NationStates Jolt Archive

Can you say awesome? (http://money.cnn.com/video/#/video/fsb/2007/11/28/fsb.next.little.thing.jet.pack.fsb)

Who wants one and what would you do with it?

I'd joyride for sure and freak out people driving on the roads nearby.

What it needs is a way to refuel in air or something.

I would shoot people with the exhaust, hopefully blowing a few clothes off:)

Yay more meat sacs to avoid as I fly my aircraft.

Current list of things to avoid:
Model Rockets
RC Aircraft
Parachuter
Lawn Chair Balloonist
Idiots on Jet packs

I'm a Dragon.

I have wings.

Jetpacks + terrorists = Every day is 9/11

Law Chair Balloonist

:eek:

Jetpacks + terrorists = Every day is 9/11

well I suppose there will be allot of people hitting glass buildings yes

Man I can only begin to imagine the problems these will cause.
Anyways, I'd rather have a horse.

Jetpacks + terrorists = Every day is 9/11

*reads, blinks, reads again, then laughs*

You sound like Mayor Daley when he closed down Meigs Field, are you related to him?

Jetpacks + terrorists = Every day is 9/11

Jetpacks + Clowns = Every day is Cinco De Mayo! :)

Jetpacks + Clowns = Every day is Cinco De Mayo! :)

Where everyone get drunk and fight in mud?

Where everyone get drunk and fight in mud?

*pictures muddy drunk flying clowns everywhere* My god, it'll be beautiful! :eek:

You sound like Mayor Daley when he closed down Meigs Field, are you related to him?He was right that Meigs needed shut down (not only for terrorist reasons). He was wrong to make it so as a dictatorial action.

*pictures muddy drunk flying clowns everywhere* My god, it'll be beautiful! :eek:

Would the clowns share their muddy alcohol with the kiddies?

45 seconds? That is lame.

No way can I get to school in 45 seconds.

*reads, blinks, reads again, then laughs*

You sound like Mayor Daley when he closed down Meigs Field, are you related to him?

just reminded me of the plot to The Rocketeer really

Would the clowns share their muddy alcohol with the kiddies?

Only if they are of legal age or wear red noses. *nod*

He was right that Meigs needed shut down (not only for terrorist reasons). He was wrong to make it so as a dictatorial action.

Oh please, Meigs Field was essential to the control of air traffic on the lake side of Chicago. They actually helped Chicago Departure and Arrival by taking pretty much all of GA traffic off of their hands. Thanks to Mayor Daley, Air Traffic Control in Chicago Airspace has got a heavier workload, but lost an extra set of eye to lookout for terrorist.

Law Chair Balloonist:eek:

True story, although Wilgrove's fear is highly over-exaggerated.

http://www.snopes.com/travel/airline/walters.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Walters

Oh please, Meigs Field was essential to the control of air traffic on the lake side of Chicago. They actually helped Chicago Departure and Arrival by taking pretty much all of GA traffic off of their hands. Thanks to Mayor Daley, Air Traffic Control in Chicago Airspace has got a heavier workload, but lost an extra set of eye to lookout for terrorist.
Why does better air traffic control require a runway to sit around and take up valuable real estate?

*shakes with anticipation* Need ... jetpack ... I'm not even sure what I would do with it yet. Definitely I would use it to get to work. No more waiting for trains!

Yeah, baby!

http://www.dropship.org.uk/images/sw004.jpg

True story, although Wilgrove's fear is highly over-exaggerated.

I'm more worried about flying law-practitioners :eek:

Jetpacks + terrorists = Every day is 9/11

... but waaay more amusing.

Why does better air traffic control require a runway to sit around and take up valuable real estate?

Because Meigs Field Control Tower Controlled....wait for it.............wait for it................................Meigs Field!

Because Meigs Field Control Tower Controlled....wait for it.............wait for it................................Meigs Field!That doesn't answer my question. You can't justify the presence of an entire airport based solely on the communication and surveillance needs.

That doesn't answer my question. You can't justify the presence of an entire airport based solely on the communication and surveillance needs.

Yes I can, because Chicago Airspace is one of the buiest airspace in the world. They have thousands of aircraft fly in and out of the airspace everyday, and the ATC that deals with the Airliners already have their hands full with the airliners, the last thing they needed was the General Aviation Aircraft load, which flies into Chicago Airspace at a much bigger number. Meigs Field was the General Aivation airport. All GA traffic went there and Meigs Tower took care of the GA traffic, which took the GA load off of Chicago Departure and Approach, keep in mind that ATC is under staffed here.

Now thanks to the Geniusry of Mayor Daley, Chicago TRACON (Departure and Approach) now have to deal with GA load and Airliners. Which makes the airspace less safe for a person to fly in and which means the possibility that the ATC won't catch two aircraft on a collision course towards each other because their load is now heavier, much more likely.

