Dubai has the world’s tallest buildings. While this may boost national pride in the United Arab Emirates, it also raises worry among the city’s firefighters. How do you fight a fire more than 1,000 feet up?
Jetpacks, of course.
The sparkling UAE city will be the first in the world to have emergency responders trained in using jetpacks to combat fires in the taller buildings.
Dubai has 911 high-rises, 88 of which are 591-feet or taller. It is home to the world’s tallest structure, the Burj Kalifa, which rises to 2,716 feet. Other skyscrapers there are in the works.
The UAE city breathed a sigh of relief earlier this year after fire tore through the top of a 79-story residential building. Everyone was evacuated safely.
This week, Dubai Civil Defense signed a contract for 20 jetpacks and two simulators for delivery early next year. New Zealand-based Martin Aircraft Company, which has been conducting manned test flights on it twin-engine packs since 2013.
“Dubai is leading the world in high-rises, and sometimes we have challenges or difficulties reaching those buildings,” Lt. Col Ali Hassan Almutawa told the Khaleej Times. “In an emergency situation, we can’t use the elevators and have to depend on firefighters physically climbing ladders. With this, we can lift equipment for our firefighters.”
In addition to transporting equipment, Almutawa said pilots could use thermal-imaging cameras to better assess hotspots and coordinate actions.
Science fiction, movies, and military testing have had people excited about jetpacks for many decades. The U.S. military test jetpacks in the 1950s but deemed them impractical, mostly because they use up fuel pretty quickly.
Martin has designed a pack where a pilot stands on a platform with a 200 hp engine that drives two ducted fans. A pilot can stay in the air for about 30 minutes, travel at speeds up to 45 miles per hour and top out a 3,000 feet in the air.
The Martin packs are estimated at $150,000. The first models will go to emergency response teams, but a commercial model is expected to hit the market in a couple of years.
An on-board computer helps guide the pilot and should a firefighter need to let go of the controls, the aircraft is designed to hover in place.
This city seems to have a love affair with jetpacks. Dubai is home to Jetman Dubai, which was recently featured in Cult of Mac when two of its pilot performed maneuvers with a commercial jet as they flew over the city.
Source: dezeen magazine
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