It’s perhaps a little disturbing how often Stuff has written about the humble flamethrower. Elon Musk’s Boring Flamethrower is an obvious one, while setting an HTC One M9 aflame is a more creative use of the flame-spewing… appliance? Appliance is probably the wrong word. Pity the video’s dead. We’ve even seen a drone toting a flamethrower before. And, now, you can own your own flame-spitting drone — though you’re going to have to supply your own drone.
Come on baby, light my fire
Imaginatively named company Throwflame is about to drop a conversion kit for “…drone platforms with a payload capacity of 5lbs (2.2kg) or more”, though the company recommends using DJI’s S1000 drone for their Throwflame TF-19 WASP system. The kit costs a ‘mere’ $1,500 (about R21,000) — not counting the cost of the drone — and for your money you get a fuel capacity of a gallon (3.8 litres), a range of 25 feet (7.6 metres), and a firing time of 100 seconds. You’re not supposed to use it on people, though. That’s an important part of the spec. Sounds… safe, right?
Instead, Throwflame’s product was created with the farming industry in mind. The TF-19 WASP allows for “remote ignition of aerial and ground targets, bringing new levels of efficiency and manageability to agriculture.” Which means that it’ll be handy for starting controlled fires, like fire-breaks, or for clearing branches lodged in hard-to-reach (but flame-resistant) locations. The company is also offering custom solutions for users, which include the drone (like the DJI S1000 seen in the demo video above).
Throwflame’s drone-mounted flamethrower is set to launch from tomorrow, 18 July, but you don’t have to purchase that one if you don’t want to. The company also sells actual flamethrowers, which are totally legal to sell (and purchase) in the States. If you’re planning on importing one, let us know what the friendly chaps at Customs have to say about it.
Source: Throwflame