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LAdamson

A Fool and his Life are Soon Parted...

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Guest byoung

Hey everybody check out this article... http://www.msnbc.com/news/857361.asp?vts=011020030410 I hope this company has PLENTY of liability insurance... They indicate that it will fly up to 8,000-10,000 feet. Would you want to hang glide at 8,000 - 10,000 feet? What about power lines and winds taking the craft for Mr. Toads wild ride?Doesn't seem that it requires any license or certification. This is total lunacy... Barry

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Guest

ive seen this before on the discovery channel. i like the idea actually. im not so sure about going around 10,000ft in the air, especially when someones strapped to it..lolthis would totally change todays battlefields alot more

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Sure, I'd agree not to use it but a few days after bringing it home I'd be strapping it on to see how it felt. Then I would want to start it up, just to hear it. And then...well, maaaaaybe just increase the throttle a tad. Oh, look, my feet are off the ground. Maybe I'll just move across the yard. Then, maybe, jump over that tree. If I survived that, I honestly don't think it would be too long before I'd be in the traffic pattern with it. More likely, though, I would meet some hideous end and become a contender for the Darwin awards!David

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Guest byoung

Even for military use, what do you do with it?Recon missions? You are basically a flying sitting duck with no protection, it doesn't move quietly and fast enough, and it is not stealth and be easily detected by radar. Maybe it could be used way behind enemy lines to transport what?Not too mention only being able to fly it in Clear Calm Weather?And the million dollar price tag is something only the military could afford. I like the thought, but I don't see personal aircraft being a reality for some time. Look at all the bad drivers in the world and you want to put them up in the air??? NOT! How do you regulate the airways? Traffic seperation? Do we have SATC? (Street Air Traffic Control). It is not only developing "efficient", "feasible", "durable" personal aircraft, but changing an ENORMOUS infostructure. Not to say that is impossible, but just very very difficult and would cost not millions but probably trillions of $. We all should dream, I think these guys are innovative, but there is no practical application, except maybe for very controlled flying out in flat areas away from the general population. The person flying this device should pack a parachute and be certified as a skydiver. Even that, what if you run into problems 100 ft off the ground? A parachute will not be of any benefit.But safety is another issue! I don't think this craft would withstand the elements.. Even to fly at 5000 feet you would need a special heated suit. I think there is a challenge with general physics here.. Where minimum mass is important for flight.. I think this craft falls far below what is a minumum mass for safe flight.Barry

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Guest

Ahem,,,,I hate to even write this but,,,,they said the same thing about,,,, the automobile.

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Guest byoung

Yes but the automobile has limitations and the first generation of higher speed cars were dangerous (lack of seatbelts) and only through decades of saftey enhancements (and lots of $), did it improve . And it wasn't until Henry Ford mass-produced the automobile and made it affordable, did marketing and development fund further progress.Same with aircraft. Look at the airships... Great idea, but look at the risks riding a flying bomb.You can make that argument for any type of technology. Look at all the spinoffs of space exploration. But we also had NASA and billions of $ to do it somewhat successfully. It sound like to me they are getting rid of the proto-type and moving on to the next phase of development.I never said it was impossible, it will just take time. They still are a long way from solving all of the issues of everday flight on a personal level. Cost prohibitiveness has killed many a good idea..But we didn't grow up with the horse and buggie. Automobiles were a part of our lives from the get-go. So maybe our great grandchildren will grow up using and flying personal aircraft. A possibility.They have a good start. But can they afford to test it properly? With the military backing them, maybe so. So why are they auctioning it off on eBay? Maybe a aviation museums will purchase it?? But the 1,000,000 price tag is pretty steep. Since you really can't fly it because it is untested as far as time in flight, and testing it under different flight parameters.This would probably involve tremendious costs, because once you get that bucket up in the real sky, and have to contend with the elements. And I can almost be certain that you will completely destroy your prototypes in the process. But maybe with new developments that change our current sciences, anything may be possible...As of today, the Wright brothers legacy lives on.Barry

