Video: Jetpack Soars to 5,000 Feet

By Duncan Geere, Wired UK

New Zealand?s Martin Aircraft Company has tested a jetpack that can soar to 5,000 feet and cruise at more than 60 mph.

In a test in a field in New Zealand, Martin Jetpack Prototype 11 climbed at a rate of 800 feet per minute to an altitude of 5,000 feet, where it deployed a ballistic parachute safety system and floated back to Earth after nearly 10 minutes aloft. A previously version had reached a paltry 50 feet in testing. The jetpack was tested with a crash test dummy.

?This test also validated our flight model, proved thrust to weight ratio and proved our ability to fly a jetpack as an unmanned aerial vehicle, which will be key to some of the jetpack?s future emergency/search and rescue and military applications,? said the pack?s developer, Glenn Martin.

Martin Aircraft?s CEO, Richard Lauder, said the company is in an intensive testing period to refine the carbon fiber jetpack?s design and safety. ?From a company point of view, the high flight shows Martin Aircraft?s development over the past two years and its expertise in coordinating and running a sophisticated and complex aviation event of this nature,? he said.

The pack is 5 feet tall and 5 feet wide. Martin says it produces 600 pounds of thrust. It carries 5 gallons of fuel and has a range of 31.5 miles at its max speed of 63 mph. The company hopes to commercialize the jetpack, which is classified as an ultralight aircraft by the FAA, within 18 months and provide manned and unmanned versions to customers. The company says the ?target price? is $100,000 delivered to your door.

Video: Martin Aircraft Co.

Source: http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/index/~3/vDzpRF_dXW8/

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