Martin Jetpack priced at $86,000, mere mortals will soon be able to buy one too

Tired of the limited legroom, bad food, and worse movies you have to put up with during a flight? Well, it's time to bust out your company credit card and get yourself a Martin Jetpack, which has just become the first commercially available jetpack. Driven by a pair of washing machine-sized fans strapped to your back, this personal transporter will give you a pretty cool 30 minutes of flight time and comes with a bunch of redundancy systems to ensure any mistakes don't turn fatal. The rotors are built out of a carbon / Kevlar composite and are powered by a two-liter V4 two-stroke engine capable of delivering 200hp (or 150kW). Good old gasoline is the fuel of choice here and private individuals are expected to be offered the chance to fulfill every geek and geekette's dream later this year. Just make sure you have $86,000 lying around to fund it.

[abedinthehouse Posted Mar 10th 2010 4:26AM]

And here I thought those rocket propelled jet packs were funny looking..

[r34p3r Posted Mar 10th 2010 4:29AM]

@abedinthehouse

Man, I would love to show up to work in a Jetpack...

[onproxy Posted Mar 10th 2010 4:56AM]

@r34p3r

and you still choose to go work, with that on your back!!

[bobthetechguy Posted Mar 10th 2010 5:22AM]

I wonder if theres an app for thia

[Tim Brown Posted Mar 10th 2010 5:57AM]

@onproxy cant think of a better way to hand your resignation in

[mavoric Posted Mar 10th 2010 8:45AM]

@Tim Brown
If you could afford that would you really be working in the first place?

[unclepain Posted Mar 10th 2010 9:04AM]

@abedinthehouse
Actually, the worst part about this getup is surviving the 30 minutes of having your man-parts squeezed in criss-crossing crotch harnesses while dangling 400 feet in the air.

[CHICHIgetdaYAYO Posted Mar 10th 2010 9:14AM]

@abedinthehouse

Hmm..Texting while flying eh?

[IUKonstantin Posted Mar 10th 2010 9:21AM]

@abedinthehouse
I mean, is it really a jetpack if it's not powered by a jet? More like a fan pack or fanny pack...

[lunged Posted Mar 10th 2010 11:15AM]

@r34p3r

[Spiraling Shape Posted Mar 10th 2010 12:12PM]

@r34p3r Yeah I wonder who will be the first eccentric billionaire to do it

[m4rc310 Posted Mar 10th 2010 1:59PM]

@abedinthehouse Needs more leds to get pimped...

[MrPacMan36 Posted Mar 10th 2010 4:03PM]

We should all put our money together and buy one of these, and share it among all Engadgeters, :D

[bobthetechguy Posted Mar 10th 2010 11:58PM]

@MrPacMan36 well theres 86thousand of us.. so all donate 1 dollar and buy it...
I call dibs after Topolusky gets off

[bobthetechguy Posted Mar 17th 2010 11:04PM]

@r34p3r if i did onsite computer repair

[Nonok Posted Mar 10th 2010 4:27AM]

Do want. OMG

[sinai Posted Mar 10th 2010 9:42AM]

@Nonok

the previous post is proof that civil and injury lawsuits over this product will happen about a month after hitting the market.

[CaptainPlanet Posted Mar 10th 2010 4:29AM]

Best way to beat traffic!

[abedinthehouse Posted Mar 10th 2010 4:33AM]

@CaptainPlanet
Coming from the guy who doesn't need 2000 pounds of jet engines strapped to their backs to fly

[Love It Posted Mar 10th 2010 5:38AM]

@CaptainPlanet In theory, yes. I think the idea of these will be better than the reality of a bunch of idiots flying around killing / maiming themselves and each other. Also, the CAA isn't going to suddenly allow a bunch of untrained, unlicensed idiots to fly around wherever they like.

I wish this wasn't the case :(

[abedinthehouse Posted Mar 10th 2010 6:23AM]

@Love It
actually this does not require a license. read the source

[Love It Posted Mar 10th 2010 7:54AM]

@myself

BURNED!


Also, despite lack of licensing requirements, I think my other point is still valid, people gon' git hurt. Bads.

[Let1me1in Posted Mar 10th 2010 8:49AM]

@CaptainPlanet
what traffic lol

[CaptainPlanet Posted Mar 10th 2010 8:51AM]

@Let1me1in Traffic on the freeway of course!

[sinai Posted Mar 10th 2010 9:48AM]

@CaptainPlanet
wait what? WHAT ABOUT THE GREENHOUSE EMISSIONS?

[StormChaser Posted Mar 10th 2010 4:29AM]

Didn't the Mythbusters already bust this particular design?

