And then they fall again on the way down, only this time badly injuring themselves and now you have to get the MRT and helicopter out anyway.

Casualties who can be walked off the mountain usually are but I don't think I could walk far with a broken ankle.........

I think the point here is that like all things, the days of the manned SAR helicopter are limited. However they are not over yet, and there will be another generation of them for sure, but it may be the last.
The RAF are procuring the Tempest as their next Gen Fighter. It can be either manned or unmanned, and the Chief if the Air Staff has said it will be the UK’s last fighter with a seat for a pilot. Now, I know that Air Combat and SAR are not the same sport, but the principle is clear.
Drone and UAV technology is progressing and developing at an exponential rate. I feel the most likely outcome will be other solutions being used alongside helicopters in the medium term, but in my opinion their utility will continue to increase, until they become the reference solution.

This particular device is not the solution though. This is the stone that Barnes Wallis skipped across a lake - but the bouncing bomb is coming.

And once the CAA have certified it, that 8 minutes endurance will be a problem. Alternate plus holding fuel and 5% contingency. It would never get off the ground!

Forgive me for being an old cynic but that statement by the Chief of Air Staff about the Tempest next Gen Fighter and it being manned or unmanned... Wow, the Chief of the Air Staff has said it will be the last manned fighter with a seat for a pilot... I am sure that Duncan Sands said the same thing about the Lightning back in 1957.... so forget that tosh.

This is all very complex, no point taking one paramedic to the scene of the incident by Jet Pack if you need someone else to hold the other end of the stretcher to get the customer off the mountain .... no point sending in an unmanned air ambulance to pick up an unconcious patient because they are simply not going to get into it... so hey lets send a helicopter with a doctor and a couple of paramedics ready and willing to 'Yomp' to the scene of the need!

Solution... send two medics/ jet packs one for each end of the stretcher ;)

Helicopter all the time !

Surely the technology now exists for an all weather drone to fly to the scene, autonomously grab the casualty in a device like those fluffy toy slot machines at the amusement arcades and go straight to hospital.

Drones can't do an RSI at scene... HEMS isn't just about retrieval!

Grab and Go
 

Well, having done my time as an SAR pilot and police, where we pre-dated all but one air ambulance and occasionally carried casualties off the hills and from RTAs etc, of course I was very much joking. As well as the flying claw dropping the odd casualty from its uncertain grasp, I can imagine an unwilling and struggling sheep inadvertently finding itself delivered to A & E... :ok:

Who is going to be feeding the $2 coins into the fluffy bunny machine every time it misses grabbing the patient? Could be expensive.

...Sooooo...Does anyone believe that 200 years from now we will be using manned helicopters for rescues?

Really?

There will be a time when the manned SAR capability is obsolete. Will it be in 200 years, or 100, or 50, or 20...

I don’t know. But I do know it’s coming.

It is inevitable.

I don´t know about you, so i am only speaking for myself now:

I don´t care what people do in 200 years from now.
I won´t be around, and i also have no influence on that time in history......

In 200 years, those that aren’t on fire will be under sea water, so you’re more likely to need a fireproof boat.

This concept is complete nonsense. I have been operating gas turbines in model aircraft since their inception over 20 years ago and now own 12 all installed in aircraft with over 2000 turbine flights logged. All are beautiful pieces of precision engineering and start (automatically) and run superbly. Mine have been extremely reliable but not without a very low rate of problems.

That said, there is the occasional flameout or mechanical failure, bearings, compressor or turbine blades being the main culprits fir mechanical failure, fuel system problems for flameouts.

To use these engines for life dependant functions in remote areas Is, in my opinion, ludicrous.

The Consequences of a main lift engine failure probably serious injury or fatal.

Totally unrealistic.

Shortly expecting a word from one of our 'Single engine is super safe' brethren:E

How does the Jetpack handle strong, gusty, winds?
I believe many mountain rescues are not done in flat calm conditions.

True but many are because they draw out the unfit and ill prepared.

I'm sceptical that this will ever become a reality but if you've ever seen a HEMS team lugging their kit to a casualty you can see how one person, who perhaps got ready en-route, going ahead with this kit to provide immediate care such as CPR, defib, pain meds etc.
I don't think anyone's suggesting it's deployed alone.

It is unlikely we can replace a human to actually provide healthcare en scene in the next 2o years - we will use smart glasses etc to provide instructions (as I was doing by radio in 1982!!) but some medical procedures need a human.

The mode of transport is irrelevant to the health system as long as it is safe and fast and.....cheap. So if you can produce a safe drone that carries medical team and patient and is a dollar or pound cheaper you are onto a winner. Of course, you will need room for the additional person who often provides the grunt to load the patient....currently called the pilot :ok:

I think it has been mentioned before, how much upper/lower arm strength is required to fly this Jetpack ? Jet nozzels on the end of flimsy arms, one slight twitch and the pilot will be going through the skies like a Catherine wheel ? How many jet engines have we seen mounted on a flimsy moveable pylon ? cannot think of any, they are all fixed to the airframe.

Maybe with the Catherine wheel in mind they should launch it on November 5th !

