Martin Aircraft, based out of New Zealand, has created a personal JetPack. The Martin P12 JetPack aims to be available in mid-2014 to first responders such as fire and police. It is propelled by ducted fans using premium gas. It should be commercially available by 2015. However at a cost of $150,000 to $250,000, you’ll need to be an NBA player or oil tycoon to afford this luxury toy. The P12 will have a max flight time of 30 minutes and can reach speeds up to 74 kph (46 mph). Based on their normal speed calculations of 56 kph (35 mph), it can transport someone 32 km (20 miles). The highest it can go due to air density is about 900m (3,000 feet) however they recommend remaining around 150m (500 feet). Check out the video.
The dream of flying with autonomy has excited the minds of men for years … we still haven’t managed to achieve perfection, but gradually we shorten the path to that goal. When I saw the photograph (before entering in the article), I thought that the device was smaller, but apparently there isn’t technology capable of reducing its size.
With this device we can be Iron Man (but without the charm of Stark) for a few minutes and experience that fabulous feeling of flying through the air without any kind of concern. Regardless of personal use, I think this type of vehicles are very interesting for emergency services and some kind of public service.
Thanks for sharing this kind of articles … There is always a novelty with which we’re surprised.
I would want to have a smaller version of this and perhaps one that isn’t so noisy :). Bloomtech is right we could all be like iron man. I think this is useful when you want to avoid traffic. Even if it is just for 30 mins, it can take you far enough since you can literally fly from point a to point b.
There’s no way that I’ll be able to afford this, but I’m excited to try it out. I’m sure a number of companies will purchase them and then market it as an attraction. I’d easily pay a few hundred for an hour with it.
Between Amazon’s drones delivering packages and personal jetpacks, it seems like the skies are going to get pretty full in the next few years.
That’s just amazing. I doubt these will ever be affordable within my lifetime, but the thought of leaving the world behind flying off whenever I felt like it is awesome. I live in an area where most towns are close enough that even this model could take you from one to the next, or off into the plains or wilderness easily.
I wonder how many really practical applications these could have right now? My first thought was search and rescue for paramedics in mountain terrains where a helicopter might be too large or dangerous to maneuver, but that was quickly replaced by images of law enforcement officers flying around cities Minority Report style, chasing after “bad guys”. $150,000 and up is too much for most normal folks, but governments and corporations won’t have any trouble footing the bill if they dream up some ways to use these vehicles.
Oh my god! I want one! Such a shame that I wouldn’t be able to afford one though 🙁
I’ve always dreamt about owning a jetpack after playing all those video games as a kid.
More science fiction becoming science reality, and very cool. This is the kind of technology that I could imagine becoming very commonplace sooner than we think. And for first responders, this is really wonderful. I’m sure it could make a difference in life-or-death circumstances.
Sure, a personal JetPack is expensive now, but that’s always how it is. Just look at how rapidly 3D printing has advanced. Same goes for Google Glass and related technology. We really are living in the futuristic times that we used to have to read about in speculative fiction.
They’re huge! I hope that one day anyone could have a Jetpack, a smaller one of course, that would be like the bike of the future. But technology has come far, and I’m pretty sure it won’t take long for normal size Jetpacks to exist.
This price seems outrageous to the every day person but in perspective it seems quite affordable! A jetpack would be so fun to have. A blast, even 😉 I have lots of good childhood memories of cartoon characters with jetpacks on. I’d love to fulfill that dream some day!
Only important businesses will linger. That is what I think and that is what I believe. If, on the other hand, the jet pack becomes an unimportant part of our future, we probably would hear about it.
30 minutes is pretty amazing for a jetpack like this. Many prototypes of jetpacks can only stay in the air for about 30 seconds, and that’s with no load. It would be good for the jetpack to use batteries instead of premium gas, just because this thing would be a huge gas guzzler and it would probably have just the same, if not better air time. 20 miles is a pretty long ways away, so if this were to be regulated and if it were to have better efficiency, I could see this taking off as a consumer product too.
WOW. Just WOW…
The day is finally here, people! Consumer-grade personal jetpacks?!?! My god…
I wonder how safe this is… I mean, it better be for 150-200K.
This is of course wonderful and amazing in every way but logically how would we fit this in to everyday use or society? Haha, jesus. I’d love to have a go and try one though.