In the eighties, jetpacks were all the rage. The future promised us one-manned flight, and when the new millennium hit, we were all just a bit disappointed.
I suppose the old cliche that mentions that “the future is now” comes into play in this case, wouldn’t you agree? Anyways, cliches aside, this manned jetpack has been OK’ed by New Zealand, which could lead to some cool advances in transport in the near future. Made out of carbon fiber, some Kevlar, and a whole lot of awesome, the Martin Jetpack didn’t exactly turn any heads when it made a demonstration run in 2008 and wasn’t able to get much higher than 3 feet off the earth. Nonetheless, time has proven kind to the engineers working on this prototype and it’s finally ready to hit the skies and make some changes.
Should the prototype be accepted and hit the markets on time, this could spawn demand for personalized air transport, and make some definite changes in the way that we approach getting from point A to point B. One can only speculate the nightmare that urban planners will have to face if flight becomes a new method of transportation in larger cities. Our dreams of a Judge Dredd-like city may just be around the corner, but I suppose i’m getting ahead of myself.
With all this being said, Jetpacks aren’t exactly the easiest thing to control so you may want to reconsider throwing away your driver’s license and rushing off to get your pilot’s permit – this flying rig is still estimated to selling at just over $100,000, and that’s without even considering the insurance cost if your country requires it. Nonetheless, those of us with regular wallets can set our eyes to the sky and cross our fingers to get lucky with that lottery ticket.
Source : CNET
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