You, Too, Could Own a Working Jetpack for $90,000

From: http://www.gearlog.com/

Near the top of the list of "unfulfilled science fiction concepts," you'll find the jetpack, a staple of future transportation that somehow hasn't arrived yet. (Well, we did get the Segway.)

Nonetheless, Martin Aircraft Company wants to change that with the Martin Jetpack, a $90,000 carbon fiber model that can generate 600 pounds of thrust. Wired reports that the jetpack is self-righting; you can let go of the controls and just hover.

The Martin Jetpack runs on gasoline, and burns through its five-gallon tank in about half an hour. It's classified as an ultralight aircraft, so you don't need a pilot's license, although the company enforces its own training program.

Anyone who wants one faces a 12-month wait; to get on the list, you'll need to put 10 percent down ($9,000).

Strap-on mini helicopters the latest way to travel

By Tamara McLean

FORGET bungy jumping and black river rafting: New Zealand's tourists will soon be able to whiz around in a strap-on mini helicopter to get their thrills.

A Kiwi inventor will launch public flights in the latest jetpack flying technology early next year, with plans to expand to Australia soon after.

The Martin Jetpack – literally a personal strap-on aircraft – is a two-litre jet-powered engine designed to soar across the skies at 100km/h at heights of up to 50 metres.

Inventor Glenn Martin dreams of the day commuters will hop into the contraption to fly to work, missing rush hour traffic.

But for now, the first public flight program will be limited to low and slow flying in a controlled area while the Christchurch-based company road tests the safety and limits of the engine.

Set to thrill ... the Martin Jetpack is a personal strap-on flying engine.

"Just because we have to stay under 10 metres high and under 10km/h doesn't mean it won't be an incredibly exciting experience," Martin Aircraft Company chief executive Richard Lauder said.

"It will still be flying as it's never been done before, just in the confines of a rugby field-type space."

Exhibit A

The flights are expected to cost about the same as a bungy jump or a tandem skydive, and will require just a few minutes training before a person can strap in and take a solo flight.

"It makes sense to start this up at our Christchurch base but ultimately we want to take to Australia, the US and the rest of the globe too," Lauder said.

The public flights have been decades in the making for Martin who first developed the jetpack design in 1981. The invention didn't grab world headlines until a streamlined version was launched at the United States annual show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin a year ago.

Since then, orders have been rolling in for the first $US100,000 ($158,503) packs, with at least two wealthy Australian businessmen among those most keen to own one.

But Lauder says the company has had to halt personal orders until a big commercial operation like a military agency, border control or rescue organisation has trialled the packs.

"We had to rethink our plan to release it to make it very safe," he said.

"As much as we wanted to sell to very keen Australians, we need to see it used successfully by a corporation with strict protocols and structures in place before we just start giving them out for members of the public to fly around in."