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Jet Pack Paramedic - Coming to a Hillside Near You!


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Posted by Robin Colbourne on 29/09/2020 10:34:53:


How does the thrust from the engines support the pilot? Surely he's not taking all the load through his arms for the whole flight?

I have to say this was my first thought and makes me suspect this to be some sort of elaborate hoax - maybe someone can confirm that they've seen one of these set-ups working, first hand?

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Worth watching the news article and then then their video of the day prior + the drone footage is quite impressive as well.

They are turbines not rockets so apparently its more hot air than flaming exhaust gas and the designer spooled it up in his lab on the radio! Their MK2 has a spool up time of 10 seconds as opposed to the 45 seconds for the MK 1.

One large pack turbine and 2 pairs of thrust vector ones on the arms.

They did admit that the major issue is flying time....where did you hear that previously..wink....is the drone dead, long live personal jet packs..at least it will take the focus off our flying.

 

Edited By Chris Walby on 29/09/2020 14:08:29

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A helicopter with a paramedic on the end of a winch line would still get there first.

As a Coastguard working with the Welsh air ambulance helo's I was impressed at the unusual and small places the pilots would put down to get their paramedic to the casualty.

Edited By J D 8 on 29/09/2020 18:40:15

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Posted by Bob Cotsford on 29/09/2020 16:24:22:

and while it may not be far to fall in the event of a malfunction, it's still likely to result in two remote rescues instead of one isn't it?

Posted by J D 8 on 29/09/2020 18:34:49:

A helicopter with a paramedic on the end of a winch line would still get there first.

As a Coastguard working with the Welsh air ambulance helo's I was impressed at the unusual and small places the pilots would put down to get their paramedic to the casualty.

Agree with both these points - how many days is this actually going to be workable from a weather perspective, and how many times out of 10 will you have to call on the heli anyway to perform the evac? I would have thought a large multirotor with the capacity to provide a video comms link for triage and deliver basic first aid materials would in most cases be a better solution.

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Posted by J D 8 on 29/09/2020 18:34:49:

A helicopter with a paramedic on the end of a winch line would still get there first.

As a Coastguard working with the Welsh air ambulance helo's I was impressed at the unusual and small places the pilots would put down to get their paramedic to the casualty.

Edited By J D 8 on 29/09/2020 18:40:15

In the Times today the Cumbrian mountain rescue say that by driving to a location and then using the jet pack they would be on scene in about a 3rd of the time it takes to get the air ambulance there. Also who decides to call the air ambulance, if you have to wait for mountain rescue to walk up the hill and make an assessment then it could be significantly longer again.

But as the article said they are going to trail it next year so lets see how that goes.

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Posted by J D 8 on 29/09/2020 18:34:49:

A helicopter with a paramedic on the end of a winch line would still get there first.

As a Coastguard working with the Welsh air ambulance helo's I was impressed at the unusual and small places the pilots would put down to get their paramedic to the casualty.

Edited By J D 8 on 29/09/2020 18:40:15

How any Coastguard and Air Ambulance helicopters are there in the UK? There must be situations in which they are all occupied or too far away, when something like this jet pack would do what's necessary. Its early days for it, so I'm prepared to give it the benefit of the doubt.

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Posted by Martin Harris on 29/09/2020 13:19:07:

I have to say this was my first thought and makes me suspect this to be some sort of elaborate hoax - maybe someone can confirm that they've seen one of these set-ups working, first hand?

Lots of videos on youtube on these things. They're incredible.

Yes comments about weather and cost apply, that said, in this context one man plus some kit can be placed in some fairly tight spots quicker and cheaper than a heli can get there. Air ambulance are (I read) around £3k per callout. This jetsuit thing will be a lot less per use. If it replaces just one heli callout per day for a couple of years it has more than paid for itself.

I note that video linked is showing the air ambulance showing up some short while later. So we're looking at the the equivalent of the medic on a fast bike at an RTA - first response, not the heavy lifting that comes later.

"Saw that article at work the other night funnily enough on an Ambulance station .......To say we laughed was an understatement."

Cars, "never replace horses".

Computers, "what do I need a big calculator for?"

Personally, on a site devoted to flying things, I'm surprised at those not interested or pooh pooing it.

