Jul 29 2008$100,000 Jetpack Coming Next Year?
48-year old New Zealander, Glenn Martin, has spent over 26 years developing a jetpack, and believes it may be ready for sale next year. The 250 lb (part of it rests on the ground at idle so you don't have to lift the weight), 200hp, twin-rotor (it's not actually a jetpack) beast produces 600 lbs of thrust and can be flown for over 30 minutes on a tank of gas. Is it safe? Who cares, I want to fly. And, maybe afterwards, learn to swim.
"People come up and go, 'Is it safe?' " Mr. Martin said. "Safety is a relative thing. We think we have done a lot to make this by far the safest jetpack ever built." But, he acknowledged, "It's not a high bar."He added, "I've got to get my head around the fact that at some point, somebody is going to have a very bad experience."
Well, at least he's being realistic. But seriously Glenn, I want to be that somebody.
Hit the link for a video of the thing and a way long article that was really long that I may or may not have read all of.
The Jetpack: From Comics To a Liftoff in the Yard [newyorktimes]
Thanks damn luddites, I'll race you to the sun.
Reader Comments
1. SmokingGirl - July 29, 2008 2:57 PM
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
That is all.
2. Michael - July 29, 2008 3:04 PM
Great - let me know when there's a version for $100 that doesn't take gas.
3. Myth - July 29, 2008 3:11 PM
Did Mythbusters build this thing a while back?
4. dan - July 29, 2008 3:13 PM
i'll buy one, as long as it comes with Nazi insurance. yeah, that's a Rocketeer reference for ya.
5. tmhs - July 29, 2008 3:18 PM
Yes, Mythbusters did try to build one of these but they were unsucessful due to the plans they found from the internet.
I'm sure Adam and Jamie could build one from scratch though.
6. Matt - July 29, 2008 3:34 PM
Booo....wouldn't exactly be fun to fly around with two people making sure you don't tip over the whole time. The one man helicopter was better than this thing and it didn't make any false claims like "jet" pack.
7. suzy blue balls - July 29, 2008 3:42 PM
im not going broke AND deaf just so i can float around 5ft off the ground. i mean ill do one or the other. but you make that thing go 6ft and we got a deal.
8. greg - July 29, 2008 3:42 PM
I think the blue guys is already dead
9. Madgame - July 29, 2008 4:01 PM
Boba Fett mod ftw!
10. Leon - July 29, 2008 4:13 PM
its not him its those guys with their magic hands
11. Mcfeely Smackup - July 29, 2008 4:45 PM
The guy thinks it's going to fly for 30 minutes and reach 8000 feet because it's a piston engine, so it's like any other aircraft. He's either painfully stupid, or a boldfaced liar.
12. uno - July 29, 2008 4:54 PM
I wanna see a remake of this one, like the robotic bigdog!
13. TallFace - July 29, 2008 5:03 PM
does it come with two dudes who follow you around like little school girls? that in itself is worth the price.
14. Nathan Bedford Forrest - July 29, 2008 5:30 PM
Most people can't function well in 2-D travel. I certainly don't want them engaging in 3-D travel.
15. Matthew C - July 29, 2008 5:39 PM
This will be a theme park ride at best... personal lift devices will never come to fruition...
16. iota1 - July 29, 2008 5:49 PM
Yves Rossy can fly circles around this kiwi/lunk
http://youtube.com/watch?v=j-66AcTo9TU.
17. JPett - July 29, 2008 6:03 PM
I find jetpacks cool when someone has the confidence in one to fly up over a building or over a busy interstate or something. Two guys keeping you from falling 4 feet to the ground is not exactly what I'd call exciting. Did the Wright Brothers have two dudes making sure they didn't hurt themselves? Didn't think so.
18. WORDISBOND - July 29, 2008 6:57 PM
OK, right through my teenage years I dreamed of jetpacks, of an eccentric inventor who would enable me to fly, if not to the moon, then at least into the next suburb or onto the roof of whatever girl I was in love with that week.
And now it turns out this man lived just down the road from me the whole time. Glenn and Vanessa used to come into a video shop I worked in all the time. Hell, I probably rented him The Rocketeer for all I know.
To those blathering on about Mythbusters - read the article, in particular the Franklin quote.
He made it in his garage. Over years and years and freaking years. According to local media he used to put 20 bucks a week into developing it. I can tell you for certain - this isn't some rich guy. This a dude in crappy sneakers who drives a falling apart car and has a gaggle of kids hounding him over whether they're allowed Spy Kids or Monsters Inc.
I am buying him a beer when I next see him. Hell, I'm carrying him into the pub on my shoulders.
19. bcuigd - July 29, 2008 9:03 PM
I saw many people are discussing this
*******Blackcentury dot com******** where many fans are together.You may go there to check it if you are interested.
20. Ade - July 29, 2008 9:56 PM
I'm waiting for the accidents to happen. I really am.
21. McFeely Smackup - July 29, 2008 10:39 PM
@18
When you carry him on your shoulders, be sure you swoop him around like he's flying. Because it's the most realistic flying he's ever going to do.
22. Otto L. - July 30, 2008 4:26 AM
This thing apparently has about the same directional control capability as a helium balloon. Perhaps the inventor could achieve greater altitude by training giraffes to hold on to the machine with their mouths as they walk it around in 'patterns' and 'figure eights'. Just a tad impractical, though I like the idea of tweaking the animal rights people and the environ-mental cases at one go.
One drawback (apart from the obvious one of what happens if you are more than 12 inches off the ground when power is lost for any reason) is the vacuum chamber helmet one must wear in order to preserve 10% of one's hearing post-flight. Of course, that makes breathing rather difficult, but I am sure that bug will be worked out before sales start.
Does the inventor have any idea how many pages of warnings and disclaimers the owner's manual will have to have, or is he simply planning on applying 100% of the proceeds from sales to his product liability defense fund.
I think one could achieve most of the experience of this thing much more cheaply (and safely) by being hauled around on the shoulders of two guys with leaf blowers strapped to the sides of one's head.
23. Netserk - July 30, 2008 5:40 AM
I'd buy one when I see it do a loop de loop...
24. 12XU - July 30, 2008 6:13 AM
New Zealanders rule!!!!! Word.
25. Maverick - July 30, 2008 6:05 PM
Yea.... Big whoop..... how come no one pays any attention to the Moller Sky car? Everyone thinks this jet pack is cool and stuff but they dont know that a real flying car is out there and being tested even as we speak
http://www.moller.com/
http://www.moller.com/m400.htm
and here is the actual hover test for this car
http://www.moller.com/videos.htm#
check it out for yourselves.
26. David - July 31, 2008 12:54 AM
This is bringing the back pack idea to the for front so many more garage inventor will try out their idea.
27. david lee - July 31, 2008 3:41 AM
the jet packs of the sixties,seventies,eighties and nineties are more viable than this new one. its too big for the human imagination. unlike the pilots of these devices from the past who really flew these devices solo, this new innovative guy is a failed example of traditional feats of couraged which have been demostrated american test pilots. advice to these rocket scientist: get a camera, go to the park, set your device up, strap yourself in, press a button and fly it with controlled percision around the park then land it gracefully and do it alone. after accomplishing the above demostration you will become admired and adored by the women. your legacy begins.
28. meggie - August 1, 2008 7:43 PM
I actually got the chance to see it fly at EAA's AirVenture. The person flying it was Glen Martin's son who's 16, however it didnt go further than oh 5 or 6 feet off the ground.