This one is straight out of a James Bond movie or Batman script.
German researchers this week showed off their Gryphon personal strap-on jet wing that lets the pilot scream through the air at about 135MPH. The Gryphon features a six-foot wing and hand-held rotary controls for the rudder. The system includes onboard oxygen and helmet that features a heads-up display.
Researchers say the final version of the flying wing will contain an electronic system that will take care of some of the steering for the pilot which today can be a little tricky, researchers say.
The company also plans to add small jets to the wing making it a true jetpack in the future.To land the wing today, the pilot separates the device from the backpack and opens the parachute contained inside. The wing remains attached to the pilot by a cord and falls to the ground a few feet below him, complete with the baggage stored inside - the current capacity is 44 lbs. The system is being touted as a faster and stealthier alternative to high altitude parachutes, known as HALOs currently in use by the military. While the Gryphon pilot moves through the air much faster than someone using a regular parachute, he can stay in the air much longer if need be, because there is no period of free fall, researchers say.
The ideal application for the Gryphon could be its use by Special Forces units to jump from a great heights and then glide through the air to a site of intervention many miles away. Parachutists could get into areas that are difficult to reach without their transport planes having to fly into a danger zone. A stealthy Gryphon insertion followed by a massive air assault might be an option where there was a target which might move away on short notice, or if there were hostages who might be killed at any sign of a rescue mission, researchers say.
Researchers say the Gryphon is aimed at the military and could also become an extreme sport system. No timetable for either application was announced however. The Gryphon is currently under development by German company ESG Elektroniksystem.
Such personal jetpacks have been in the works in the past. A Swiss airline pilot named Yves Rossy last year developed a working jetpack. Actually, it's a pair of rigid carbon fiber wings strapped to his back, with two small kerosene-powered jet engines on each wing - essentially a small jet airplane using the pilot's body as the fuselage.According to Engadget, Rick Herron, creator of Skywalker Jets, has devised a rocket pack that weighs about 90 pounds and can propel a 200 pound pilot around the air for what is likely the most invigorating 5 minutes of their life.
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What "The Sopranos" taught me about technology
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Germany - WWII
During WWII, Germany indeed used jet engines, and in combat.
Guided missiles, no. Germany used V1 rockets against the UK. They just launched them in the general direction of Great Britain and they flew until they ran out of fuel and crashed, then becoming a "bomb."
Nazi guided missiles
Germany used guided missiles during WW II, including television guided glider bombs against naval targets. Another guided missile system, Wasserfal, was used against airplanes. None of those had any impact on events, but they certainly were around.
Guided Missiles?? YES!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_guided_missiles_of_Germany
Regarding German use of
Regarding German use of guided missles in WWII, the previous comment is almost correct. The V1 was an unguided flying bomb. The V2 an unguided ballistic missle. However, the Luftwaffe did use the HS-293 guided missle to attack Allied shipping. The missle (really a guided flying bomb) was steered by joystick control from the bomber that launched it. It was moderately successful in that it worked, but total Allied air control made it dangerous for the bomber controlling the bomb.
German WWII guided missles
Nazi Germany certainly did have guided missle technology. In fact, they invented the first RF guided missles, that were controlled via joystick from a bomber. After a while, the allies were able to jam the RF signal, thus rendering the missles useless; however, Nazi Germany then invented wire-guided missles, where a long wire was spun out of a reel behind the missle, and would connect to the controller in the bomber. These were impossible to jam, and this technology is still in use to this very day.
Allied Jamming
As was the case in the German radio guidance, allied jamming was also primitive. On the warships a room full of electronic gear and a three man team was needed to locate and jam a radio signal. However since the German controling plane, could use one of 18 channels it took time to zero in and jam this signal.
A well trained team could do this in about 15 seconds. However since the missile had speeds in excess of 500 mph, they could cover > 2 miles in that time. Worse the results of jamming were not always effective. In one case during the Normandy landings, a jamming team decoyed a missile away from their ship only to land on another ship.
Historically the Germans recorded 30-50% hit probability with these missiles in combat, which is very respectable considering that dive bomb and torpedo bombers had at best 10% hit from really close range.
What killed these German war time missile squadrons was a combination of the increasing allied air superiority over the fleets and the halting of German bomber production due to the pressing need for fighter production for home defense.
Read more at...
http://www.ausairpower.net/WW2-PGMs.html
http://www.1jma.dk/articles/1jmaluftwaffegroundweapons.htm
It appears the Germans may have built 14,000-16,000 guided missiles during the war. However since their were two dozen versions in similtaneous development, few were produced in sufficent numbers or early enough, to make it past development before the war ended.
Let's use the right pronoun
"most invigorating 5 minutes of their life."
"his" life. I mean really.
re: Let's use the right pronoun
"most invigorating 5 minutes of their life."
"'his' life. I mean really."
I'd rather see "their" than "his" any day. How about "her"?
Preferring it doesn't stop
Preferring it doesn't stop it being wrong.