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Richard Browning the CEO of Gravity Industries  (and inventor) has been a modeller as well as a Marine. Another lad from our club is also involved in the design / development and was in the video. Having seen the pack, you have to give a small British company credit in trying to consider various applications for their work.

I suggest that the various doubters on this post look at Gravity Industries videos on Youtube. Robin , I understand that the Navy , Coastguard etc are all interested.

For info , the average flight time is 9 mins . However this is being extended as further development takes place.

Edited By Tomtom39 on 30/09/2020 15:15:51

Edited By Tomtom39 on 30/09/2020 15:21:32

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I saw this and thought it was quite interesting. Admittedly my first thought was what happens if it cuts out, which was promptly countered by he'll be ground skimming so no flying high which is fair enough. My big concern is the top speed of 85mph............ What happens if it goes dead stick at that speed

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In answer to Robin and Frank.

How any Coastguard and Air Ambulance helicopters are there in the UK? There must be situations in which they are all occupied or too far away, when something like this jet pack would do what's necessary. Its early days for it, so I'm prepared to give it the benefit of the doubt.

 

Don't know about the rest of the UK but Wales has 3 air ambulance's and Two winch equipped Coastguard heli's.

The decision about what assets to send is usually with the emergency operator in touch by phone or radio with the first informant.

The issue with the jet pack I see is it still needs to travel by road to first get to the scene of the incident.

Coastguard are trialling UAV's along the lines of MattyB's post.

Edited By J D 8 on 30/09/2020 15:53:08

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Posted by alex nicol on 30/09/2020 15:49:49:

I saw this and thought it was quite interesting. Admittedly my first thought was what happens if it cuts out, which was promptly countered by he'll be ground skimming so no flying high which is fair enough. My big concern is the top speed of 85mph............ What happens if it goes dead stick at that speed

The idea is not to fly at 85mph, but to use the Jet Pack to get the first responder up the hill a lot quicker than they could walk from the bottom. Even if he only goes at 10 mph he can fly straight up instead of taking a less direct route at 2-3mph.

What happens if a helicopter goes dead stick when it's winching............................

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Posted by Frank Skilbeck on 30/09/2020 16:25:45:
Posted by alex nicol on 30/09/2020 15:49:49:

I saw this and thought it was quite interesting. Admittedly my first thought was what happens if it cuts out, which was promptly countered by he'll be ground skimming so no flying high which is fair enough. My big concern is the top speed of 85mph............ What happens if it goes dead stick at that speed

The idea is not to fly at 85mph, but to use the Jet Pack to get the first responder up the hill a lot quicker than they could walk from the bottom. Even if he only goes at 10 mph he can fly straight up instead of taking a less direct route at 2-3mph.

What happens if a helicopter goes dead stick when it's winching............................

The first choice helicopter covering the Lake District is based at Penrith therefore from take off to hill would probably be within 20 - 25 mins. Jet Pack would be transported within vehicle probably take about the same time from mountain rescue base to hill depending on traffic. At the hill base the operator would need to be readied, dunno how long that would take, then JP up the hill in a few seconds. IMO from the same start time the helicopter responder would likely get there quicker most times.

The helicopters used are twins so a sudden dead stick situation is highly unlikely.

Wouldn't a scrambles type motor bike be a more economic option & overall just as fast or even faster if it was also roadworthy ?

Edited By PatMc on 30/09/2020 17:32:14

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Posted by PatMc on 30/09/2020 17:30:51:

The first choice helicopter covering the Lake District is based at Penrith therefore from take off to hill would probably be within 20 - 25 mins. Jet Pack would be transported within vehicle probably take about the same time from mountain rescue base to hill depending on traffic. At the hill base the operator would need to be readied, dunno how long that would take, then JP up the hill in a few seconds. IMO from the same start time the helicopter responder would likely get there quicker most times.

The helicopters used are twins so a sudden dead stick situation is highly unlikely.

Wouldn't a scrambles type motor bike be a more economic option & overall just as fast or even faster if it was also roadworthy ?

Edited By PatMc on 30/09/2020 17:32:14

I guess all those time to casualty figures are part of what needs assessing. I'd assume the gravity suit would be able to be based fairly close to the common tourist locations.

Does the guy in the gravity suit need to go to the base of the hill or could they make do with 'next one over'?

Scrambler going up a path quite potentially crowded with grockles? Could make for a few interesting moments...

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