Flying Cars and Jet Packs — the Military Edition

Cool article on various attempts, from the 40s through the 70s, to develop 1-2 person flying platforms and small vehicles for the Army. Ultimately, they turned out to be a solution in search of a problem, or else the result of someone reading too many Flash Gordon comics.

By the 1970s the US military largely abandoned such flights of fancy. Although a one- or two-man light aircraft was an intriguing concept, all of the vehicles shared common weaknesses in regards to maintenance, noise level, vulnerability, and the lack of practical applications. There were also very valid concerns about the stability of the small aircraft in windy conditions.