leaf blower propulsion system

[aostling]

This Florida man zips around town by aiming a leaf blower at the umbrella he is holding. https://abcnews.go.com/US/video/flor...hicle-73659512

Can thls be a good idea? If so, should we turn the jets on a 787 to face forward, blowing on parachutes.

[PStechPaul]

I think that works like thrust reversers, where the blower air blows back from the umbrella to give forward thrust. It would probably work better without the umbrella and by aiming the blower to the rear.

[The Artful Bodger]

Too much of the essence of the thing would be lost if without the umbrella!

[PStechPaul]

Actually, the umbrella may help by reducing the speed of the air blast and spreading it out for a larger area and more usable thrust.

[Lew Hartswick]

I don't see any BRAKES. :-)
...lew...

[brian Rupnow]

When I was a kid, the big lake I grew up on was three miles long. Sometimes in January we would get a big thaw, then freeze up again and that whole three miles would be glare ice. We used to steal our mothers umbrellas and put our ice skates on and do the same thing as this guy, no leaf blower needed. The only trouble was that once you were going terrifyingly fast, it was difficult to stay upright and get that damned umbrella closed before you hit the far end of the lake.

[I make chips]

Now think about what some dead guy talking about apples once said. "For each action there is an equal and opposite reaction"
Post up your findings.

[A.K. Boomer]

There's allot going on there - at first glance it seems to defy propulsion physics as the unit itself is creating backward reaction and also the reverse thrust must be hitting the guy directly,,, I am surprised by the amount that's harvested for actual propulsion....

any way you look at it - one little pothole and that guys going to bloody his pug....

[Willy]

May as well use a cordless blower and recover the energy by using a wind powered generator to charge the batteries. Physics be damned.

[Fasttrack]

... did anyone notice the skateboard wheels and trucks? Looks like he built the contraption around an electric skateboard. The leaf blower and umbrella are props. Example electric circuit board:

https://bustinboards.com/products/yoface-hybrid-v3-elements?gclid=CjwKCAjwh5qLBhALEiwAioods8WZfLOPLDznyIPXd0-kqZK_A1Z4a1mRs9V_A4EsGmiB9HaoIxRh8BoCCHoQAvD_BwE

[tomato coupe]

... did anyone notice the skateboard wheels and trucks? Looks like he built the contraption around an electric skateboard. The leaf blower and umbrella are props.

You outed him too soon. You should have waited a few more pages …

[reggie_obe]

You outed him too soon. You should have waited a few more pages …

Good enough scam to fool the news people and the OP.

[Willy]

You outed him too soon. You should have waited a few more pages …

Ha Ha Ha!
He got a lot of mileage out of that scam.
ABC news bought it and so did a lot of other gullible people.
Hey I saw it on the news, it has to be true.

[A.K. Boomer]

Ha Ha Ha!
He got a lot of mileage out of that scam.
ABC news bought it and so did a lot of other gullible people.
Hey I saw it on the news, it has to be true.

Yeah my minds eye initially told me that,
Believe it or not I built a "kinetic" boat as a kid one time, it consisted of mechanical weights that slung out from an electric motor and then hit a nail pounded into the board, retracted when they did, and then slung out again to repeat,,, all forces actually equalized --- except for the way the boats hull reacted to the water and the shape of the hull helped... think of it kinda like those toy football guys moving around on the level playing game board that's vibrating...

[gellfex]

... did anyone notice the skateboard wheels and trucks? Looks like he built the contraption around an electric skateboard. The leaf blower and umbrella are props. Example electric circuit board:

https://bustinboards.com/products/yo...BoCCHoQAvD_BwE

Yeah, you can see the skateboard remote in his hand holding the blower! That anyone bought this simply illustrates the scientific illiteracy of our American population.