Swiss daredevil Yves “Jetman” Rossy and his skydiver friend Vince Reffet soar over the futuristic city of Dubai in their jetpacks (or more accurately, a jet-propelled wings) in this absolutely gobstopping video. Watch it below.

Interesting reactions, both positive and negative, in the HuffPo comment section:

years from now people will look at this video clip and exclaim how bulky and antiquated the first jetbacks equipment were. this kind of progress is inspiring and amazing.

Notice that neither jet pack actually rises. At a ski resort, the real magic is in the ski lift. It creates the potential energy that allows everything else. Until you achieve breakeven (level flight) or generate a surplus (climb), you have created a really fast glider.

But gliders dive and rise as well. Without an aircraft to jump out of, though, or a tall ledge to jump off of, these are useless since they can’t get airborne on their own.

This is one of the most amazing and beautiful things I’ve ever seen. It’s only a matter of time before they’re weaponized, though. *sigh*

Truth is, the technology they use was probably paid for and developed in a weapons program.

This is nothing short of Amazing. The uses for this equipment is never ending. Just think that when the military gets pinned down, then they can fly to a new position and turn the table on the enemy. One could literally fly a battalion of soldiers into a military position and surprise the enemy. The fight would be over before it even got started. The number of things that could be done on the civilian side of things is mind boggling. The only problem that I can see is if too many jet packs where in a condensed area; and, the FAA in the US, is in-charge of everything that flies without a wire. The FAA would probably react in the fashion of the drone delivery idea. Hopefully, the government will see the advantages, and the potential for flying without a big aircraft, and spur the development.

No, these are too heavy and cumbersome for the average field in use capability. They do not provide nearly enough thrust to get a soldier off the ground while carrying full gear. Even special ops / forces would find very limited if any true good use for them at all. These units put out a tremendous amount of noise from their small turbines and would be easily heard upon approach, especially in groups of 6 or more. Special forces would still be much better with more traditional operations of halo jumps and other practices that bring them in quietly, especially at night or in missions where they can come in rather unimpeded with full support of aircraft.

For a soldier I would think it would be too much like wearing a tank of napalm on the back like the flame thrower guys in WW2. They were dreaded so much that they were the first target of the enemy.