Easy way to climb hills..

[AleisterCrowley]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-54331994
This looks like fun.

[bungeejumper]

Looks like a good way to set fire to a hillside.

BJ

[AleisterCrowley]

It runs on fart gas - totally green and clean

[bluedonkey]

It's the sort of story that makes you double check the date.

[stevensfo]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-54331994
This looks like fun.

Given the cost of the equipment, the training and the insurance, and the risk of royalties claimed by the Iron Man , what's wrong with a helicopter?

Steve

[kiloran]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-54331994
This looks like fun.

Given the cost of the equipment, the training and the insurance, and the risk of royalties claimed by the Iron Man , what's wrong with a helicopter?

Steve

I don't think it's intended to replace a helicopter. It's to get a local paramedic to the patient quicker to start treatment, while waiting for a less-local helicopter or ambulance

--kiloran

[stevensfo]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-54331994
This looks like fun.

Given the cost of the equipment, the training and the insurance, and the risk of royalties claimed by the Iron Man , what's wrong with a helicopter?

Steve

I don't think it's intended to replace a helicopter. It's to get a local paramedic to the patient quicker to start treatment, while waiting for a less-local helicopter or ambulance

--kiloran

Oh I see. Brilliant idea. As long as the patient has insurance that pays for all this, or pays for it himself rather than the godforsaken taxpayer, I'm all for it!

Steve

[bungeejumper]

Strewth, has anybody told the RAF?

https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 ... est-flight

the 1050bhp suit, which retails at £340,000 and has a top speed in excess of 80mph, is technically capable of reaching an altitude of 12,000ft, although for safety purposes it is flown lower.

Maybe that wouldn't be advisable, since this particular outfit is only designed for flying for five minutes at a time?

BJ

[AleisterCrowley]

Hope there's a parachute included, or at least a very reliable fuel gauge.

[swill453]

the 1050bhp suit, which retails at £340,000 and has a top speed in excess of 80mph, is technically capable of reaching an altitude of 12,000ft, although for safety purposes it is flown lower.

Maybe that wouldn't be advisable, since this particular outfit is only designed for flying for five minutes at a time?

Well it would take less than 2 minutes to get to 12,000 feet. Then you only have to worry about getting down...

Scott.

[bungeejumper]

Well it would take less than 2 minutes to get to 12,000 feet. Then you only have to worry about getting down..

With the bhp of a Bugatti Veyron strapped to your wrists, that wouldn't surprise me. In fact I read somewhere that jetsuits of this type are rated as high as 14,500 feet, because the limit is set at how far you could descend in the five minutes after a technical problem occurred.

That would be with the engines running, of course. It would be a bit quicker if they weren't.

BJ

[redsturgeon]

A decent rider on an off road motorbike would be able to reach 90%b of cases in a similar time in all weathers at a fraction of the cost.

John

[stevensfo]

A decent rider on an off road motorbike would be able to reach 90%b of cases in a similar time in all weathers at a fraction of the cost.

John

Yes, and carry a hell of a lot more medical supplies and even a tent.

If the injuries weren't that grave, he could even bring the patient back down with him. Sure would cure any constipation the patient had!


Steve

[AleisterCrowley]

Perhaps 90%, but there are plenty of routes a bike couldn't manage (Crib Goch, CMD arête, Striding Edge etc etc)

[bungeejumper]

There'll always be an excuse reason for somebody to splash half a million's worth of somebody else's money for the sake of saving 10/15 minutes of response time. As long as somebody's prepared to foot the bill, and never mind the cost/effectiveness equation, there'll be a market for this kind of stuff.

Mind you, they'll never get me up in one of those things. Can you imagine what the pilots' insurance premiums must be like?

For comparison's sake, the same kind of money will buy you a four seater Robinson R44 helicopter which can do 150 mph. On a mere 245 bhp engine. All you have to do then is find somewhere on the top of a lonesome rocky crag to land it.

BJ

[UncleEbenezer]

Perhaps 90%, but there are plenty of routes a bike couldn't manage (Crib Goch, CMD arête, Striding Edge etc etc)

That's a CHALLENGE you just issued!

Anecdote: once upon a time, I was cycle touring. Did a stretch of coast path, then saw a sign pointing where I'd just come from: "Dangerous path". Another sign pointed to an "Alternative path". The "Dangerous" route seemed more than a bit of an exaggeration!

[AleisterCrowley]

Do they still use St Bernards ? Possibly without the barrel of rum: maybe an IFAK is more useful ...and some flares and a bivvy bag

[Gersemi]

An off road motorbike could probably manage a lot of routes, but an injured person could well have fallen off a path to an inaccessable point.

[AleisterCrowley]

So, basically, a helicopter then ..

[AleisterCrowley]

A medic and no pilot? Hmm...