Pacific Wind's ThrustPac: Bicycle Jet Backpack

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The Pacific Wind's "ThrustPac" is a personal jet pack designed for biking and other activities, capable of reaching speeds between 25 to 35 miles per hour with a fuel efficiency of 150 miles per gallon. Weighing 20 pounds and powered by a 35cc engine, it features a finger throttle control mounted on a glove. Concerns about its practicality arise, particularly regarding the efficiency of the propulsion system, which may be low, and the physical strain it could impose on users without strong core muscles. Comparisons are made to past experiments with similar devices, suggesting that direct engine integration with a bicycle could yield better performance. The discussion also touches on the potential risks and humorous scenarios associated with using the jet pack, highlighting both excitement and skepticism about its effectiveness and safety.
Ivan Seeking
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Bicycle "Jet" Backpack

Think biking/skate/kicking/etc/etc is to strenous? Try the Pacific Wind’s “ThrustPac” it’s personal jet pack that will give you speeds from 25 to 35 miles per hour and it has a range of 150 miles per gallon. It weight 20 pounds and has a 35cc engine. There is not much information on Pacific Wind’s homepage (It kind of sucks) but from the images and the video if looks like you control the device with a finger throttle mounted on a glove.

Check out the demonstration video:
http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2....com/2006/10/04/personal-jet-pack/&frame=true

Pacific Wind homepage
http://www.personalpropulsion.com/products.htm
 
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:smile: It looks a lot like those leaf blower contraptions they created on MythBusters to propel their homemade hovercrafts. :smile: As I recall, they had better luck pushing with their hands than with the propellors. :biggrin:

By the way, if it really does get that much thrust, what happens when you don't have very strong abs to keep from being bent over in the middle after turning it on? Do you get smooshed to the ground by it? :devil:
 
Oh come on, you KNOW that you want one! :biggrin:

I was wondering how effective this might really be. Randomly picking a 35cc Honda engine, the output is rated as 1.2KW at 7000 RPM. I know from experience that 300 watts is a pretty heavy load for most riders; with 200 watts being more likely a constant duty level. This would mean that the fan has to be around 17% efficient, which I think might be possible.
 
That has got to be very inefficient. If you were to hook the same 35cc engine straight into the bicycle's crankshaft, I'm sure you'd do a lot better with it. Of course, then you'd have to learn to operate a clutch, and will have reinvented the original mopeds (as opposed to what they call "mopeds" now).
 
150+mpg is common among 200+lb. users on a mountain bike.
Sounds like some Darwin award awaiting to happen.

And: Can we get GW to try one? He's already shown he's not that great at Segwaying.:smile:
 
I think I would opt for some ear plugs.:wink:
 
Ivan Seeking said:
Oh come on, you KNOW that you want one! :biggrin:
Yeah, with one of those, I could get a bike around here and have some hope of getting back UP the mountains once I get down them. :biggrin: :smile: Of course, with that added weight on the way downhill...it might not matter, because I would just make that much bigger of a splat at the bottom. :rolleyes:
 
That video was a bit disappointing. I thought for sure that he was going to T-bone that white car entering the parking lot.
I just might have to build me one of those.
Moonbear, given your, er... predominant features, you don't have to worry about your head hitting the pavement. Not all of us are lucky enough to come with biological airbags.
 

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