我们离未来还远吗？

我们正生活在一个科幻小说般的奇妙世界里。即便悬浮滑板、自动驾驶汽车和手持通讯装置都不能让你信服，这个事实也不容置疑。

因为喷气式飞行背包已经横空出世。

JB-9的制造商，位于范奈司的JetPack Aviation公司将这款产品称为“全球唯一真正的喷气式飞行背包”。上周试飞时，飞行测试员绕着自由女神像在空中转了一圈。

当然，市面上还有许多其他产品也打着喷气式飞行背包的旗号。但JetPack Aviation 公司首席执行官兼飞行测试员大卫•梅曼表示，JB-9“不同于任何其它正在研发或已经研发出来的产品。”

JB-9是梅曼和尼尔森•泰勒历经10年打造的产品。即将上映的纪录片《拥有蓝天》将展现这一研发过程。泰勒是一位名至实归的好莱坞发明家，由他改进的摄像工具已经赢得三项奥斯卡技术成就奖。

泰勒还是20世纪70年代开发的所谓“轻便火箭动力装置”的幕后策划人。受到1965年詹姆斯•邦德系列电影《霹雳弹》中火箭喷射包的启发，泰勒组织开发了这一产品，并一直被电影和电视剧采用。

不过，与其他大多数喷气式飞行背包一样，这种火箭动力装置也有很大的局限性。它的飞行时间最多不能超过30秒，所以它的主要用途就是供好莱坞拍摄电影。但JB-9的飞行时间能够超过10分钟。

冒险家伊夫•罗西领衔的Jetman Dubai团队，曾经开发过喷气动力式的滑翔衣。但它们都需要从直升飞机上起飞。JB-9则拥有真正的垂直起降功能。据梅曼所说，他可以在极小的空间中着陆。

最后，Martin Jetpack也许是最不符合这个名字的同类产品，它既不是喷气式的，也不是背包。梅曼以他亲切的澳洲口音评论道：“他们把它称为喷气式飞行背包，只是因为这样做有利于营销。实际上，它只是个用燃油活塞发动机驱动的单旋翼带尾桨。”

它的体积和大型摩托车差不多，使用者根本就背不动。梅曼表示：“它其实就是一个遥控的机械装置，使用者是要坐在里面的。”

至少从梅曼的标准上看，唯一名副其实的喷气式飞行背包是20世纪60年代后期由Bell Aerosystems和 Williams International合作研发的喷气飞行带。不过它极其沉重，只勉强完成了研发环节。

不同于Martin，JB-9的喷气发动机是波音747和F-16飞机发动机的微缩版。与Bell和Williams合作研发的旧设备不同，它十分轻便，足以让使用者携带，外型也小到能放在汽车后座上。JB-9还支持各种类型的燃料，包括柴油和煤油。梅曼表示，JB-9性能上的优势，基本上应归功于喷气发动机技术近年来获得的进步。

关于喷气式飞行背包，还有一个永恒的问题——怎样才能让它不烧到你的腿？梅曼坚称：“它并不烫，我甚至可以穿着短裤飞。”那是因为废气几乎立刻就融入了周围空气中。

这一“纯正”的喷气式飞行背包的另一优势，是在大风和气流中有优异表现。“我们没有翅膀，所以我们几乎感觉不到自己正在以30英里或40英里的时速飞翔在风中。”

JB-9的与众不同之处还在于，它是第一款拥有实际应用潜力的喷气式飞行背包。梅曼尤其乐于让它充当应急救援装置。它可以在地形环境恶劣的地方飞行好几英里，比直升飞机更加方便。梅曼表示他已经收到了大量来自好莱坞（毫无意外）、个人收藏家和有意举办喷气式背包飞行竞速赛的营销人员（祝他们好运）的咨询。

也有一些需要注意的事项。即便这个设计已经比较成熟，但JB-9只是一个技术原型，任何规模的量产都只能在未来实现。梅曼没有给出该产品的预测价格。

梅曼也是唯一用JB-9飞行过的人。他承认，他之所以能绕着自由女神像飞行一周，在于他经过了艰难的训练，包括两年内在安全纽带的辅助下进行了多次试飞。想要让该产品真正应用于现实世界，必须缩短训练时间。

梅曼表示，按照法律，JB-9将会在联邦航空管理局的超轻型飞机分类下售卖。不过，由于这是一种十分冒险的飞行方式，JetPack Aviation希望仔细甄选和训练未来的飞行者。甚至连梅曼也没有让这种装置飞到最高的限度，因为应有的降落伞配件还没有完全设计好。

梅曼称，就一款真正的喷气式飞行背包需要满足的市场需求而言，JB-9堪称一款激情四溢的产品。梅曼表示，他经常驾驶飞机和直升机，但这些体验都无法跟携带喷气式飞行背包飞行相提并论。

“这种感受非同寻常，”梅曼说。“就像在空中骑摩托车。它的可操控性很强，你要做的就是用脑子想——我要往左。你真的不需要做什么，它就会往左转向。”

“它成为了你身体的一部分。”（财富中文网）

译者：严匡正

审校：任文科

Even if all the hoverboards, self-driving cars, and hand-held communication gizmos haven’t convinced you, there’s no more denying that we live in a mind-bending science fiction dreamland.

