Martin Jetpack. Maybe an IPO in the offing

[minimoke]

If the jetpack is a two day course, the demands may be more like those required for PADI certification for diving. So how many people in the world have gone through PADI? A lot I bet.

Well thats blown it for me. I'm CMAS certified and had the misfortune to dive with a PADI trained person once. Dumb prick couldn't figure out why he couldn't get below 10m without heading for the surface. He tried and tried but in the end I had to give him a hand. It really isn't that difficult to let the air out of your BCD!

I've also walked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and into Petra. Frankly, I reckon if you're to lazy and don't want to walk you deserve a sore ass from the donkey! While a jetpack might attract one tourist to these places it will probably turn off 10. (You've convinced my a jetpack can go up and down - what about in between canyon walls at Petra?)

[Rocketman]

I agree the Petra idea is ill-conceived - jetpacks in major tourist locations wont work - you cant have every mad bugger flying around in a personal helicopter.

But for scenic wonderlands it could be different. You don't use jetpacks to fly over the walking trails, you use then to establish alternative tourist routes that would not otherwise be accessible. So the Grand canyon would work, national parks etc.

In answer to the "fly down a canyon question" the guys at Martin Aircraft think you will need about 12 metres minimum width to avoid turbulence off the walls affecting the flight safety. They have flown in a 15m wide building (with end walls and roof) and they needed a good 3-4 m clearance from the walls.

[minimoke]

you cant have every mad bugger flying around in a personal helicopter.

For a thread related to dreams may I paraphrase the old bard "And there in lies the rub" (on another thread I've been recommended some light reading so in the Festive season spirit I'm suggesting a wee read of Hamlet).

If you can't have mad buggers flying personal strap on helicopters and you'd have to be a bit of a mad bugger to want to strap on a helicopter we time warp to a 20th century bard who says; Only the insane would want to fly missions - to be grounded from flight you have to be certified crazy - to be crazy you need an assessment - only sane people would ask for an assessment. (your reference here is, of course, Catch 22 a much better read!)

I think your market had just dried up!

[Rocketman]

Minimoke - you use the mechanism so often used in the forum, take an extract from a comment, thereby taking it out of context, and draw conclusions from this extract.

My suggestion is that it would be inappropriate - in respect to other visitors to a site - to have some people also visiting by jetpack. So I suggest jetpack tourism is not prohibited - they just need to find their own routes. Much like we have done for mountain bike riders - giving them their own time on the Heaphy, or opening up specific trails.

The "catch" in Catch 22 is simply a comment that it is sane not to want to die - which is of course true. My use of the term "mad buggers" was not a reference to sanity, just phrasing to add colour and visual imagery to what otherwise would have been a dry sentence. Turn the sound off on the famous Toyota advert and you will see what I mean.

[minimoke]

Minimoke - you use the mechanism so often used in the forum, take an extract from a comment, thereby taking it out of context, and draw conclusions from this extract.

Looks like this is not the time of year for a bit of levity.

So on a serious note if you look at adventure tourism, in particular hang gliding and parachute jumping I think you'll find most experiences are based on a tandem jump. While tourism operators are happy to fling a person off a bridge with a rope ties around their ankles there appears to be some reluctance towards allowing learners to fling them selves solo from hilltop or plane.

And since this is the thread for serious thought and earnest response you aren't seriously comparing a jetpack with a mountain bike are you?

[Rocketman]

I noted in The Press this morning that Martin Aircraft Company has confirmed their intent to list on the NZX in the middle of this year, and that they are preparing a prospectus. Sorry can't find electronic version of the story

Also Steve Bayliss ex AirNZ GM Marketing has joined the board see http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU110...pack-maker.htm

[fungus pudding]

There was a rocketman on TV the other night demonstrating his flying ability and machine,- might have been on Close Up. He spoke of the risks, which certainly didn't make it sound all that appealing for the casual user. I don't think the name Martin Jetpack was mentioned, so I'm not sure if it was quite the same thing.

[Jay]

Saw it too fp
Not the same thing from my understanding - was more like jet propelled compared to a horizonatl propellar and seemed less bulky. However I think the range/time is less than the Martin "vehicle"

[minimoke]

I noted in The Press this morning that Martin Aircraft Company has confirmed their intent to list on the NZX in the middle of this year, and that they are preparing a prospectus. Sorry can't find electronic version of the story

Also Steve Bayliss ex AirNZ GM Marketing has joined the board see http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU110...pack-maker.htm

Rocketman - its not hard to confirm an intent. This news would have been more interesting if they had confirmed that they were listing mid year.

I'll look forward to the prospectus but already can't see me investing. On top of that generalization I am quite certain that I 'l be stockpiling my cash for the SOE IPO's. There will be a lot more to be made there than on the Jetpack IPO.

[minimoke]

There was a rocketman on TV the other night demonstrating his flying ability and machine,- might have been on Close Up. He spoke of the risks, which certainly didn't make it sound all that appealing for the casual user. I don't think the name Martin Jetpack was mentioned, so I'm not sure if it was quite the same thing.

Its the real RocketMan (not the Martin jetpack). Check out TV One On demand http://tvnz.co.nz/close-up/s2011-01-28-video-4006796 . go to Chapter three to avoid teh adds.