[glenskey Posted Mar 10th 2010 4:31AM]

@StormChaser

clearly the mythbusters aren't the most reputable of sources

[abedinthehouse Posted Mar 10th 2010 4:32AM]

@StormChaser
Looks like The Mythbusters are the ones busted!

they'll be loosing their audience over this

[StormChaser Posted Mar 10th 2010 4:37AM]

@abedinthehouse Somehow I doubt that. Only THEIR version of the build was busted. This looks a LOT more streamlined and a lot lighter than their home-built unit.

I've wanted one of these since the Solotrek was announced. Not going to be able to afford one. I'm not so sure having the skies filled with people on these is a good idea. You KNOW they're going to be texting while flying! :)

[bobthetechguy Posted Mar 10th 2010 5:14AM]

@StormChaser yup. But i saw something about this on adultswim. and i said fuck it that news is prolly a year old. I Wonder if i could get a jetpack

[bobthetechguy Posted Mar 10th 2010 5:20AM]

@StormChaser omg it looks like a polished version of the mythbuster rig. ... when can i buy one off craigslist for a thousand?

[canny Posted Mar 10th 2010 5:43AM]

@abedinthehouse
Offtopic.. but the myth was that you could build a device using directions off the internet, with little or no experience in flight technology. That was the myth.
This crowd have several decades experience in their team, Glenn Martin himself working on this design for the last 30 years...
Somewhat different, don't you think?

[abedinthehouse Posted Mar 10th 2010 6:27AM]

@canny
hahah yesss, I get it---I saw that episode too people, I was making a funny.

[Spiraling Shape Posted Mar 10th 2010 12:24PM]

@StormChaser I don't think the Mythbusters used carbon fiber.

[abedinthehouse Posted Mar 10th 2010 4:29AM]

hmmm, Ill have a KIRF ready in an hour for under $50, minus all the redundancy systems to ensure mistakes don't turn fatal.

[vVv Posted Mar 10th 2010 11:05AM]

@abedinthehouse
There really are better ways to fly, Mescaline for example.

[iStepOnU Posted Mar 10th 2010 4:30AM]

Is that helmet suppose to protect him in the event of am accident?

[harrykim23 Posted Mar 10th 2010 4:36AM]

@iStepOnU
No, the helmet is there to prevent birds from crashing into his eyeballs in mid-flight...

[Bibo77 Posted Mar 10th 2010 4:42AM]

I believe the helmet is supposed to protect of any minor incident during take off or landing..

[canny Posted Mar 10th 2010 5:44AM]

@iStepOnU
As well as minor takeoff accidents, I'd imagine to also allow the pilot to see clearly what with all the elemental resistance around him...

[goseki Posted Mar 10th 2010 7:00AM]

@iStepOnU maybe for ear-protection the fans have got to be LOUD !!!

[thrash1256 Posted Mar 10th 2010 4:32AM]

Want.

[Frozenbytes Posted Mar 10th 2010 4:33AM]

I'm going to use this to fight crime. I just need a grant from my city.

[Xenoterranos Posted Mar 10th 2010 10:26AM]

@Frozenbytes
I'm gonna buy 20 and start a business where you pay ungodly amounts of money to play a real-life version of Joust. I'll make the birds out of cardboard.

[Bobot Posted Mar 10th 2010 4:36AM]

This isn't a jetpack...really...this is a "wearable jet"...its huge and has nothing to do with Rocketeer style of equipment..disappointment...

[Andir Posted Mar 10th 2010 7:33AM]

@Bobot Is it really a jet though? I mean, by all accounts, a conventional jet is something that compresses air, adds fuel and ignites it. This is more of a personal propeller pack.

[Invalidd Posted Mar 10th 2010 10:06AM]

@Andir jet (jèt) noun
1. a. A high-velocity fluid stream forced under pressure out of a small-diameter opening or nozzle.*

And lest ye doubt:

fluid (fl¡´îd) noun
Abbr. fl, fl.
A continuous, amorphous substance whose molecules move freely past one another and that has the tendency to assume the shape of its container; a liquid or gas.*

So yes, it's jet.

*The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition copyright © 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from InfoSoft International, Inc. All rights reserved.

[Invalidd Posted Mar 10th 2010 10:38AM]

@Invalidd ...it's _a_ jet

[Jack Posted Mar 10th 2010 11:24AM]

@Bobot

I like how you call a device that literally allows you to fly a "disappointment."

What the hell is wrong with you?

[edac2 Posted Mar 10th 2010 12:10PM]

@Andir Exactly. In fact, they're ducted fans powered by piston engines. It might qualify as a strap-on lifting platform, but not a helicopter (good article on flying jeeps and lifting platforms here: ). What's amazing is that they can get enough lift without using jet turbine engines, but turbines would probably run 10 times what they're offering this for. One of the problems with ducted fans is that they they're too small to autorotate in a power failure the way helicopter blades do. I'm surprised that the FAA won't be requiring that jet pack pilots have a license to fly this thing.