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Jetson One – Personal Electric Aerial Vehicle

jetsonaero.com

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Re: Jetson One – Personal Electric Aerial Vehicle

#3

Post by auslegung »

I swear I saw something like this in some kids magazine 30 years ago. It was supposedly powered by a vacuum motor. I now understand that can’t possibly work, but for many years I thought it could. I’d love it if someone else knew what I’m talking about and could send me a link to the magazine article. I assume it wasn’t trying to be a joke, this was a relatively serious kids magazine, but maybe I’ve been wrong.

Re: Jetson One – Personal Electric Aerial Vehicle

#4

Post by jawns »

auslegung wrote: post #3

I swear I saw something like this in some kids magazine 30 years ago. It was supposedly powered by a vacuum motor. I now understand that can’t possibly work, but for many years I thought it could. I’d love it if someone else knew what I’m talking about and could send me a link to the magazine article. I assume it wasn’t trying to be a joke, this was a relatively serious kids magazine, but maybe I’ve been wrong.

It was a regular advertisement in the 1980s and 1990s in Boys' Life magazine, published by the Boy Scouts of America.

Picture of the ad:

https://www.reddit.com/r/nostalgia/comments/7jrpbu/this_hove...

Re: Jetson One – Personal Electric Aerial Vehicle

#5

Post by iamthepieman »

jawns wrote: post #4
auslegung wrote: post #3

I swear I saw something like this in some kids magazine 30 years ago. It was supposedly powered by a vacuum motor. I now understand that can’t possibly work, but for many years I thought it could. I’d love it if someone else knew what I’m talking about and could send me a link to the magazine article. I assume it wasn’t trying to be a joke, this was a relatively serious kids magazine, but maybe I’ve been wrong.

It was a regular advertisement in the 1980s and 1990s in Boys' Life magazine, published by the Boy Scouts of America. Picture of the ad: https://www.reddit.com/r/nostalgia/comments/7jrpbu/this_hove...

I still have the old plans to build one of these that I ordered from an advertisement in boys life when I was 12.

Re: Jetson One – Personal Electric Aerial Vehicle

#6

Post by gardenfelder »

jawns wrote: post #4
auslegung wrote: post #3

I swear I saw something like this in some kids magazine 30 years ago. It was supposedly powered by a vacuum motor. I now understand that can’t possibly work, but for many years I thought it could. I’d love it if someone else knew what I’m talking about and could send me a link to the magazine article. I assume it wasn’t trying to be a joke, this was a relatively serious kids magazine, but maybe I’ve been wrong.

It was a regular advertisement in the 1980s and 1990s in Boys' Life magazine, published by the Boy Scouts of America. Picture of the ad: https://www.reddit.com/r/nostalgia/comments/7jrpbu/this_hove...

That doesn't "fly" in the sense of climbing above a thin layer of air created by blowing air into a chamber under you. The picture in the ad hints that 3 1-foot diameter pads would provide sufficient "lift"; seems unlikely. Depends on how much pressure the source can provide but you need to lift not just the rider but the vehicle on just a few psi pressure. That class of vehicle is known as a hovercraft: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hovercraft

Re: Jetson One – Personal Electric Aerial Vehicle

#9

Post by namibj »

nine_k wrote: post #7

I wonder why the rotors are positioned so low. Should a propeller get fractured, the splinters would hit the pilot's chest and neck. OTOH putting the propellers above would change the shape and thus the aesthetics seriously.

At least small planes in europe (CS-23) aren't allowed to have humans within an (iirc ~15 degree) cone of them. This approach here seems to be done with no regards to such regulatory (and well-meant) requirements.
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