World’s first commercial jetpack soon

Sci-fi fans, who happen to have a spare $115,000 lying around, will be very happy to know that as early as next year, they could be taking off. New Zealand-based tech company, Martin Aircraft, has been testing its jetpack model since 2011, and has announced that it will be going on the market to select buyers in the second half of 2016.

Known as the Martin Jetpack, the device runs using petrol and is powered by two huge fans that can blast a pilot weighing up to 120 kg into the air at speeds of 74km/h. The jetpack can currently fly for around 30 minutes at a time. The frame is made from ultra-tough carbon fibre and aluminum, and there’s an inbuilt ballistic parachute in case anything goes wrong.

While Martin Aircraft has announced that pilots will be able to reach heights of 1,000 metres, test flights have shown that it can get up to an incredible 1,500 metres,

What’s really cool about the jetpacks is that they can take off and land vertically and operate in confined spaces. And the team expects them to be as disruptive to the industry as the helicopter. Although the jetpack comes with a hefty price tag, the target market is emergency workers who will use the technology to get to emergency situations as quickly and easily as possible.

via Www.sciencealert.com