The jetpack is basically a science fiction litmus test. If jetpacks exist, we live in the future. If not, we all have license to be disappointed about the state of things and the lies we were told as children. Well, New Zealand-based Martin Aircraft wants to cheer everyone up. It has been granted an experimental flight license by the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority to test what it’s billing as the first “practical” jetpack.
Just how practical the Martin Jetpack is will be open to interpretation. The device doesn’t so much strap onto a person’s back as the person is strapped to the jetpack. It’s a hefty machine — 7 feet high and wide, and 400 pounds. It runs on a gas engine powering two cylindrical cowled turbines. The vehicle has enough trust to Blade & Soul account rise at a rate of 13 feet per second and reach an altitude of 8, 000 feet.
Control is highly automated with an auto-hover function so the entire experience can be managed with only two joysticks. It only carries enough fuel to fly for 30 minutes, but can clip along at 60 mph. The Martin Jetpack will give users plenty of warning to stop having fun and land, but if something goes terribly wrong, there is a built-in parachute system.
The official flight test will take place at only 20 feet high, but it’s an important step in making the Martin Jetpack available to the public. Martin Aircraft believes the jetpack could be on sale in two years at a cost of $150, 000 to $200, 000, but could eventually fall to $100, 000. That’s a funny kind of “practical, ” but new technology is always expensive at first.
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