第2119期:In Dubai, a Race for ‘Iron Men’ Wearing Jet Suits

The pilots started their jet engines on a runway in the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai on Wednesday. But they were not preparing to fly an aircraft. They themselves would fly — in the first-ever “jet suit race.” 周三，飞行员在阿拉伯联合酋长国迪拜市的跑道上启动了喷气发动机。 但他们并不准备驾驶飞机。 他们自己也会飞——参加有史以来第一次“喷气服竞赛”。 The seven pilots with jet engines on their backs raced along the tall buildings of Dubai like a scene from the movie Iron Man. 七名背负喷气发动机的飞行员沿着迪拜的高楼大厦飞驰，就像电影《钢铁侠》中的场景。 “The closest analogy would be that dream of flying... and then going wherever your mind is taking you,” said Richard Browning. He is the founder and chief test pilot for Gravity Industries, the company that held the race with Dubai. “最接近的类比是飞行的梦想……然后去任何你想去的地方，”理查德·布朗宁说。 他是举办迪拜比赛的 Gravity Industries 公司的创始人和首席试飞员。 Browning added that the movie created the scene using computer technology, but his company did it “for real.” 布朗宁补充说，这部电影使用计算机技术创建了这个场景，但他的公司是“真实的”。 The pilots wore 1,500-horsepower jet suits for the race. Those engines have more mechanical power than most sports cars and use the same fuel as the Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 passenger jets. 飞行员穿着 1,500 马力的喷气服参加比赛。 这些发动机比大多数跑车具有更多的机械功率，并且使用与空客 A380 和波音 777 客机相同的燃料。 Then came what pilot Issa Kalfon called “the moment of truth.” The engines roared and pilots jumped and leaned forward. And they took off like a helicopter. 然后就是飞行员伊萨·卡尔方所说的“关键时刻”。 发动机轰鸣，飞行员们跳了起来，身体前倾。 他们像直升机一样起飞了。Organizers said they took off from the runway next to the water to enable higher speeds. The jet suit currently can reach speeds of 128 kilometers an hour, Gravity Industries said. It is also safer for the pilots to fly short distances above water. 组织者表示，他们从靠近水边的跑道起飞，以实现更高的速度。 Gravity Industries 表示，这款喷气式飞机目前的速度可达每小时 128 公里。 对于飞行员来说，在水面上短距离飞行也更安全。 Kalfon, who won the race, said he was nervous before his flight. “Everything’s hot, it’s running, the engines are screaming at you,” Kalfon said. But he said the jet suit was safe and easy to handle. 赢得比赛的卡尔丰表示，他在起飞前很紧张。 “一切都很热，它正在运转，引擎在向你尖叫，”卡尔方说。 但他表示，这套喷气式飞机安全且易于操作。 There was one crash during Wednesday’s race. 周三的比赛期间发生了一起车祸。 Emirati pilot Ahmed al-Shehhi smashed into the water, going feet first but immediately came to the surface to give a thumbs-up to rescuers. An announcer described him as having just 12 days of training before the race. 阿联酋飞行员艾哈迈德·谢希 (Ahmed al-Shehhi) 坠入水中，脚先着地，但立即浮出水面，向救援人员竖起大拇指。 一位播音员形容他在赛前只进行了12天的训练。 “It’s pretty amazing to see that they can do this in Dubai, and they have these guys flying over the water,” said Jennifer Ross, an American who lives in Dubai. “It’s kind of like astronauts flying around in space.” 居住在迪拜的美国人詹妮弗·罗斯 (Jennifer Ross) 表示：“看到他们能在迪拜做到这一点，而且他们让这些家伙飞过水面，真是太神奇了。” “这有点像宇航员在太空中飞行。”With its beaches, bars and buildings, Dubai has long been a city known for its love of aviation. The city is home to the world’s busiest airport for international travel. It also has been developing the idea of flying taxis for several years. 凭借其海滩、酒吧和建筑，迪拜长期以来一直是一座因热爱航空而闻名的城市。 该市拥有世界上最繁忙的国际旅行机场。 多年来，该公司一直在开发飞行出租车的想法。There are risks to jet suit travel, however. 然而，乘坐喷气式飞机旅行也存在风险。 In 2020, Vincent Reffet died in a crash during training for a different flying project. He was famous for once flying alongside a two-level Emirates A380 jet. 2020 年，文森特·雷菲特 (Vincent Refet) 在另一个飞行项目的训练期间因坠机事故身亡。 他因曾与两层阿联酋航空 A380 喷气式飞机一起飞行而闻名。