The jetpack is here.

The JB-9, which Van Nuys-based maker JetPack Aviation calls the “World’s Only True Jetpack,” had its coming-out party last week during a flight around the Statue of Liberty.

There have, of course, been many other claimants to the jetpack name. But the JB-9 is “different to anything else being flown, or [that] has been flown historically,” says David Mayman, JetPack Aviation’s CEO and test pilot.

The JB-9 is the product of ten years of collaboration between Mayman and Nelson Tyler, a process chronicled in a forthcoming documentary to be titled Own the Sky. Tyler is best known, appropriately enough, as an inventor for Hollywood, where his advanced camera tools have earned him three Oscars for technical achievement.

Tyler was also the brains behind a so-called “rocket belt” developed in the 1970s. Inspired by the Bell rocket belt that appeared in the 1965 James Bond movie Thunderball, Tyler’s version had a long career in the movies and TV.

But, just like most other almost-jetpacks, the rocket belt had serious limitations. Flight times were under 30 seconds, which is why their main application has been in Hollywood. The JB-9 has flight times of ten minutes or more.

Then there’s Yves Rossy and his Jetman Dubai team, who fly jet-powered wingsuits. But those deploy from a helicopter, while the JB-9 offers true vertical takeoff and landing. According to Mayman, he can almost land on a dime.

Finally, the Martin Jetpack is perhaps the least convincing contender for the title—it’s neither a jet, nor a pack. “They called it a jetpack because it’s a sexy marketing term,” says Mayman, in his genial Aussie burr. “But it’s actually a gasoline powered piston engine that drives ducted fans.”

It’s also the size of a large motorcycle, and impossible for a wearer to carry. “Effectively it’s a drone,” says Mayman, “and then they put a man inside it.”

The only proper jetpack previously produced, at least by Mayman’s standards, was the Bell Aerosystems and Williams International “Jet Belt” of the late 1960s. But it was extremely heavy, and barely got past the R&D phase.

The JB-9, in contrast to the Martin, runs scaled-down versions of the same kind of jet engines that drive a 747 or F-16. Unlike the old Bell-Williams device, it’s light enough to be carried by a wearer on foot, and small enough to fit into the back seat of a car. The JB-9 also runs on a range of fuels, including diesel and kerosene. Mayman says most of the JB-9’s performance advantages are thanks to recent advances in jet engine technology.

There is still that eternal question of the jetpack—how do you not burn your legs? “It’s really not hot,” insists Mayman. “I could fly in shorts.” That’s because the exhaust mixes with ambient air almost immediately.

Another advantage of the ‘pure’ jetpack is its performance in high winds and turbulence. “We have no wings, so when we fly into 30 or 40 mile per hour winds, we hardly feel it.”

All of that makes the JB-9, at the very least, the first jetpack with potential practical applications. Mayman is particularly keen to see it in the hands of emergency responders, who could travel several miles over rough terrain much more easily than in a helicopter. Mayman says he’s fielded inquiries from Hollywood (no surprise), individual collectors, and marketers who are curious about setting up a jetpack race series (cross your fingers).

There are caveats. Even if the design is ready for prime time, the JB-9 is a prototype, and production at any scale is still in the future. Mayman wouldn’t speculate on the units’ eventual price.

Mayman is also the only person who has ever flown the JB-9. His swing around the Statue of Liberty came after what he admits was a sometimes-rocky learning curve, including dozens of practice flights on a safety tether over two years. Quicker training would be essential to real-world adoption.

Legally, Mayman says JB-9s could be sold tomorrow, under the Federal Aviation Administration’s Ultralight aircraft classification. But, acknowledging that this is a particularly risky form of flight, JetPack Aviation wants to carefully select and train prospective pilots. Even Mayman hasn’t taken the machine to its altitude limits, since the planned parachute assembly isn’t complete.

For all the market demand for a true jet pack, Mayman says the JB-9 has always been mainly a passion project. He’s a dedicated pilot of planes and helicopters, but he says nothing compares with the jetpack experience.

“Ah, it’s extraordinary,” Mayman gushes. “It’s like riding a motorcycle in the sky. It’s so maneuverable, all you have to do is think—I want to go left. And really you don’t do anything, it just goes left.

“It becomes part of your body.”