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[Dral Buurenaar]

I'm trying to design a repulsor pack for my kit instead of a jet pack.   The reasons being that i want a lighter more compact design and ,from an in universe standpoint, it has to be quiter and draw less attention.     I'm of the opinion that a repulsor pack can still provide the same quality of flight as a jet pack. The repulsors afford lift and various types of secondary systems can produce thrust : mini turbofans or compressed air for example. The repulsorpack might not operate at breakneck speed but it should still be adequate for a quick getaway or airbourne ambush. So anyone have any opinions or suggestions on the idea?

[Kel Toi]

Go for it  Some have built jump pack's before, good luck plus any concept drawing's etc

[Dral Buurenaar]

Everything in my head at this point. I will get them on paper soon. I want something that does not fit the standard mold.

[Kel Toi]

Any idea what yer after ? Missiles, rockets, etc etc. Shape, size. Attachment's, 

[Dral Buurenaar]

Well i have an interesting base i'm thinking of using.  Its a base to an ocellating(sp?) fan.  Its circular in shape and has cutouts on each side that can be filled in to look line grilled heat sinks.  In the lower center of the heat sinks i can place directional thrusters and maybe an air intake at the top. I know its hard to visualize from this. I'll have to post some drawings later. The repulsor coils would be under the heat sinks while the central area would be the thrust system. The whole thing fits well between my shoulders and is low profile.

[Kel Toi]

No worries mate, Ive seen packs made from Lawnmower's etc ! No end to imagination if you want to build 

[OriKad]

I built a jump pack for my wife.  Sorry, I don't have any pics available right now, but in essence you just make a smaller, narrower, maybe more streamlined jetpack.  Go for it and get some concepts up so we have something to work with for advice on building it.

What I did was: I used a couple energy drink cans for fuel tanks, and a couple bits of PVC pipe for thruster housings, with a couple chunks of toy starfighter engines for slimline thruster nozzles and intakes, and some off-cut scraps from my visors for a fold-out 'wing' shaped housing on either side.  All of those were just bolted on to a bit of plastic and attached to a backplate by door-chain slides.  Mostly just junk I had lying around. (The essence of star wars costuming.  Find junk lying around and stick it together in odd ways)


The following can be ignored since it's entirely in-universe and has no real bearing on building anything.
Now, I do have to comment on the in-universe reasoning, because I'm an uber-geek.  Your in-universe perspective is more or less exactly backward for how repulsors vs. jets work.  Going by in-universe examples, a small (well, smaller than the Boba/Jango style pack) repulsor pack would generate only a few feet of maximum altitude (Like in Yoda's hoverchair and small droids that float around).  To get altitude like you'd want for getaway or ambush (Airspeeders and such), you'd need a bigger, louder pack (Farther you are from ground, more power output needed to remain aloft.  Mostly everything you see floating that high is car-sized and mostly made of engine).  Also, in terms of lateral speed, repulsor packs would generally be FASTER than jet packs (going by West End Games SWRPG references), don't require other sources of thrust (repulsors provide lift and lateral propulsion), and have a much longer range.

[Dral Buurenaar]

The following can be ignored since it's entirely in-universe and has no real bearing on building anything.
Now, I do have to comment on the in-universe reasoning, because I'm an uber-geek.  Your in-universe perspective is more or less exactly backward for how repulsors vs. jets work.  Going by in-universe examples, a small (well, smaller than the Boba/Jango style pack) repulsor pack would generate only a few feet of maximum altitude (Like in Yoda's hoverchair and small droids that float around).  To get altitude like you'd want for getaway or ambush (Airspeeders and such), you'd need a bigger, louder pack (Farther you are from ground, more power output needed to remain aloft.  Mostly everything you see floating that high is car-sized and mostly made of engine).  Also, in terms of lateral speed, repulsor packs would generally be FASTER than jet packs (going by West End Games SWRPG references), don't require other sources of thrust (repulsors provide lift and lateral propulsion), and have a much longer range.

Interesting...........my pack would be about the size of a medium sized trash can lid(1.5ft x 1.5ft).  If i can get away with not needing a thrust system then the whole unit can be a modified repulsor lift unit. Now i just need to research what size repulsor would lift a man to at least to an altitude of 100 ft.   Not likely to find that info.........

[Jerek Darr]

Think of the forward repulsor on the swoop bike. This unit directs a beam at the ground to keep the nose up, but, it also directs a beam diagonally forward. This secondary emmission helps the bike navigate rough terrain at high speed, sort of like ground following radar. It can also be used to aid braking. So yes the directional aspects of repulsors is well addressed. my question is, what is the effect of the repulsor beam travelling THROUGH a body? If you are wearing this on your back, for proper orientation the beam would need to travel through your body, unless you are doing the backstroke. In universe, repulsor emmitters are always located at the underside of the device.

[OriKad]

Also, my just-woke-up brain gave me an example of a small repulsorvehicle that does higher altitude (thank you clone wars) and thus invalidates most of my previous commentary on altitude.  The STAP.  Then again, STAPs are pretty loud and not very stable.

Anyway, going from the perspective that only the uber-geeks will care at all whether it's repulsor or jet or some other chunk of sci-fi tech, the oscillating fan base sounds like a good start.  Think of what other greeblies you have that you can attach to it and you might really have something there.

[Dral Buurenaar]

Repulsorlifts only worked within a gravity well, as the technology required mass to push against. For a typical habitable planet such as Alderaan, "antigrav range" was approximately six planetary diameters, or around seventy-five thousand kilometers. Repulsorlifts used minimal power and were reliable enough to be utilized continuously.

From Wiki.

