You could probably argue there are worse offenders, but there’s no denying that James Bond’s Thunderball jetpack is definitely up there in the pantheon of ridiculous 00-gadgets. Tinkerer Rodger Cleye recently tried to put a more realistic spin on the concept, and the result is this still-ridiculous-but-fully-functioning quadcopter “belt”.
Unfortunately, propelling a real human — 00 agent or not — is out of the question for today’s tech; Cleye had a hard time finding ‘copters that could handle the mere two pounds of his test mannequin. In its finished form, the hula-hoop of blades can manage eight minutes of sustained flight. Not bad if you weigh a kilo. And aren’t averse to blades of doom near your mid-section. Hey, nobody said being James Bond was easy. [Hack a Day]