Wanna Race in Jet suits?
The world’s first jet suit race took place on Wednesday in Dubai, creating a scene that looked more like something out of Marvel’s Iron Man than reality. The competition featured eight racers each wearing a jet suit. The suit uses engines located on the back as well as on each arm, which are used to control the flight path. The competition took place over water, with the skyscrapers of Dubai Marina looming in the distance. Organizers said they picked the water site to allow for higher speeds and for safety as the pilots skimmed a short distance above the water. The event was organized by the Dubai Sports Council and Gravity Industries, which makes the suit. Issa Kalfon, the deputy head of flight training at Gravity and a former professional gymnast, won the competition. Each racer had to maneuver through 12 traffic points along a 4.5 mile race course at Dubai’s harbor. The races on Wednesday saw pilots wear 1,500-horsepower jet suits, more powerful than most luxury sports cars and using the same kind of fuel used by Dubai-based long-haul carrier Emirates’ Airbus A380s and Boeing 777 aircraft. The jet suit currently can reach speeds of 85 miles per hour, Gravity says.
“The closest analogy would be that dream of flying … and then go wherever your mind is taking you,” said Richard Browning, the founder and chief test pilot for Gravity Industries, the firm that put on the race with Dubai. Gravity previously drew worldwide attention when it equipped one of its jet suits on a UK Royal Marine, who landed on a ship at sea several years ago. In the time since, they’ve travelled widely with the suits and pursued other military applications for them before coming up with the idea of a competition with the Dubai Sports Council.
Then came what pilot Issa Kalfon referred to as “the moment of truth.” The engines roared and pilots jumped and leaned forward. And like a helicopter takes off, so too did the pilots as they sped around obstacles in a water channel near the site. The pilots did pick up speed during their heats, with two actually bumping into each other but remaining in the air as a crowd watched in wonder. “It’s pretty amazing to see that they can do this in Dubai and they have these guys flying over the water,” said Jennifer Ross, 50, a US citizen from Houston who now lives in Dubai. “It’s kind of like astronauts flying around in space.” There was one crash during Wednesday’s race. Emirati pilot Ahmed al-Shehhi smashed into the water during his heat, going in feet first, but immediately popping back up to give a thumbs-up to rescuers. Meanwhile, onlookers gaped at the jet suits, with several saying they couldn’t wait to go for a ride themselves. “You can see the best show you can ever see in Dubai because people are flying — they are flying in the sky,” said Pratik Vyas, 35, of Gujarat, India, who works in an import-export business. “If you’re a big fan of Iron Man – you know, Tony Stark – it’s Iron Man tech.”
Fear of flying
A witch was flying on her broom when she noticed that all the witches she passed were flying on vacuum cleaners.
She thought to herself, “Am I the only one who still drives a stick?”
What’s the difference between an optimist and a pessimist?
An optimist created the airplane; a pessimist created the seatbelts.
It must be a thrill for the astronauts to be up there in outer space: there’s nothing but you and taxes the national debt and knowing that everything that’s supporting you was supplied by the lowest bidder.
Two aliens are flying near earth. The first one says, “The dominant life form here have developed satellite based nuclear weapons.”
The second one says, “Are they an emerging intelligence?”
The first one says, “I don’t think so, they have it aimed at themselves.”
July 15th Birthdays
1989 – Aimee Carerro, 1977 – Diane Kruger, 1978 – Lana Parilla, 1946 – Linda Ronstadt
1982 – Taylor Kinney, 1976 – Gabriel Iglesias, 1967 – Adam Savage, 1961 – Forest Whittaker