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Count me among one of the fools who would gladly part with money for it. Of course, that is a fool by another's definition...not mine. Of course, I have a decade and a half years of real flying experience outside the protection of metal. I've been out in the element outside an aircraft and done things that most people I know term foolish. Foolish to some is calculated risk to me and others I know. Hang glide at 10,000 feet? I would delight in it. I don't start feeling hypoxia until 14,000 feet and the cold at 5,000 feet is inconsequential. Ever felt 200+ speeds in a no-lift skydive at over 15,000 ft? Too bad. Ever felt the cool, damp beauty of a cloud as you speed through it and in the vortex of your passing leave a vapor trail behind your body that sparkles into a rainbow? Ever ridden a Beech King air like a horse, sitting on top of it with the ground nearly three miles beneath you? Do you know what it feels like to fly your body across a thousand feet of horizontal separation and hover in front of someone you love, seeing the sun setting in their eyes, watching the twilight world spin beneath you while you hold hands and steal a kiss with the wind screaming around and past?I'm no young pup at 44 years old. There are things I have seen of such sheer beauty that are seared into my soul. I would not give up that for someone else's fear. I am scared, but fear is immobilizing and limiting. But succinctly, how can someone simple as myself have such breathtaking experiences? And also know that I could strap a device like a solotrek to my back without fear? Training. The training of world champions and professionals. With proper training you can do anything. If it is in you to begin with, that is. There are many people who should never think of skydiving, suspending themselves from a hangglider, piloting an airplane or strapping on a personal flying system. But with training you can do the things that very few people will ever be able to do...as I have done with many things and never even stubbed a toe. So, watch the man in his personal flying device screaming overhead from your point of relative safety. Laugh at those who dare to dream and make those dreams their reality Think what a fool he is and laugh at what you think is his death wish. He won't care at all because his soul is screaming with a war cry from experiencing something that you will never know.Yep, count me among the fools that would gladly part with money to share in that total lunacy.In the clear twilight sky high above city lights,a flash of color streaks through purple clouds leaving an iridescent, shimmering rainbow in it's wake.And with it, the burst of joy in knowingthat this is what Superman feels...The world is not enough.- Ian Fleming

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Guest byoung

Very admirable.. I think you are in the wrong profession and missed your main calling in life. You should have been a test pilot.I love to fly, but don't think I would risk my safety (beyond the risk of normalcy), because it would just take the fun out of it..Fear may be limiting, but without it the human race would perish.People are different, and thats what makes the world so much fun!You should write the company and see if they need a test pilot. Considering the developers only have flown it a few feet off the ground. It should be a thrill thats for sure.. Especially when a nice wind whips you around like an egg-beater. It would re-define white knuckles.. "It's better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, rather than in the air, wishing you were on the ground!-- Unknown Pilot.

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Guest Hugo

There actualy is an aircraft file, solotrek_xfv.zip , for FS2K2 that I can't recall where I found. There is one for FS2K at Flightsim. You can aslo access the firm site at http://www.solotrek.com/Hugo

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Guest crashing_pilot

check my sig....i live by it...and stupid is what other people think....not what i think............so i lift my hat for a gent who does chase his dreams,and i pity those who don't have the guts to do what they want to do,but don't,because of "what everybody else thinks"...it is YOUR life,NOT everybody else his/her life.as such,you are free to do what you want,when you want to,at least in my country.i would buy it,i would fly it....and i would LOVE every minute of it,and i don't give a ff about anybody out there....just as he does...i respect other people,and i certainly don't make fun of another man's dream...i would rather encourage him...you only live once,they say,why not take the full ride,instead of limiting yourself to your own fears,and make fun of people who don't?my 2 cents

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...you know the saying...there are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots ;)DannyCYVR

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What difference does it make? Anything over a couple hundred feet and your dead anyway. Anybody remember their terminal velocity stuff for a human body? I don't...but at some point, way under 10,000 feet, you will reach TV, and you won't go any faster...you'll just have longer to look at your demise coming.

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Seeing your post reminded me of something I tried once. If you think your little find is daft, check this one out. It's supposed to be quite safe up to about 2,000 feet, I think .. might even have been 5,000. Yeah, right ..... maybe you could sky surf back down on a paddle if you fell out ....When I tried it, 50 feet was high enough, thanks.There'll be other sites, but here's the teaser:http://www.globaltravel.melbourne.net/FlyingDinghy.htmlMark "Dark Moment" BeaumontP.S. I'm surprised, actually, that Shigeru Tanaka hasn't pumped this one out for flightsim yet!http://www.swiremariners.com/newlogo2.jpg

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I didn't see a description of a newly developed light weight ejection pod! No mass of rotor blades for "auto-rotation", and certainly no wings to glide.To me, this aircraft has the same built in safety features as that rediculous "aircar" with those four fan units hanging on it's sides. Until "anti gravity" paint is truely developed, I can never invision these products being used in mass, as the promotors always seem to claim.There is just simply NO backup from heights as low as 30', which would require a very fast acting "rocket" powered chute device...... or the previously mentioned "anti-gravity" paint!!L.Adamson

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