Greetings! I decided to create this blog mainly to share samples of my writing with friends.

As some of you might already know, I started going back to school this summer. I'm almost finished with my two summer classes, and can say that I've been very busy for the past 3 months. For one of my classes, I was assigned a 1500 word paper on any facet of technology I deemed suitable to research. I finally decided to take up the subject of affordable personal air transportation. So without further delay, I submit for your approval...my latest work:

Still Waiting: the Broken Childhood Promise of a Hover Board.

For the majority of my childhood, I was operating under the false pretense that in the near future, we would all have hover boards, jet packs, and flying cars. From the first time I saw the Jetsons in their bubble domed grocery getter, I dreamed of the day where technology would catch up to our imaginations. As life on planet earth moves on through the final decades of the 1900's, the lie was further propagated by other movies and television shows like Star Wars, Star Trek, the Rocketeer, and most disappointingly Back to the Future Part II. The fact that the kids in the future had toy hover boards that were operated by some sort of electromagnetism boggled my mind. What made the promise even more realistic was the fact that it was branded with a real toy manufacturer from my own world. I thought to myself, "Surely, a responsible company like Mattel is currently working on getting this product to its valued consumers - namely, me. They must have spent years in the research and development of such a marvel of science and technology; and now, they are finally ready to present it to the masses." Why else would they place it in this movie? Surely it wasn't just a clever logo placement by advertising executives.

Sadly, My hover board never showed up under the Christmas tree that year, or the year after that...or even the year after that. My young mind couldn't comprehend why there weren't teams of engineers and scientists working around the clock on this issue for the betterment of mankind. Frankly, I'm still baffled by the gross negligence, both on the part of the technology industries and Mattel Corp. This must be a conspiracy on the level of the JFK assassination or something out of a Dan Brown novel. Surely, if the human race can create a variety of other forms of aircraft and spacecraft, personal forms of the technology shouldn't be too far away. Yet, I have waited nearly 35 years of my life to have my own personal, affordable form of flying transportation. We can have portable, hand-held computers that fit in our pockets and keep us connected on a global scale, yet we can't seem to crack the code on personal air propulsion. Why is that the case? Through this discussion, I intend to explore that question, look at some emerging technologies that are bringing us closer to achieving success, and to see what types of vessels are out there now in the experimental phase that we might see hit the market within our lifetimes.

Let's take a look first at some of the aircraft that actually exist today. To be fair, affordable personal air-based transportation is quite an undertaking; so it is understandable that we have gone the better part of a century with this promise of the future being unrealized. Jetpacks with a limited range of about 30 seconds have existed since the late 1950's (wikipedia.org). These jetpacks achieve lift based on expelling gasses and steam that are generated by a chemical reaction between Hydrogen Peroxide and Nitrogen (wikipedia.org). The drawbacks are clear with this method of propulsion: limited range, limited operating time, and numerous safety issues. That said, recent years have brought some very exciting breakthroughs with jetpacks. There are two noteworthy and promising examples: the Martin Jetpack and the Jetman.

One man from Switzerland took it upon himself to make his dream of flight a reality. Yves Rossy, also known as the Jetman, is a pilot who designed a carbon fiber monowing-type apparatus that he wears on his back. Rossy is said to be "the first and only man in the history of aviation to fly with a jet-propelled wing" (jetman.com). In the past few years, he has managed to put over thirty successful flights under his belt. He uses his head and body position to steer and maneuver, and reports that it is quite responsive(wikipedia.org). The machine is quite impressive, with almost a nine foot wing span and is powered by four kerosene model jet engines. It can apparently reach speeds of 190 mph and can operate for about 8-10 minutes when fully fueled (wikipedia.org). The only drawback of this design is that Rossy has to free fall from a plane to launch, and must also deploy a parachute in order to land.

Rossy isn't the only one who has been busy. The New Zealand based Martin Aviation Company has managed to engineer a jetpack that just might be the new standard for future designs (martinjetpack.com). Though not as visually appealing Rossy's design, the Martin jetpack has distinct advantages over the Jetman's wing. Most notable is the fact that the Martin jetpack is capable of a vertical takeoff and vertical landing. It also has a considerably longer operating time of about 30 minutes and runs on premium gasoline. Billed as "the first practical jetpack," it has many potential applications including military, search and rescue, police and emergency response to name a few (martinjetpack.com). There has also been a substantial buzz with aviation enthusiasts in regard to recreational usage. There are a few drawbacks, however, to the Martin jetpack. It's quite bulky, weighing in at just over 250 lbs. This makes it difficult to really consider it a jetpack per se; since

no normal person would be able to walk around with it strapped to their backs. The limited operating range is also an obstacle before it can be considered 'practical' transportation - not to mention the estimated $100,000 price tag. I know that's not in my budget, but it's good to know Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg will be able to afford theirs.

