Ultimate Yacht Toy?

I am dying to play with a jet lev

At the moment, I am honestly somewhere between great toy and that must be a fake. If that machine is real, it would be amazing. The 10 to 11 min endurance is unbelievable. The famous James Bond stile jetpack had an endurance of 1 to 2 min. A little jet engine with sufficient thrust for this payload must have a fuel consumption of app. 200 liter per hour. 11.5 min max. achieved flying time would then mean, the operator had some 40 to 50 liter of fuel in his backpack, which means, an all up weight of at least 400 lbs with the same amount of thrust needed for hovering (plus some reserve for vertical climb performance). Must be a great little engine.

But I am afraid, when our bureaucrats (especially the CAA and EASA folks) are finished with the regs and rules for the private operation of this magnificent toy, it will cost millions and all the fun will be gone.

I am wondering, wheather the military has shown some interest meanwhile.

To bad, I am far too old for that type of flying / hovering toy.

According to an article I read, it has four turbines producing 250HP a piece. It is the same company that makes the flyboard that connects to a Seadoo. Pretty amazing stuff.

I thought the 4 little nozzles visible in the video were just steering nozzles fed by bleed air from the main engine. 4 separate engines and steering via individual RPM changes will make that little devil even more complicated.

Those little jet engines develope about 80 to 100 lbs of static thrust at 90.000 to 95.000 RPM with a weight of 10 to 12 lbs and a fuel consumption of app. 3 lbs per minute each. Which means a total fuel consumption of about 70 to 80 liters for his 11.5 minutes record flight. Combined 1.000 HP (converted into lbs of thrust) would use much more fuel. And I do not believe, he can take more than 80 Liters in the hoverboard and his backpack.

Those little jet engines are pretty complicated to operate. Most of them are started with propane and when steadily running with jetfuel or diesel. And they need to be synchronized prior takeoff.

They are doing their trails for good reasons low level over water and with a seadoo always close by. With that weight connected to his shoes, when ditching, he would drown without immediate assistance.

A guy on our glider field owns a glider with one of those little retractable jet engines. Makes a noise like a Lear Jet but has not enough thrust for a self launch.



Still an amazing stunt and a fantastic toy. But 250 K is an ambitious number. Make me 40 years younger and I want one .

Several of my crew members have tried the little water propelled hoverboard, which is connected to and driven by a Seadoo, during its presentation at Port Adriano, Mallorca. They loved it and it was pretty easy to learn, they said. Great toy for a charter yacht but for a private yacht a little bit over the top. We even do not carry any Seadoos.

Scary thing to play with. If you crash ashore you will certaily have severe injuries and if that toy goes up in flames with some 20 Liters of fuel on your back... No thanks.
And if you go down in the water not only those jet engines will be toast but that heavy gear will certainly drown you right in place.
Even though I´d be curious how it feels to fly with that thing I´m pretty sure I´m not curious enough to try... Not enough "plan b" for me...

I think something else is here to think about; Progress in these devices.
From Buck Rogers, The Bell Rocket Belt now Jet Lev. It's real and getting better.
Imaginations continue to stir, Soon we will travel like the Jetsons..

I agree. Evolution will take place. But not with jet engines. Little Jet engines are (at the moment) just the best solution due to its high thrust to weight ratio but systemic noise and danger due to its high velocity and high temperature exhaust gases will not allow its gneral use in public areas.

The little jet engines will improve as far as fuel consumption and reliability are concerned and there may be a reduction in noise by using bypass engines but the danger and trouble of their high temperature jet blast will remain.

I think the impeller or guarded fan drives will take over and with better batteries even with electrical propulsion. The payload of drones is increasing so rapidly, that men carrying, electrically propelled vehicles will be available in the near future. Only our bureaucrats will tetermine (and limit) their design and type of use.

Maybe I will have a flying, electrical wheel chair in the future. But then I will be most likely too stupid to find my way back home .

Don´t worry, my drone is always coming home...

Electric is the future due to the advances in batteries and motors. I recently saw a video of quad copter prototype which takes of and lands from the water with one person sitting on top. Still in early development stage, it didn't seem to be able to get out of ground effect but still pretty impressive.

Same with the new foil boards powered by an electric motor. No affected by chop because it rides about 18" over the surface. Silent and no wake. Over $10k though but prices will drop quickly at some point

Yacht toys and sports equipment are an very important part of yachting. Family, guests and even crews have to be entertained. But not all toys have to be so expensive, complicated (and dangerous) like subs, seadoos and flying machines. Especially with grand children on board, wanting to be entertained. Even little things can make a lot of fun, both for adults and teens.

Besides scuba diving and snorkeling, the aft passerelle being used as a jumping board, we have wind surfing boards, stand up paddeling boards, kayaks and most liked by kids, adults and crews are our water bikes. Not with engines, no, with pedals ! Great fun. Even the old man uses them.





And yesterday, I saw them on the Alster River behind my garden. And no bureaucrats can stop them, no engine. They make guided tours on the canals and little rivers around Hamburg with them, great idea. Dismantled within 10 min, they fit in a trunk and believe it or not, they are made in the California, USA. Schiller Bike S 1-C.

These are nice and stable but bulky.

We have a pair of hobie eclipse which are a lot of fun. They use the hobie mirage drive which works like a stepper with a handle bar to steer squeezing handles. Real fun and a good exercise if you push them. They assemble in a couple of minutes and don't take more space than regular paddle boards

The tubes deflate and the whole water bike fits disassembled into two bags and in the trunk of normal car. We have 4 of them stowed in the aft lazarette together with two Williams 625 and all othe toys. And the Kayaks can also be disassembled (2 seat Klepper folding kayaks) and have full sailing gear plus paddles. My grand children love them. The most important devices are the tender GPS tracking tools, in order to keep them under control. The anker watch has always full control of the position of all tenders (and my grand children of course) from the bridge.

UG!!!!
I would spill my rum while trying to pedal. Need a B A outboard making wake.
Did somebody forget our mantra; Puking Black Smoke????

I looked back, somebody stole our mantra. Whisky Tango Foxtrot???

Hmm, for Hamburg these waterbikes could become a great touristic trend. Going around the Alster and up towards Eppendorf by waterbike seems much more attractive to me than doing a silly segway-tour through the Hafencity after all...

A submarine like Maltese Falcon's or Octopus's submarine would in my opinion be a fairly cool Yacht Toy. Also, something like a Seabreacher X would be super fun to have on board!

No Solo cup holders. Folks, we need to talk about the important thing while enjoying da toys; a drink holder.......