When I was a kid I purchased The Anti-Gravity Handbook and read it as if it had some deeply subversive Talmudic knowledge that I needed to decipher. I expected the book to be filled with blue prints of preexisting floating cars and jet packs powered by anti-gravity. What I actually got was a collection of conspiracy theories on how NASA is covering up the discovery of anti-gravity and really half-baked sketches on how to build a ‘flying saucer’ from that infamous ‘former employee’ of Area 51, Bob Lazar. That book (and Back to the Future 2) left me with a very skewed childhood. I believed the technology was out there, but due to shadowy government precedings it would never be released. Basically what I’m trying to tell you is I sat by myself in my 7th grade lunch period.
If the world operated on the same principles of every James Bond movie in existence, each individual would have their own personal jetpack and morning traffic would be a thing of the past. New Zealand-based ‘Martin Aircraft Co.’ hopes to make your wildest transportation dreams true and has constructed the world’s first commercially available (and fully operational, for that matter) personal jetpack.
It will appropriately be called the ‘Martin Jetpack‘ and it will retail for about $150,000. Don’t expect this thing to just barely hover above ground either. The Martin Jetpack can reach altitudes of 8,000 feet, although the company stated that most people wouldn’t want to go higher than that. Environmentally, everything that can affect a plane can also affect the Martin Jetpack so you wouldn’t’ want to take it out in a thunderstorm, obviously. If you live in New Zealand, the jetpack will only need an ‘ultralight license,’ which is the same required to operate a hang glider. However when the Martin Jetpack eventually makes it to the US, absolutely no license is needed to fly an ‘ultralight’ vehicle — which should make for some interesting Spike TV reality shows.
Check out video of the Martin Jetpack in action and know that this time next year that dummy pilot could be you. Props to jt33 for the +100 news tip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsRpPbGAQHs
