The Daedalus Flight Pack is a jet suit capable of flying, hovering and powered jumps. [1] It was created by British inventor Richard Browning, an athlete and Royal Marine Reservist. [2] The Daedalus is different from other manned portable flight packs in that it uses additional jets attached to the hands. These enable it to be directed by moving the arms.
The jet suit which Browning developed was named the Daedalus Suit, a name chosen by Browning's son when he was aged eight, in reference to Daedalus of Greek mythology, [3] although as of 2022 [update] the name is not used on the company's website. [4]
Richard Browning first started work on the project in the year 2016. [5] The suit has been likened to the comic character Iron Man. Browning formed his own company, Gravity Industries, and used his own funding for development work. [6] The first published test flight was revealed at the 2017 TED conference in Vancouver. Browning experimented with different numbers, configurations and arrays of jets, with varying degrees of success, before coming up with his current configuration. [7] While initial funding came from Browning himself, since the success of the project, he has received promotional support from the Red Bull energy drink company. [8]
In September 2020, it was reported that the Great North Air Ambulance service was considering using this jet suit to enable paramedics to reach casualties in the mountainous Lake District. [9] By March 2022 the operational director of the GNAA, Andy Mawson, had been trained to fly and the service hoped to start using jet suits in summer 2022. [10]
The jets and powerpack are affixed to the wearer with metal frames; it uses five micro-gas turbines - two on each arm and one on the back. Their power is 1,050 bhp (780 kW), with the turbines running at 120,000 rpm. The unit weighs 27 kilograms (60 lb) and has a maximum flight time of 10 minutes, with a current speed record of 85 mph (137 km/h; 74 kn). [11] The flight pack can reach altitudes of 2,000 feet (610 m). Though its envisaged that in normal use, it would be flown at only three or four metres above the ground. [12]
Projected initial cost for purchase is US$250,000, although this projection is expected to come down after full production. [13] [14] Browning says of the technology: “Our mission is to build an inspirational technology company by re-imagining the future of human flight and pioneering aeronautical innovation.” [15] The flight pack incorporates a heads up display which displays for the user operating information, including top speed, fuel left, etc.
Gravity Industries have said that they will require the user to be vetted before use. [16] In 2017, the Daedalus flight pack set a speed record for flight packs, at 32.02 miles per hour (51.53 kilometers per hour), awarded by the Guinness Book of Records . [17] In 2020, YouTuber Colin Furze, known for wacky inventions and functional interpretations of movie props, video game gadgets, and other fictional devices, was given the opportunity to learn how to fly the flight pack. He made a video where he showed the process of learning to fly it, then strapped a Back to The Future Part II hoverboard onto his feet so he could "hoverboard". [18]
In Greek mythology, Daedalus was a skillful architect and craftsman, seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power. He is the father of Icarus, the uncle of Perdix, and possibly also the father of Iapyx. Among his most famous creations are the wooden cow for Pasiphaë, the Labyrinth for King Minos of Crete which imprisoned the Minotaur, and wings that he and his son Icarus used to escape Crete. It was during this escape that Icarus did not heed his father's warnings and flew too close to the sun; the wax holding his wings together melted and Icarus fell to his death.
Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere or through the vacuum of outer space. This can be achieved by generating aerodynamic lift associated with gliding or propulsive thrust, aerostatically using buoyancy, or by ballistic movement.
A g-suit, or anti-g suit, is a flight suit worn by aviators and astronauts who are subject to high levels of acceleration force (g). It is designed to prevent a black-out and g-LOC caused by the blood pooling in the lower part of the body when under acceleration, thus depriving the brain of blood. Black-out and g-LOC have caused a number of fatal aircraft accidents.
Wingsuit flying is the sport of skydiving using a webbing-sleeved jumpsuit called a wingsuit to add webbed area to the diver's body and generate increased lift, which allows extended air time by gliding flight rather than just free falling. The modern wingsuit, first developed in the late 1990s, uses a pair of fabric membranes stretched flat between the arms and flanks/thighs to imitate an airfoil, and often also between the legs to function as a tail and allow some aerial steering.
A hoverboard is a levitating board used for personal transportation, first described in science-fiction, and made famous by the appearance of a skateboard-like hoverboard in the film Back to the Future Part II. Many attempts have been made to invent a functioning hoverboard.
