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marvel cinematic universe - How did Iron Man fly without a big tank of fuel?


When Iron Man flies he is shown with fire coming out of his feet just like a fuel-propelled rocket.


Iron Man flying Iron Man flying



Where is the combustible material generating the fire coming from? Does he have a fuel tank? What is his operative range?



Answer



Since your images are from the film Iron Man, I'll initially address that universe. In the film canon, Tony constructs a miniature Arc Reactor and implants it in his chest. This provides a fantastic power source for the armors he later builds. In the Mark 2 & 3 armors, Tony uses his Arc Reactor to power repulsors (a fictional technology that uses energy to generate thrust), which his suit contains on the palms and feet (per Wikipedia). The repulsors on his feet provide the thrust you see in the images in the question, while he uses his hand repulsors and flaps on his suit to provide steering.


In the comics, it's decidedly more complicated, but modern Iron Man armors utilize repulsors, like the film version. Older iterations of the armor did use chemical propulsion (i.e. rockets). You can read an extremely thorough listing of his past armors on Wikipedia.


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