Air Date: June 9, 2005
A Jet pack can be built from plans purchased off the internet and limited funds.
busted
The jetpack produced by the Mythbusters was not powerful enough to even lift itself off the ground, and they had to cheat by going beyond their assigned budget, in order to create it. The sum of its parts cost too much to allow the average person to build it on a budget and the plans did not have enough details to give builders a clear example of what to build.
"Pyramid power" can be harnessed for a variety of purposes around the home.
busted
The build team constructed a series of pyramid frames using the precise measurements and dimensions required to "harness" pyramid power. Four tests were performed: keeping razor blades sharp, preventing food from spoiling (one test for milk, another for an apple), and preventing the decay of a flower. The apple test at first seemed to be working, however it was later discovered that a contaminated saw blade (used to halve the apple) may have given one half a higher microbial load than the other. A repeated test using sterile equipment yielded approximately the same decay rate for each half. Strangely, a similar test with ‘cube power’ showed the fruit rotting at a faster rate than the other two tests.
This myth caused Adam to comment, "No more ‘oogie-boogie’ myths, please." (The MythBusters don’t normally deal with paranormal myths.)
On the Jetpack episode you use lawn blowers not jets on your back or something like that…like the jetpacks in movies.
June 23, 2007 at 6:03 PMI am not sure whether all the power of the engine was actually getting to the propellors. I think that much of the power was being absorbed by the belt which is use to transfer power from the engine to the propellors. It would have been better to place two smaller, streamlined shaped engine directly beneath the propellors to ensure minimum wastage.
August 5, 2007 at 10:16 AMThe duct fans built did not produce but half the lift expected. Did they think to change the pully sizes on the engine or ducts to increase the speed of the duct fans? If there was power to spare from the engine I would think they should have made the fans sping faster. i.e. more lift.
August 24, 2007 at 4:21 PMIf you dont wast your time with plans fans and ducts you can build a jet pack from model airplane jet engines, but four engines at 6,000 a pop put a dent in anyones budget.I have played with the idea. and would be glad to give you my insight.
August 24, 2007 at 9:38 PMPersonally i think it can work, but if they treated it like a small helicopter, as one person said with lift probs, and i think with the implementation of a jet turbine, of reasonable size to provide enough power to turn the blades and for the exhaust to provide additional thrust it may work. or even for the exhaust to run into something like a car turbocharger which will in turn provide more air for the turbine equalling more power to the blades. thats my two cents.
January 16, 2008 at 2:50 PMtheproblem with the jet pack experiment was they tested the rig in an enclosed space.
this let the air circulate instead of disperse so you eventually get a motor boat in a drainign toilet effect. the boat makes headway against the swirling water but appears to be standing still.
even hoverjets like the harrier were first tested over special runways with screens and vents below the jet blast so the air wouldn’t simply recirculate.= through the engines but would actually be pushed away from the plane through the underground vents so the plane could lift off.
they should take the jetpack outside and put it on top of a hanging crane thern try it so all the air blast goes downward and has little chance of recirculating around and back into the ducted propellor intake.
even heliciopters must guard against creating the situation of recirculating airflow. with them it is called settleing into flow when they come down so fast they settle into their own prop wash and the helicopter is simply recirculating a donuts of air in the vicinity of the helicopter blade disc instead of displacing air. the helicopter loses lift and crashed.
January 31, 2008 at 7:35 PMthis was the cause of the first Osprey marine vehicle crashes.
i saw the james bond episode super cool
April 22, 2008 at 8:13 PMthe jet pack one was boring.
May 8, 2008 at 1:12 PM