Meigs Field was more than an airport, it was a way to keep the sky over Chicago safer, and it was a way to alleviate traffic in the Chicago airspace as well as an extra set of eyes to look out for rogue aircraft.

Meigs Field was essential to the safe operation of the Chicago Airspace, and since it's been gone, the skies over Chicago has become less safe for aviation.

True story, although Wilgrove's fear is highly over-exaggerated.

http://www.snopes.com/travel/airline/walters.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Walters

I am definitely doing that one day...not with as many balloons though. I'd like to max out at around 1000m or so...

Yes I can, because Chicago Airspace is one of the buiest airspace in the world. They have thousands of aircraft fly in and out of the airspace everyday, and the ATC that deals with the Airliners already have their hands full with the airliners, the last thing they needed was the General Aviation Aircraft load, which flies into Chicago Airspace at a much bigger number. Meigs Field was the General Aivation airport. All GA traffic went there and Meigs Tower took care of the GA traffic, which took the GA load off of Chicago Departure and Approach, keep in mind that ATC is under staffed here.

Now thanks to the Geniusry of Mayor Daley, Chicago TRACON (Departure and Approach) now have to deal with GA load and Airliners. Which makes the airspace less safe for a person to fly in and which means the possibility that the ATC won't catch two aircraft on a collision course towards each other because their load is now heavier, much more likely.

Meigs Field was more than an airport, it was a way to keep the sky over Chicago safer, and it was a way to alleviate traffic in the Chicago airspace as well as an extra set of eyes to look out for rogue aircraft.

Meigs Field was essential to the safe operation of the Chicago Airspace, and since it's been gone, the skies over Chicago has become less safe for aviation.
So, did the runway serve as some kind of some kind of radar-enhancing dish or something? You have yet to explain why they couldn't simply just have an air traffic control tower somewhere on the lakeshore or upgrade air traffic control capabilities in some other way.

So, did the runway serve as some kind of some kind of radar-enhancing dish or something? You have yet to explain why they couldn't simply just have an air traffic control tower somewhere on the lakeshore or upgrade air traffic control capabilities in some other way.

I believe I just did, you just don't understand because you're not in the aviation world like I am.

I believe I just did, you just don't understand because you're not in the aviation world like I am.So if the runway where turned into houses, there would be no difference?

So if the runway where turned into houses, there would be no difference?

*sigh*

First off, there's going to be no house where the airport once was. Apparently there's going to be a park where bums can sleep at. So, good going Mayor Dee dee dee.

Let me try to explain it this way. You have O' Hare, Midway and Meigs. All of them within the heart of the city. O' Hare is the busiest airport of the three. Chicago TRACON (remember this is approach and Departure), use to control O' Hare and Midway, and Meigs would take over for GA traffic. TRACON are divided up into several sector. The Sector that controls O' Hare, Midway and Meigs only has one or two Controllers.

For the sake of simplicity let's say that daily O' Hare and Midway recieve 2,000 traffic each. That's 4,000 traffic total. Meigs would attract 5,000 traffic daily. Remember, GA covers anything from the old Bi-planes that are rebuilts, to EMS service, Police Helicopters, Air Taxis, etc. Now the sector that controls this part of the TRACON only has to worry about 4,000 traffic a day. Meigs would take care of the 5,000 GA traffic.

Now what happens when Meigs shut down, well that GA traffic has to go somewhere. Guess what, it goes to TRACON, who now has to deal with 9,000 traffic daily. Remember this sector only has one or two controllers. That's one or two Controllers that has to deal with 9,000 traffic.

Now why didn't they just leave the tower? Why would they, there's no airport there, so Meigs would have to hand them off to TRACON eventually, so all you're doing is delaying the workload. Not to mention that now all traffic on this sector is funneled into two airports, which causes airport congestion, which delays traffic and adds to the ATC workload because Airliners are kept to a schedule and get pissy if they are delayed.

Why not add another Controller to the sector, well there's only so many man you can stationed at a sector, they all funnel to the same airport and once again they are still going to have to be delt with by one person eventually. Beside our current Air Traffic Control system isn't set up like this, so one or two controllers is the best you're going to do.

So, with Meigs out of the picture, and more traffic are being controlled by TRACON, which is now overworked, you have to wonder what will happen to the safety factor. With Meigs at least the Airliners and GA were kept separate and in the Aviation world, separation is a good thing! Now you have single engine piston aircraft mingling with Airliners that can go faster, separation is now not as wide, which makes the likely hood of Mid airs more likely. This pass Thanksgiving weekend, the TRACON already had two near misses in their airspace. The story here. (http://www.tampabays10.com/news/national/article.aspx?storyid=68092) Without Meigs to handle the GA traffic and to funnel the traffic to a GA airport the TRACON Controllers are overworked and mistakes like this has been happening ever since Meigs closed down. How long do you think it'll be until we actually have a mid air over Chicago airspace?

