Jetpack daredevils take flight alongside Airbus A380

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A Jetman Dubai pilot soars to catch up with an Emirates A380 commercial jet.
A Jetman Dubai pilot soars to catch up with an Emirates A380 commercial jet.
Photo: Jetman Dubai

We were all supposed to have personal jetpacks by now. But keeping them in the air for any length of time has made them impractical, so to get our futuristic fix we have to settle for Buzz Lightyear or James Bond from the 1965 movie Thunderball.

But check out jetpack pilots Yves Rossy and Vince Reffet, of the Jetman Dubai team, who recently conducted a fantastic formation flight over the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai with an Emirates A380 commercial jet.

Jetman Dubai posted a video Wednesday to YouTube of the flight, breath-taking scenes that look even more awesome than what the imagination can conjure up.

Jetpack pilots Yves Rossy and Vince Reffet fly alongside the Emirates Jet at 4,000 feet above the Palm Jumeirah.
Jetpack pilots Yves Rossy and Vince Reffet fly alongside the Emirates Jet at 4,000 feet above the Palm Jumeirah.
Photo: Jetman Dubai

According to the stunt team’s website, a great deal of planning and collaboration went into ensuring a safe flight. The Emirates craft flew at 4,000 feet to get into a holding pattern so that the Dubai duo, deployed from a helicopter some 1,500 feet above the jet could join in.

The wing pilots did formations on both sides of the plane, each taking a side of the plane for the Shot at the end before breaking away.

They made it look simple, but jetpack flights are anything but, mostly because they burn fuel so quickly. The U.S. military did extensive research on jetpacks in the 1960s but shelved them in favor of the helicopter.

There are some companies trying to bring jetpacks to the commercial market. One, the Martin Aircraft Company of New Zealand, has a jetpack that can stay airborne for 30 minutes. It won approval to conduct manned tests in 2013 and hope to bring a pack to market within the next couple of years. Estimated price, around $150,000.

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