A jet pack, rocket belt, or rocket pack is a device worn on the back which uses jets of gas or liquid to propel the wearer through the air. The concept has been present in science fiction for almost a century and became widespread in the 1960s. Real jet packs have been developed using a variety of mechanisms, but their uses are much more limited than their fictional counterparts because of the challenges of the Earth's atmosphere, gravity, the low energy density of utilisable fuels, and the human body not being suited to flight, and they are principally used for stunts. A practical use for the jet pack has been in extra-vehicular activities for astronauts because of the apparent weightlessness and lack of friction-creating atmosphere in orbit. The term jet suit is used for a system incorporating a jet pack and associated jets attached to the arms to increase manoeuvrability.
The Bell Rocket Belt is a low-power rocket propulsion device that allows an individual to safely travel or leap over small distances. It is a type of rocket pack.
A backpack helicopter is a helicopter motor and rotor and controls assembly that can be strapped to a person's back, so they can walk about on the ground wearing it, and can use it to fly. It uses a harness like a parachute harness and should have a strap between the legs. Some designs may use a ducted fan design to increase upward thrust. Several inventors have tried to make backpack helicopters, with mixed results.
Guardsman was the name of a supervillain/superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The name was later applied to a squad of agents who wear suits of power armor while working security at the Vault. The character first appeared in Iron Man #43.
Yves Rossy is a Swiss military-trained pilot and an aviation enthusiast. He is known as the inventor of a series of experimental individual jet packs, the latest using carbon-fiber wings for flight. Often referred to as "Jetman", Rossy has sometimes tested and presented new versions of his jetpacks in high-profile events staged around the world.
A Flyboard is a brand of hydroflighting device which supplies propulsion to drive the Flyboard into the air to perform a sport known as hydroflying.
A self-balancing scooter is a self-balancing personal transporter consisting of two motorized wheels connected to a pair of articulated pads on which the rider places their feet. The rider controls the speed by leaning forwards or backwards, and direction of travel by twisting the pads.
Flyboard Air is a type of jetpack/hoverboard powered by gas turbines. It was invented by French water-craft rider Franky Zapata, founder of Zapata racing.
The JetLev is a water-propelled jet pack powered through a floater derived from jetski technology attached through an umbilical to the backpack which contains two nozzles and two control arms, in a configuration like traditional rocket belts and gas turbine jet belts. The JetLev also functions underwater, allowing users to dive into the water and jet back out. The jetpack can allow users to fly up to 10 m above the water. It was created by Chinese Canadian, Raymond Li. JetLev became the first practical amateur-usable jet pack, and first with practical usable duration. The JetLev technology jetpack became the first commercially released jetpack in 2009. It was initially offered for sale for US$100,000, however with much cheaper competitors coming on the market afterwards, inspired by the original JetLev, such as the Flyboard, prices rapidly dropped, with cheaper models.
Richard Browning is a British inventor of a "jet suit". He is the founder and chief test pilot of Gravity Industries, a company that designs and builds his invention, the Daedalus Flight Pack.
Franky Zapata is a French personal watercraft pilot who is the inventor of the Flyboard and Flyboard Air, and founder of Zapata Racing. Since 2012, Zapata's efforts have been focused on the development and manufacture of personal flyers for land and aquatic applications.
The Rocketeer is an American computer-animated children's television series. It debuted on Disney Junior and Disney Channel in the United States on November 8, 2019, and on November 10 on Disney Junior in Canada. Based on the comic book superhero of the same name by Dave Stevens and the 1991 film, the series focuses on Katherine "Kit" Secord, a seven-year-old girl who receives the family jet pack for her seventh birthday. The series was aimed for ages 2–5. The series was cancelled after only one season.
Jetpack man or guy in a jetpack or Iron Man is an unknown person or object that has been observed flying what appears to be an unauthorized jetpack around the Los Angeles California area at least five times in 2020–21. Multiple airplane pilots have reported seeing jetpack man at altitudes around 5,000 feet (1,500 m). It is unknown whether each sighting is the same person, or whether it might be a drone designed to look like a person with a jetpack. Neither jetpacks nor large drones are commonly flown at that altitude or at that distance from land, and there have been no sightings of a takeoff or landing. It has been theorized by the FBI and FAA that the Jetpack man is actually a balloon.