I hope that makes it clear enough.

First off, there's going to be no house where the airport once was. Apparently there's going to be a park where bums can sleep at. So, good going Mayor Dee dee dee.

Maybe a aviation museum too, if the Friends of Meigs Field, hopefully get their way. Your right though, that was a stupid decision to close Meigs Field (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meigs_Field). From what I could tell it was a nice little airport and served a good purpose. I've never been to Chicago, but even flying through and trying to land at O'Hare in a flight simulator was a nightmare. And that's just a game-I can only image the nightmare it is in real life.

For a clearer understand for others, here’s some information on Richard Michael Daley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_M._Daley) or Mayor Dee dee dee if you will. :rolleyes:

For the sake of simplicity let's say that daily O' Hare and Midway receive 2,000 traffic each.

Let not's. Let's say that O'Hare in 2005, had 972,246 aircraft operations, an average of 2,663 per day. Furthermore, O'Hare currently accounts for over a sixth of the nation's total flight cancellations.

Meigs, you will be missed and RIP. :(

------------------------------------------------------

As to the topic at hand, no thanks. I'm very happy with my two feet firmly on the ground and if I decided to fly I'll take something that in all likelihood won't blow up on me as it’s known to happen sometimes. Besides, there’s enough idiot drivers already to deal with on the ground. I rather not have to deal with them in the air.

If, you're all so determined to strap a rocket onto your back, may I suggest joining NASA or some other Space Agency depending on where you live.

I believe I just did, you just don't understand because you're not in the aviation world like I am.
Only in your mind. Also, it should be noted that the vast majority of Chicago residents don't have the means to be "in the aviation world".

First off, there's going to be no house where the airport once was. Apparently there's going to be a park where bums can sleep at. So, good going Mayor Dee dee dee.Yeah, because a small airport for the elite will serve a lot more people than using the same space for parkland... Stupid bums should get a job.


Let me try to explain it this way. You have O' Hare, Midway and Meigs. All of them within the heart of the city. O' Hare is the busiest airport of the three. Chicago TRACON (remember this is approach and Departure), use to control O' Hare and Midway, and Meigs would take over for GA traffic. TRACON are divided up into several sector. The Sector that controls O' Hare, Midway and Meigs only has one or two Controllers.

For the sake of simplicity let's say that daily O' Hare and Midway recieve 2,000 traffic each. That's 4,000 traffic total. Meigs would attract 5,000 traffic daily. Remember, GA covers anything from the old Bi-planes that are rebuilts, to EMS service, Police Helicopters, Air Taxis, etc. Now the sector that controls this part of the TRACON only has to worry about 4,000 traffic a day. Meigs would take care of the 5,000 GA traffic.

Now what happens when Meigs shut down, well that GA traffic has to go somewhere. Guess what, it goes to TRACON, who now has to deal with 9,000 traffic daily. Remember this sector only has one or two controllers. That's one or two Controllers that has to deal with 9,000 traffic.

Now why didn't they just leave the tower? Why would they, there's no airport there, so Meigs would have to hand them off to TRACON eventually, so all you're doing is delaying the workload. Not to mention that now all traffic on this sector is funneled into two airports, which causes airport congestion, which delays traffic and adds to the ATC workload because Airliners are kept to a schedule and get pissy if they are delayed.

Why not add another Controller to the sector, well there's only so many man you can stationed at a sector, they all funnel to the same airport and once again they are still going to have to be delt with by one person eventually. Beside our current Air Traffic Control system isn't set up like this, so one or two controllers is the best you're going to do.

So, with Meigs out of the picture, and more traffic are being controlled by TRACON, which is now overworked, you have to wonder what will happen to the safety factor. With Meigs at least the Airliners and GA were kept separate and in the Aviation world, separation is a good thing! Now you have single engine piston aircraft mingling with Airliners that can go faster, separation is now not as wide, which makes the likely hood of Mid airs more likely. This pass Thanksgiving weekend, the TRACON already had two near misses in their airspace. The story here. (http://www.tampabays10.com/news/national/article.aspx?storyid=68092) Without Meigs to handle the GA traffic and to funnel the traffic to a GA airport the TRACON Controllers are overworked and mistakes like this has been happening ever since Meigs closed down. How long do you think it'll be until we actually have a mid air over Chicago airspace?

