If you have $100,000 to spare, perhaps you may want to set that aside for 2012 which is when the Martin Jetpack will finally be made available for public purchase. It originally debuted back in 2008 and save for some minor tweaks and adjustments, its design has remained the same.
In order to make it publicly available, Glenn Martin’s jetpack had to be tailored around the FAA’s ultralight standards, which mean that its speed was limited to a maximum of 63mph and its maximum flight time limited to a mere 30 minutes. The good news is that due to it being in the ultralight category, should you decide to get your hands on the jetpack, you will not be required to have a license of any sort.
For those who forgot, the Martin jetpack is powered by a two-stroke, custom-designed gas engine spins a pair of ducted fans that generate thrust, and an entirely electronic, fly-by-wire system, which replaced the original cable-and-pulley steering system. A cellphone-sized flight-control unit (commonly used in Predator UAVs) allows the jetpack to set bounds on pitch, roll and yaw, and in general helps to steady the flights.
Like we said at the beginning of the article, if this sounds like something you could see yourself enjoying on the weekend (or if your workplace is less than a 30 minute flight away), be prepared to fork out $100,000 for the Martin jetpack.
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