Despite using the word mass the rest of the entry suggest that the rpulsor lift actually works against the ambient gravity feld. At least at a certain gravitational density.  So a repulsor pack could feasably work on surrounding gravity and not necessarily need to be oriented downwards. Also QuiGon and Jarjar fell beneath a repulsorlift troop carrier in Phantom Menace with no ill effects. Also skycars on Coruscnt fly overhead without ill effects on pedestrians below. Maybe the density of a human body is too light to interact directly with the repusor effect.

About the STAP : Werent they noisy because they used some sort of thrusters for speed?

[Ori Dart]

While I have nothing to add to the repulsorlift vs. jetpack argument, I'm looking forward to see what you come up with. I'm thinking of something similar but I'm using a couple of plastic hood scoops as my main body.

[Jerek Darr]

"Also QuiGon and Jarjar fell beneath a repulsorlift troop carrier in Phantom Menace with no ill effects."

Yeah, that part really bothered me. In the EU, there are instances of large repulser sleds crushing smaller vehicles with their repulsor fields. My hope has always been that they fell between the fields. All this aside, build the thing, and lets see what it looks like! 

[Zophar Ptay]

To geek out just a second, perhaps the reason why smaller vehicles got crushed and the bodies didn't is related to the "fact" that they work off the gravity fields.  Wouldn't the relative mass/density of what is under them make a difference?  The higher density vehicles get crushed, the lower density flesh didn't.  It would also explain why a blade of grass still stands in their wake and so on....

Anyway, we now return you to your regularly derailed thread...

[OriKad]

Actually, most repulsors are noisy mainly because Ben Burtt needed to indicate that there was something technological at work.  Beyond that there are some references to "repulsorlift whine" which seems to be a stand-in for internal combustion engine noise as we'd recognize it in the real world.

Also, on downward facing: There're a couple sport repulsorpacks in SWRPG that are worn on the back, but they're big, bulky, and have fold-out paragliders.

[Dral Buurenaar]

Yeah i like to geek out on the tech side of things which is why i like to discuss them. I'll take some pics and draw up my plans and post them.   As far as the repulsor whine, i'm assuming one could built a system which will dampen down the noise for covert usage.  I lean toward the relative density explanation as well. I know there was an example of a huge character in one of the SW novels that had implanted mini repulsors in his body to help support his immense weight. I dont recall the book though. They obviously had no lasting ill effects on him.

[Jacad Moonstar]

I'm trying figure the out the difference between both packs. Repulsor packs have very vague details. But I can imagine they are more silent than conventional Jetpacks. I also bet they have least chances of misifre.

I only found one type of Repulsor pack, but its called the Screamer, it contradicts my beliefs about Repulsor packs

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Screamer_Jumper_Jet_Pack

[Dral Buurenaar]

Yeah thats a jet pack. Its produced by a repulsor company but there is no referance to it actually being a Repulsor pack. It had me confused at first because a repulsor wouldnt need a loud exhaust.

[OriKad]

Nen-Carvon R-444 Sky Swooper
Nen-Carvon R-23 Paraglider
Nen-Carvon R-19 Paraglider
Iliseni Aerodyne Microweight

All of the repulsorpacks I remember are paraglider based. (or is it all of the paragliders are repulsor assisted?)  One of my SWRPG characters uses the last one.

[Jacad Moonstar]

In my conclusion to Repulsor packs, they do require stabilizing wings after reading about the Paragliders

[Dral Buurenaar]

From Wiki..........

The A-11 Coruscant Police Repulsor Pack was a personal transportation device used by Coruscant Police Forces during the Clone Wars and into the Galactic Civil War. It offered a great degree of mobility in the air, for the Police, though often at the personal risk of the user.

Characteristics: Repulsorpacks were often worn on the back, much like its predecessor the Jetpack. They lasted longer than the Jetpack, and have the ability to hover in place using unique repulsor technology. A-11 Coruscant Police Repulsor Packs were controlled by a wrist-mounted device, but Ontuse Karaane fitted his to work through verbal commands issued into his visor in his helmet. To launch, a repulsorpack funneled both air and fuel through miniaturized turbines. In the device's intake system, the air-fuel mix was ignited, providing the thrust needed to propel the wearer through the air. The launch of most repulsorpacks wasn't accompanied by a cloud of exhaust, like the jetpacks are known for. This is useful when trying to make a quick escape without being noticed.

In flight, directional exhaust nozzles controlled the user's flight path, while a gyrostabilizer counterbalanced the repulsorpack's velocity for descent. Repulsorpacks were considered impractical for public use, but are better suited than jetpacks. Downsides to the repulsorpack's agility included the device's thirty-kilo weight, and the fact that most models could carry enough fuel for around twenty bursts of thrust.   - Wiki

There are other examples of wingless repulsor packs but none that i've found that do not expel some type of thrust exaust. These packs allow for guided flight just like jetpacks but i'm not sure about maximum flight cielings. I do like that they state they are more stealthy than jetpacks.

[Dral Buurenaar]

This is a very rough draw up of my Repulsorpack design. It will have much more detail when finished but this gives you the general idea. The area in the middle with the air intake and directional thrusters will be raised from the base.

[R. Brek-Madak]

im not sure if it would be allowed, but ive always had the impression that repulsor-packs were essentially anti-gravity packs, and thus had glowey bits for 'high-tech' visual impact.

im thinking theres a good chance i might opt for a repulsor pack, when it gets time for me to make a pack. Im thusfar inspired by the Halo 2 Elite Ranger grav-pack.

http://images.wikia.com/halo/images/e/ec/Rangerelite2.jpg

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/20/d0/f0f0a2c008a03375fa718010.L.jpg
http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/46/5c/67cdb220dca0dda3f9528010.L.jpg

you probably couldn't get away with copying it directly, but rendered in a SWarzy style, seen on a mando, would be awesome.