If you have around £60,000 burning a hole in your pocket and if you have always dreamed of breaking the bonds of gravity, then you might consider picking up the Martin Jetpack.
Jetpacks have long been the preserve of fictional movie heroes, but now a New Zealand-based firm has created what is the world’s first commercially viable jetpack to take one person skywards at speed.
Incredibly Martin Aircraft has managed to give the Jetpack a full half hour in the air before it needs to land. With a 200 horsepower engine powered by good old-fashioned petrol, the jetpack is constructed of lightweight material comprised of Kevlar and carbon.
Martin Aircraft has been working on the jetpack for over a decade and it has taken a long time to develop and refine something that is safe enough to sell to the general public.
The biggest safety feature of the jetpack is a built-in parachute that acts as a failsafe to rescue the pilot if something goes catastrophically wrong. The parachute is fired out quickly to make sure that it is fully deployed before the ground intervenes!
The controls of the jetpack are organised in precisely the way you will have seen many times on the silver screen, with the pilot’s hands altering the pitch, thrust, yaw and roll.
There is a weight limit on the jetpack and only people between 140 and 240 pounds will be safely accommodated. However, this is a broad enough bracket for most of the super-rich. The one downside is that you have to wear a jumpsuit and a helmet, so tuxedo flight is out of the question.
