{"id":12193,"date":"2019-07-29T11:40:24","date_gmt":"2019-07-29T18:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=12193"},"modified":"2019-07-29T11:40:24","modified_gmt":"2019-07-29T18:40:24","slug":"ej-1-a-circle-of-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/ej-1-a-circle-of-power\/","title":{"rendered":"EJ-1, A Circle of Power"},"content":{"rendered":"

Consider encircircling yourself with a ring of tiny electric motors turning a collection of well-coordinated thrusters.\u00a0 Electric Jet Aircraft of Anderson, Indiana<\/a> showed off their vehicle, claimed to be the world\u2019s first wearable electric jetpack \u2013 the EJ-1, at Oshkosh, Wisconsin during this week\u2019s AirVenture air show.\u00a0 A 16-motor, battery-powered rig that weighs around 100 pounds, depending on the battery pack, it\u2019s made to fly several feet off the ground while carrying a 200-pound pilot.<\/p>\n

The product of 13 years of preliminary design and innovation, the aircraft was test flown before its introduction at the Urban Mobility Showcase at the show.\u00a0 Composed of four \u201cJetPods,\u201d modules of four electric motors and associated controllers that produce 80 pounds of thrust each, the EJ-1 can logically lift 320 pounds, leaving adequate excess thrust for its 200-pound payload to give a good climb to its fairly low \u201ccruising altitude.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0Flight duration is limited, but a lighter pilot should be able to add larger battery packs and take longer trips.<\/p>\n

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EJ-1 shows flight harness surrounded by thruster units, four to a pod with motors, controllers and battery packs<\/p><\/div>\n

The tight ring around the pilot allows for weight shift control, since the single throttle controls all motors equally.\u00a0 This makes one wonder how stable this machine will be, and if the attitude controls that seem to go with other machines might not be beneficial.\u00a0 This aspect of quad-rotor control seems to be a commodity level thing with even the model aircraft community.<\/p>\n

Electric Jet Aircraft explains, \u201cEach JetPod is sold separately for $9999.00 each, including batteries, but if you buy 4, you get the jetpack frame for free. JetPods can be used to propel paraglider, hang gliders, kayaks, go karts, or even larger aircraft when clustered.\u201d<\/p>\n

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EJ-1 with test pilot and designer Pete Bitar hovering<\/p><\/div>\n

You can buy the EJ1 for $39,995.00.<\/a>\u00a0 If you\u2019re feeling adventurous, you can put down a $995.00 refundable deposit.<\/p>\n

Near future plans include Electric Jet\u2019s entry in the Boeing GoFly competition<\/a>.\u00a0 It\u2019s one of the semi-finalists known to be headed for the Leap Day Fly-Off (if your editor understands the rules) along with an indeterminate number of new entries: Boeing is accepting new entries until October 1, 2019 until 6:00 p. m. PDT.<\/p>\n

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Larger, but still fitting in the Boeing GoFly “compact” definition, the VertiCycle in electric form will compete in the Fly-Off<\/p><\/div>\n

Electric Jet\u2019s entry will be based on this gasoline-powered prototype shown above but will be all electric in keeping with Fly-Off rules.\u00a0 Future versions may look like the vehicle below.<\/p>\n

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Future Electric Jet variants may find civilian and military uses<\/p><\/div>\n