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Future finally arrives as Martin Jetpack approved for manned test-flights
Every morning, we wake up knowing that the writers of the '60s, who promised us pill-sized meals and flying cars by the year 2000, had lied to us. But now, a New Zealand-based avionics company has been granted permission to start manned test-flights on the ultimate piece of retro-futurism: the jetpack. The Martin Jetpack, which successfully carried a dummy 5,000 feet above sea level in 2011, has been given a test license by New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority -- and inventor Glenn Martin is hopeful that a military version of the device will be ready next year. After that, the ambitious engineer plans to release a general-purpose edition in 2015 and although the price has skyrocketed from $86,000 to around the $200,000 mark, we'd probably pay double that amount just to re-enact that moment from Thunderball.
Martin Jetpack hits the 5,000 feet milestone, could come to market within 18 months (video)
OK, so the Martin Jetpack may not have gone into commercial production quite as soon as we'd anticipated, but there's still hope on the horizon. Over the weekend, Glenn Martin's flying machine successfully climbed some 5,000 feet above sea level, marking a new milestone in the 30-year, $12 million project. Remotely controlled by a tailing helicopter, the 250-pound craft used its two "superfans" to power itself skyward at about 800 feet per second minute, before safely parachuting back to Earth from a height of about 3,000 feet. As with its last test run, however, the Martin Jetpack was equipped not with a human being, but with a crash dummy. It may have been for the best, though, considering that the machine sustained some damage upon concluding the ten-minute flight. Nevertheless, Martin seems confident that yesterday's test "brings the future another step closer," and is hoping to deliver his brainchild to customers within the next 18 months -- plenty of time for us to hawk enough family heirlooms to afford that $86,000 price tag. Soar past the break for a video of the jetpack's big launch, or check out the source link for a more extensive interview with Martin and some background footage of his invention. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
