I never think of the future - it comes soon enough-Albert Einstein.
But "how soon?" is the inevitable question. Could we go to work like George Jetson in his little spaceship. Ah!The indefatigable thirst for knowledge of mankind can bring this day very close. Reading about different inventions and research in recent times,I came across an article about Mr. Nino Amarena, an engineer from Argentina who specializes in making rockets.Well, they are miniature sized jet packs which can be worn like a backpack and with a push of a button you take off. If it was that easy, nobody would have bought a Toyota Prius!OOPS! No offence!
Mr. Amarena has been working on the rocket pack for over a decade and has seen reasonable success, I would say. One needs to consider the enormous challenges in this nascent area. In the 1960's Wendell Moore who invented the rocketbelt for Bell Aerosystems stopped flying after shattering his knee in a crash. Understandably few individuals have taken upon them to venture into this. Nino Amarena's logic is simple "create more thrust than the weight". He calls his jetpacks thunderpacks that are capable for a maximum 45 second flight.The thunderpack's gas generator decomposes hydrogen peroxide and then uses an inert gas like nitrogen to push the exhaust out at high pressure.Catalyzing hyydrogen peroxide results in an exhaust gas mixture of superheated steam and oxygen.The inert gas stored above the fuel blows down the exhaust creating the required thrust of around 380-400lb.One uses the controls in the handle to orient the exhaust nozzle by which one can manuever around while off the ground.
Many interesting features about the rocketbelt,one of them being the use of "jetavators". These are small rings mounted on the exit areas of the nozzles which work similar to that of ailerons in aeroplanes. When the jetavator on the left nozzle moves downward while on the right moves upward,i creates a push in one direction and allows the pilot to yaw.
The rocketbelt efficiency can be increased by two ways-1.) reduce the weight of the pack and 2.) increase fuel capacity.Obviously the single most drawback of the rocketbelt is its short flight time. At a price of over 100K a minute flight does not seem that attractive. Thunderbolt systems -Nino's company has been pursuing a different chemical composition to sustain the chemical reaction. Either the fuel capacity of the pack should be increased at the same time not compromising on the weight or the fuel should produce the required exhaust for an extended period of flight. In one of the videos they have demonstrated how the pack works.It does give the required thrust to lift off the ground but not good enough. In the long run, the company could be focussing on achieving more elevation and to sustain that elevation. As of now it might sound to some as a crazy science experiment, but Nino believes it can change the world of human travel in the years to come.The military could find some use in this technology and considering the advantage it could have added for Haiti relief and rescue efforts the rocket man is here to stay.
It is that man's incessant fixation of 'mankind to fly like a bird' that has and will propel him to heights which even some of his fellowmen dismissed as impossible.Encouragement fuels desire!
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