Are you ready to strap on a personalized jetpack and fly to a destination of your choosing? While we’re a bit off from that reality, there’s one company that already has their jetpack ready to launch to the general public with its permit in hand.
New Zealand developers were able to procure a flight permit on their newly created personalized jetpack on Tuesday. According to Discovery News the jetpack fell into the regulations of aviation. The developer, Peter Coker, of Martin Aircraft said that the certification was a significant milestone in the evolution of the jetpack, which is more than likely to be sold next year.
Coker told AFP:
“For us it’s a very important step because it moves it out of what I call a dream into something which I believe we’re now in a position to commercialize and take forward very quickly.”
In the early 80s the company set out on a journey to create a jetpack which could be utilized in an everyday capacity by the average person with absolutely no training. This invention was the brainchild of Glenn Martin, who started on the project in a garage over thirty years ago.
The jetpack in question has two cylinders which are fired up by propulsion fans, and a free-standing carbon-fiber frame. Sounds like a whole lot of power to us.
To use the jetpack, the pilot steps against the frame, straps in, and has complete control of a wingless jetpack using our staple game controllers of yesteryear – two joysticks.
Coker said that the newest design has vast improvements in its design and functionality:
“Changing the position of the jetpack’s ducts has resulted in a quantum leap in performance over the previous prototype, especially in terms of the aircraft’s maneuverability.”
In addition Coker revealed that a specialized version of the jetpack has been designed for first responder emergency crews, and the military. A model for the mainstream will be out on the market for sale in 2015 at a whopping $150,000.
[Image credit: Theresa Martinez / Shutterstock.com ]
