WingNews logo WingNews GitHub [2]
top | item 14217740

Inventor who built an Iron Man-style flight suit has flown it at TED

158 points| 10dpd | 9 years ago |bbc.co.uk | reply

94 comments

order
[+] bhouston|9 years ago|reply
A much much better video with a lot more details, accidents, back story, etc.... but it is covered with Red Bull logos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=291&v=JinhIHIF8E...

[+] joelrunyon|9 years ago|reply
Red Bull consistently does some of the best advanced extreme sports out there. Awesome to have a company like that backing up their ethos and I'm happy to look at their logo because of the basic fact of how cool the stuff they're doing is.

This is content marketing done right.

[+] lloeki|9 years ago|reply
Interesting, for now control seems to be extremely raw but I wonder how much an active exoskeleton could help in making this more approachable, both in terms of not needing as much muscle (both strength and endurance) as well as guiding the pilot into more stability.
[+] aphextron|9 years ago|reply
I'm far more interested in what these guys are working on with the Flyboard (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wObBrd9wB6M). Way more controllable and practical, and equally mind blowing.
[+] jhpankow|9 years ago|reply
I just wish he was wearing a wing suit and had transitioned to horizontal flight.
[+] sandworm101|9 years ago|reply
Jetpacks are officially dead. The advantages of not lifting your own o2, of burning fuel using air, means that systems based on rockets are now done.
[+] antoniuschan99|9 years ago|reply
Flyboard Air is so cool.

In terms of innovation, what do you think of their execution strategy?

The founder has extensive experience with Jet Skis, created an innovative hovering contraption using water jets and a business around it, then used some of that money to fund this next innovation - Flyboard Air.

Also, I've read that the engines are repurposed Jet Ski engines. Is this true?

[+] MrBuddyCasino|9 years ago|reply
Hackaday discussion: https://hackaday.com/2017/04/13/daedalus-jet-suit-takes-to-t...

It was noted that at least some shots were most likely fake. I guess this validates it as real?

[+] Robotbeat|9 years ago|reply
It was noted by someone in the comments. I think I disagree. I don't see why this couldn't work, and the jet engines in question do produce sufficient thrust and are cheap enough that you could buy like 6 of them (52lbf thrust each), with a total of 312lbf of thrust, enough for this kind of project, for the price of a new car: http://www.chiefaircraft.com/jc-p200-rx.html

How much does a good rigging setup cost plus good professional video editing software to edit out such lines? I suspect it's not even much cheaper than making this work. (Particularly since you need to buy the jet engines anyway.)

I always wonder why people think something is fake when the real thing would actually be easier (if more dangerous) and cheaper than faking it.

[+] tsaprailis|9 years ago|reply
My question when I first saw this was where do you get such jet engines? They look small enough to be from any kind of plane/UAV, but also quite large for any small model aircraft.

I wonder how easy it is to get one, do you by any chance need any sort of special license to operate them?

[+] pdelbarba|9 years ago|reply
It's worth noting that these jet engines are actually just car/truck turbo chargers that were repurposed and placed in a relatively simple combustion sleeve. You can actually build your own fairly easily with little more than a trip to the junk yard.
[+] sanswork|9 years ago|reply
Look for model jet engines they get to be surprisingly big. I haven't looked them up in a number of years but I wanted to build a jet powered bike in a previous life and if I remember right the only thing stopping me was price. Also runtime sucked for them all.
[+] H4CK3RM4N|9 years ago|reply
I thought the point of Iron Man's suit was that the Arc Reactor allowed for stupidly high powered "repulsor beams", which then allowed for force/heat to the generated. This just seems like another Jetpack style design.
[+] BenMosher|9 years ago|reply
I feel like the combo of arm + leg + back thrusters and an exoskeleton are sufficient to warrant the analogy.
[+] maxerickson|9 years ago|reply
That's the movie premise.

In the comics, the first flying suit had chemical jets. And the early suits just ran on batteries.

[+] teddyh|9 years ago|reply
Going by the video, it’s less of a “flying” suit and more of a “hover” suit.
[+] Fradow|9 years ago|reply
Quote from the text:

"Mr Browning said it is easily capable of flying at 200mph (321km/h) and an altitude of a few thousand feet.

But, for safety reasons, he keeps the altitude and speed low."

[+] accountyaccount|9 years ago|reply
Seems like an easy way to become a double amputee.
[+] adrianN|9 years ago|reply
Then you can attach the jet engines directly to your stumps. You save some weight too!
[+] tmsldd|9 years ago|reply
If you are lucky enough...
[+] ChuckMcM|9 years ago|reply
Fun, it seems there are two versions he's been trying; one with leg thrusters on his calf and one where those thrusters are on the backpack. Watching the video I imagine holding the harm thrusters down to feel a bit like you're holding your self up on parallel bars.
[+] jlebrech|9 years ago|reply
could tethered electric ducted fans raise someone in a wingsuit to a suitable altitude? as an alternative to this.
[+] idiot74|9 years ago|reply
> He was inspired by his father, an aeronautical engineer and inventor, who killed himself when Mr Browning was a teenager.

Was this really necessary? Imagine the reaction of the guy: "Oh cool, there's a bbc article on me.. oh... :(".

[+] weego|9 years ago|reply
I don't think it's a spoiler for him at this point in life.
[+] SmellyGeekBoy|9 years ago|reply
The phrase "killed himself" seems like a really odd choice. I assumed the author meant in some kind of aeronautical accident, but perhaps it's just a really crass way of saying "committed suicide".
[+] ralfd|9 years ago|reply
I also found this sentence bizarre. It doesn't add any important information to the reader and makes it sound he was inspired by the suicide.
[+] dominotw|9 years ago|reply
Perhaps something to do with Howard Stark's tragic death when tony was young?
[+] 1ba9115454|9 years ago|reply
I can't wait to see my girlfriends face when I land in the back garden wearing one of these.
[+] ijafri|9 years ago|reply
spoiler: it's not an iron-man style.

>TED 2017: UK 'Iron Man' demonstrates flying suit (Original title of the post)

Keyword analysis: TED, BBC, Ironman.

Conclusion: British Clickbait.

[+] bhouston|9 years ago|reply
It has jets in the rough location of the hands. Very similar to Ironman, just not with the compact form factor that he has.
[+] noxToken|9 years ago|reply
I fail to see how this is clickbait. Can you explain how this suit's flight mechanism is dissimilar to Iron Man's Mk III from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Earth-19999). He's obviously not using repulsors for flight, but the thrust for suit is hand mounted just like the Mk III.
[+] backpropaganda|9 years ago|reply
I can imagine a sport developing out of it though, even if it's not a full suit. Imagine gymnastics or skateboarding with this suit.
[+] tener|9 years ago|reply
> He was inspired by his father, an aeronautical engineer and inventor, who killed himself when Mr Browning was a teenager.

Inspired he was; his invention clearly has the potential to kill the user. He may end up doing the same thing his father did, though surely I don't wish him such fate.

[+] eps|9 years ago|reply
Who peed in your espresso this morning?
[+] Neliquat|9 years ago|reply
My grandfather was an EAA builder and the most overly cautious man I have ever known. He got out of his car to look behind it every time he reversed, and then went and did insane aerobatics in something him and his buddies built in a garage. We all have our own level of risk we accept. That man died at 96, tired of living.

Do something worth living for while you can, we all die.