Personal Jetpack Awarded Flight Permit

The New Zealand developers of a personalized jetpack said Tuesday that aviation regulators have issued the device with a flying permit, allowing for manned test flights. Martin Aircraft Chief Executive Peter Coker said the certification was a significant milestone in the development of the jetpack, which the company hopes to begin selling next year.

"For us it's a very important step because it moves it out of what I call a dream into something which I believe we're now in a position to commercialize and take forward very quickly," Coker told AFP.

The jetpack is the brainchild of inventor Glenn Martin, who began working on it in his Christchurch garage more than 30 years ago. Inspired by childhood television shows such as Thunderbirds and Lost in Space, Martin set out in the early 1980s to create a jetpack suitable for everyday use by ordinary people with no specialist pilot training. His jetpack consists of a pair of cylinders containing propulsion fans attached to a free-standing carbon-fiber frame. Read more...