The question of upper body strength requirements was posed back in Post #26 on 29th September. The question remains unanswered. I looked up the Bournemouth jet pack demo and found this video:


Apparently two jet pack fliers were involved in the demo, one of which, hits the drink at 20 seconds into the 40 second video. I've looked at other discussions of the video, and some of them fail to mention the unplanned dunking and otherwise ignore details of the "demonstration".

In this age of all too realistic CGI, I'm afraid that I'm a bit of Doubting Thomas with respect to all of this. Has anyone seen technical/engineering details of the design of these jetpacks? It would be interesting to see how the thrust is divided among the 5 jet engines, and how thrust control is managed ... among other details.

Cheers,
Grog

One can only wonder what the OEI capabilities are..... :eek:

There are far too many videos of this particular ‘system’, both online and on TV, for them to be faked. If they were fake, their CGI budget would run into the millions, far more than it has cost to develop the system in the first place.

As for the details of the system, have you tried searching for their patent applications, both in the UK and worldwide? They might reveal some of the technical details.

This is very definitely a ‘thing’. However, as has been pointed out for multiple reasons, HEMS isn’t going to be one of the applications.

Gravity Industries let Colin Furze loose on it - took him a few hours on their training rig before he was able to go untethered. There is some detail on how the system works.

...then you've seen a group of people (including the casualty) who need a SAR helicopter. Of course, GNAAS are known for being extremely reluctant to call in a rescue helicopter...

Jetpack rescue is...go!
 

https://fb.watch/cSWQyB0WfW/

Hot on the heels of a post asking for historical info of the first helicopter rescue, comes the dawn of first jet pack rescue! Well, a trial at least.
In regard to fuel as dangerous goods cargo, could the pack be transported in a typical air ambo without any additional paperwork?
I'm thinking cloud cover allowing helicopter access to the base of a mountain to drop off jetpac pilot. Such weather windows unlikely in Wales? Video says only 6 days training so maybe there will be enough of these kits around to be deployed by road?
Less or more physically/mentally arduous than climbing to the patient?

Mjb
​​​​

He goes to the patient with his jet suit and do what ???, he does not have one pound of equipement ...!

That is what a paramedic needs:

2 large backpacks full of medical supply of all sorts so heavy they need to fly a B3

They did something similar a couple of years ago in the Lake District:


There will be a thread about it somewhere.

Interview with paramedic.

Agile - “He goes to the patient with his jet suit and do what ???, he does not have one pound of equipement ...!”

- according to other reports available, they have the capability to take “10 to 15kg of medical kit, including a defibrillator and patient-monitoring devices which are strapped in pouches on the pilot's legs and chest”

Bravo73 - “They did something similar a couple of years ago in the Lake District”

- again, according to other reports, it is apparently close to ready for operational use this summer in the Lake District.

Currency training will be ...? Additional costs will be borne by ... from ??????

I think you'll probably find that the Norwegian approach of longlining the air ambulance paramedic into difficult incident locations and then using the SAR fleet for extraction is safer, cheaper and quicker.

At times like these, I turn to the bible. In particular:-

John Chapter 11 Verse 35.

Are we taking bets as to how long until the jet pack paramedic needs a rescue paramedic themselves? 😂

I'm genuinely curious how fuel level and endurance is indicated/calculated, I'm certainly not an expert on jet pack operation, but I'm thinking the engine out characteristics are quite limited. A stopwatch would definitely be an MEL item.

You can carry pain relief, a splint and some intravenous fluids which have their benefits for an hour or so but I am not really sure why it will be that much faster than a helicopter. Then there is the issue of what happens if your lowly paid paramedic who has now also undergone flight training isnt up to speed on weather and gets weathered in. Add in the issues of navigation and a low hours jet paramedic being able to actually search with limited flight endurance and you have all the ingredients for another medical nonsense article.

The following was posted by Two’s In on the last thread about this nonsense and in case they don’t get round to re-posting it I will as it’s hilarious……..

"...the Board determined due to dense fog near the summit, that the jet pack operative's glasses had become steamed up. In an attempt to wipe his glasses, the operative became temporarily inverted which caused the jet efflux to ignite his starboard trouser leg. Distracted by the burning clothing and momentarily disoriented, it is believed the operative incorrectly selected the "TOGA" power setting button which was adjacent to the "Demister" switch. The sudden increase in power caused an immediate bowel evacuation, the secondary effect of which was a CG shift which then pitched the operative back to the vertical. The fecal weight loss combined with the TOGA setting generated an immediate high velocity climb. The increased power setting consumed the remaining fuel at a far higher rate, and the jet pack flamed out shortly afterwards, while still firmly IMC. The parabolic arc described by the jet pack led to the operative arriving in a near vertical dive at a high velocity some 20 feet from the stranded hiker. The hiker reported the operative was still on fire with steamed up glasses shortly before impact. Rescuers were able to use a spatula and cigar box to recover the remains. The hiker walked down from the mountain unharmed."

Thanks for reposting that XA290, hadn't read that hilarious "accident report extract" by Two's In :D in the previous thread.

It's the middle of summer. No rain for months. The thick long grass is very dry. Someone breaks their leg on the mountainside while hiking.

Along comes our paramedic hero and, as they flare for landing, they ignite the grass and turn both of them to toast.

Of course they will undergo IIMC training...................................................