Sci-fi fantasies with the world’s first practical jetpack
Sean Connery jetted away to safety as James Bond in the 1965 film Thunderball, cementing the super-cool appeal of the jetpack – and what better example to follow than that?
Developed by New Zealand’s Martin Aircraft after 35 years of experimentation, the Martin Jetpack (approximately USD150,000/RM637,956) offers its wearer 30 minutes of flight time at a maximum speed of 74 km/hr
Flight is powered by a two-litre petrol engine that drives two fans on either side of the pilot, holding aloft up to 120kg. It’s stable enough to let you take off and land vertically, and the small dimensions enables operation in even the most confined of spaces, between buildings or near trees. Altitudes of nearly 1km can be reached, launching from a flat surface, meaning that the Martin Jetpack could soar over the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. If things should go wrong, worry not; all jetpacks come equipped with a low-altitude parachute.
With something like this, who needs a boring helicopter?