I hope that makes it clear enough.
Everybody reading this thread gets that air traffic control took a hit from losing Meigs. You're using that fact to justify Meigs existence in the first place, which is BS, because it's a separate issue. Whatever organization is responsible for making sure airplanes don't collide should do what it needs to do to make sure that planes don't collide, regardless of whether there's an airport downtown, because they don't need a runway to do it.

Only in your mind. Also, it should be noted that the vast majority of Chicago residents don't have the means to be "in the aviation world".

But we are dealing with an aviation related issuse, IE the closing of Meigs Field.


Yeah, because a small airport for the elite will serve a lot more people than using the same space for parkland... Stupid bums should get a job.

Ehh actually, not all pilots are Elites. I am a Private Pilot myself who fly a single piston engine on weekends for fun, I'm not rich, I just know how to manage my money and I know how to get a job that pays well enough for me to contiune my hobby. But thank you for reminding me how ignorant the general population really is about General Aviation.

Read this and actually learn something about GA! (http://www.gaservingamerica.org/)

Everybody reading this thread gets that air traffic control took a hit from losing Meigs. You're using that fact to justify Meigs existence in the first place, which is BS,

Why is it BS?

Whatever organization is responsible for making sure airplanes don't collide should do what it needs to do to make sure that planes don't collide, regardless of whether there's an airport downtown, because they don't need a runway to do it.

Well, you know what, they are trying their best but there's not exactly a long line of people wanting to be Controllers, it is the most stressful job in the world, and it doesn't exactly helps that a tower that used to alleviate traffic congestion been closed down thanks to Mayor Dee Dee Dee, and if you want to know why you should give a damn, well, do you ever fly the Airliners?

Meigs was used as a GA airport, it was used by GA traffic, so that the TRACON could Concentrate on the Airliners. It helped in a pretty big damn way. And no, the "elites" won't fly into an airport that's on the outskirt of town, because that's too far away from the business center, so Mayor Dee Dee Dee probably caused Chicago some business, Good going. Finally, the next time you need to use the Air Ambulance but have to wait 30 minute for it to arrive, you can thank Mayor Dee Dee Dee, because they've been moved to the outskirt of town to another GA airport. Once again, Good Going Mayor Dee Dee Dee.

http://64.143.36.15/images/Meigs_closed_3-31-03_aerial_Tribune_David_Klobucar.jpg

This is what happens when Gov. Co. gets too much power.

Yay more meat sacs to avoid as I fly my aircraft.

Current list of things to avoid:
Model Rockets
RC Aircraft
Parachuter
Lawn Chair Balloonist
Idiots on Jet packs

You forgot to include one more thing. NAS airspace. Now complete with working model SAM batteries. :p

Jetpacks + terrorists = Every day is 9/11

SPLAT!!!! *looks like a bug on a windshield* Oops, that didn't work so well...

Wow, I want one of those. Badly.There is the problem that they don't fly for very long, but they'll probably improve on that in time. Failing that, a backpack helicopter would be nifty!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/67/Helibackpack.jpg

I BEFRIEND CHESTNUTS;13275808']Wow, I want one of those. Badly.There is the problem that they don't fly for very long, but they'll probably improve on that in time. Failing that, a backpack helicopter would be nifty!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/67/Helibackpack.jpg

You'd think those wouldn't be hard to make.

I BEFRIEND CHESTNUTS]Failing that, a backpack helicopter would be nifty!



You'd think those wouldn't be hard to make.

They aren't. There were working models more than 60 years ago. They're just too difficult to control.

During initial testing, Pentecost and other "test-pilots" discovered that the backpack arrangement was simply too awkward to handle with the gyroscopic forces of the spinning rotor blades. Combined with the heavy weight of the contraption, the pilot could easily stumble, causing the blades to strike the ground and send potentially lethal splinters in all directions. Pentecost abandoned testing of the HX-1 before it could successfully leave the ground and immediately began redesigning the aircraft with a larger engine and a tricycle landing gear to support the entire weight of the aircraft. On this new model, designated as the 101, the pilot adopted a conventional seated position. By 1949, this Hoppi-Copter design evolved through the 102, 103, and 104 variations. This last design flew well, but like the earlier models, pilots found the controls extremely sensitive. Also, like other ultra-light helicopter projects, disorientation was a significant problem at substantial heights above the ground. Hoppi-Copter pilots did not have any aircraft structure to align with the horizon to provide an adequate visual reference for controlling the aircraft, and the vibration and constant motion of the aircraft rendered their kinesthetic senses useless.
http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/pentecos.htm


Here's a close design that flies much better, from what I understand:
http://www.21stcentury.co.uk/technology/solotrek_xfv.asp

It's not a pure backpack but it's likely to be the closest thing someone can actually use.