4 ms·

There appears to be a line under his feet. My bet is someone with one of these fly-boards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQzLrvz4DKQ https://www.youtube.com

There appears to be a line under his feet. My bet is someone with one of these fly-boards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQzLrvz4DKQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQzLrvz4DKQ Still dangerous and stupid to be out over the water let alone flying around airliners.

ccmcarey 6y ago
This is apparently thousands of feet above the ground, so no, can't be this.
- nobodyandproud 6y ago
  Why not? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flyboard_Air https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flyboard_Air They claim up to 9800 feet in altitude, so it seems very likely if anything.
  - pbuzbee 6y ago
    Wouldn't a cable that's thousands of feet long be prohibitively heavy?
    - nobodyandproud 6y ago
      It’s a jet turbine, so I assume the cable is just to lead and control. A thousand foot of very strong fishing wire https://www.amazon.com/Sufix-Performance-Braid-300-Spool/dp/B001NXC2MM https://www.amazon.com/Sufix-Performance-Braid-300-Spool/dp/... is a mere 0.15 lbs, if Amazon’s description is to be believed. So as a guide wire even with multiple strands (for redundancy) I think 3000 feet is very achievable.
      - blincoln 6y ago
        Does Zapata's turbine flyboard use a line to the surface? I haven't seen one in videos. The more common flyboards that pump water from the ocean or a lake up into the jets and then back down obviously do.
        nobodyandproud 6y ago
        No idea as this is the first time I even heard of this. But a gas turbine (a jet engine, basically) is efficient, kerosene is very energetic, and for a hoverboard I imagine the hot & compressed exhaust itself is what’s mechanically useful. There’s no reason to have a line other than as a tether, though that comes with its own risks.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
dmix 6y ago
I noticed something under his feet too. I think you're on to something. So more "hoverboard" than "jet pack" might be the future headlines. Or at least jet-pack-like hoverboard. The flight time impressive I guess, not sure of the state of these things. Edit: I'm guessing the jet skis are following him to recover some expensive hardware quickly and the dude himself.

ccmcarey 6y ago

This is apparently thousands of feet above the ground, so no, can't be this.

nobodyandproud 6y ago
Why not? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flyboard_Air https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flyboard_Air They claim up to 9800 feet in altitude, so it seems very likely if anything.
- pbuzbee 6y ago
  Wouldn't a cable that's thousands of feet long be prohibitively heavy?
  - nobodyandproud 6y ago
    It’s a jet turbine, so I assume the cable is just to lead and control. A thousand foot of very strong fishing wire https://www.amazon.com/Sufix-Performance-Braid-300-Spool/dp/B001NXC2MM https://www.amazon.com/Sufix-Performance-Braid-300-Spool/dp/... is a mere 0.15 lbs, if Amazon’s description is to be believed. So as a guide wire even with multiple strands (for redundancy) I think 3000 feet is very achievable.
    - blincoln 6y ago
      Does Zapata's turbine flyboard use a line to the surface? I haven't seen one in videos. The more common flyboards that pump water from the ocean or a lake up into the jets and then back down obviously do.
      - nobodyandproud 6y ago
        No idea as this is the first time I even heard of this. But a gas turbine (a jet engine, basically) is efficient, kerosene is very energetic, and for a hoverboard I imagine the hot & compressed exhaust itself is what’s mechanically useful. There’s no reason to have a line other than as a tether, though that comes with its own risks.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

dmix 6y ago

I noticed something under his feet too. I think you're on to something. So more "hoverboard" than "jet pack" might be the future headlines. Or at least jet-pack-like hoverboard. The flight time impressive I guess, not sure of the state of these things. Edit: I'm guessing the jet skis are following him to recover some expensive hardware quickly and the dude himself.