nyrath ,
@nyrath@spacey.space avatar

Rocket packs have drawbacks.

Jet packs carry chemical fuel but uses atmospheric oxidizer. About 10 minutes before the fuel is used up.

Rocket packs carry both fuel and oxidizer. About 30 SECONDS before the fuel is gone.

Hard to increase duration, short of nuclear energy.

Users typically fly with rocket packs at an altitude too low to use a parachute (below 30 meters) but too high to survive the fall (above 9 meters)

tkinias ,
@tkinias@historians.social avatar

@nyrath
seems like, for in-atmosphere use, some kind of ducted fan gear would be a lot more practical for personal flight

(wouldn’t really help with the issue of operating in that no-survival envelope, though...)

isaackuo ,
@isaackuo@mastodon.social avatar

@tkinias @nyrath The no-survival envelope is not necessarily a big deal. I mean, let's assume you are NOT going for a military application. So it's recreational. You can fly over water, which makes a fall pretty survivable.

tkinias ,
@tkinias@historians.social avatar

@isaackuo
Oh yeah, I was thinking about practical applications rather than pure recreation—though I guess we can argue about how much the term ‘practical’ applies to military...
@nyrath

Sevoris ,
@Sevoris@mastodon.social avatar

@tkinias @isaackuo @nyrath there do be a Schlock Mercenary comic about this thing…

„LEGS: Do you know what we call flying soldiers on the battlefield?

TINO: Air support?

LEGS: Skeet.“

https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2011-05-28

(of course, helicopter cav is very neat, and later we got the Space Habitat The Size Of Planets where flying is mandatory, but still)

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