So it seems that we still have some time before we start seeing a jetpack in every garage. But what about the flying cars? Surely they've made some progress with a more traditional fuselage. Sadly, it's about the same. There are a few prototypes with tentative release dates, but they all have six figure price tags and are still not available to the public. Most notably, the Massachusetts based company Terrafugia has designed two prototypes, one of which is set to be on the market in 2015: the Transition and the TF-X (terrafugia.com). The idea behind the Terrafugia Transition is that it's a car with foldable wings. So with the wings folded, it's a car; but when the wings get deployed, it can take off from a runway. It's not exactly like The Jetsons but it's a start! Terrafugia's TF-X is only a theoretical prototype, but shows that they are working on some exciting advancements. It will be able to carry four people instead of only two, will have vertical takeoff capability, a 500 mile operating range, and can still fit in a standard garage (terrafugia.com).

There is one last design that is worth mentioning. The PAL-V is a 3 wheel, gyrocopter technology vessel that is designed by PAL-V Europe NV (pal-v.com). The gyrocopter technology makes the PAL-V safer, since the rotor blades will always be turning as long as the vessel has forward momentum (pal-v.com). In addition to added safety, the PAL-V looks much more stylish than any of the other contemporary designs. The only drawbacks are that it takes a few minutes to deploy the lift rotor and tail section, and that there is no vertical take-off and landing capability. Furthermore, it only accommodates 2 passengers, so family road trips are probably not realistic at this point.

Okay, so it's good to know that the flying car market is on the horizon; but where is my damn hover board?! Why hasn't there been so much as a peep from Mattel apologizing for ruining my childhood? This is an outrage. Surprisingly, scientists have recently made two astounding discoveries that might eventually change our methods of locomotion. Acoustic levitation is achieved by blasting sound waves at 160 decibels at a frequency of 24000 hertz (washingtonpost.com). There are numerous potential applications for this breakthrough, including transportation. The other astonishing method of levitation recently discovered is quantum levitation. This is achieved by freezing a superconductor in liquid nitrogen, thereby changing its magnetic properties. The superconductor can then be levitated over a magnetic rail for a short period of time (quantumlevitation.com). Entrepreneur Elon Musk also has the tech world buzzing with anticipation of his new project "Hyperloop" (washingtonpost.com). Nobody knows for sure what it is yet; but many believe it is some type of vacuum tube transportation infrastructure. Musk is set to announce the details of Hyperloop on August 12 of this year (washingtonpost.com).

In all seriousness, it's not just about my childhood dream of flying that compelled me to write this paper. Transportation and our dependence of fossil fuels are a serious matter. It isn't a sustainable energy source for our future. I truly believe that once we realize the current paradigm is flawed and sure to fail, we will make the necessary changes in the way we get around the world. Who wouldn't want to naturally have that method of transport be as liberating as possible? Who wouldn't want to fly through the clouds or float effortlessly on a cushion of air? Surely I'm not the only one. Judging from the evidence I gathered in my research, I'm clearly not alone. People are making advances. Maybe when I'm old and grey, I can be the first Octogenarian to break his hip on a hover board. Then I'll be able to die happy.

Word Count: 1584

Works Cited

Basulto, Dominic. "Levitation could be the next big science fiction technology to hit it big" The Washington Post. 18 July 2013. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2013/07/18/levitation-could-be-the-next-big-science-fiction-technology-to-hit-it-big/?hpid=z10>.

"Jet Pack." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.  16 July 2013. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_pack>.

"Martin Jetpack." MartinJetpack.com. 15 April 2013. <http://martinjetpack.com/>.

"PAL-V One Writing History." PAL-V.com. 27 July 2013. <http://pal-v.com/>.

"Quantum Levitation." QuantumLevitation.com. 28 July 2013. <http://www.quantumlevitation.com/>.

Rossy, Yves. "Jetman: Yves Rossy." Jetman.com. 8 May 2013. <http://www.jetman.com/?page_id=24>.

"Terrafugia: A New Dimension of Freedom." Terrafugia.com. 26 July 2013. <http://www.terrafugia.com/>.