravity belt? -- Ed.
"There is no parachute. There is no safety net. There is no air bag. But there is 800 horsepower on my back," said the former TV stuntman who on Monday piloted his hydrogen-peroxide-powered jet pack across the 1,053-foot-deep Royal Gorge.
In a 21-second burst of deafening thrust, 45-year- old Scott soared across the 1,500-foot-wide chasm, setting all kinds of first-ever records in the nascent world of rocket-strapped flight as hundreds of spectators gaped.
He had never flown more than a few hundred yards. Never been near that high. He had only 33 seconds of fuel on his back, and some of those seconds were needed for starting and hovering to land. So he'd have to
fly his NASA-styled jet pack at speeds he had never reached before.
That's a lot of never-evers with only sheer cliffs and a long, long fall awaiting any mistakes.
"Fear either makes people suck it up and get it right or they lose it," Scott, of Denver, said moments before he twisted his hand throttle and leapt into the chasm. "I'm the.... http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_11066141