NZ flying machine launched at US airshow
30 Jul 2008
A New Zealander who has designed a personal flying machine has unveiled his invention at one of the world's largest air shows.
Glenn Martin from Christchurch in the South Island demonstrated what he calls the "world's first practical jetpack" at the annual EAA AirVenture air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in the United States.
Martin, a former research biochemist, has devoted almost 30 years to inventing a jetpack that flies for up to 30 minutes, 100 times longer than its predecessor, the Bell Rocket Belt.
"Everyone, at one time or another, has dreamed of being able to fly, and now it's possible," Martin said.
Show highlight
Thousands of show goers gathered to watch the Martin Jetpack make its first public flight which lasted seconds and was confined to a few feet off the ground. Because of crowd safety concerns, handlers gripped the device as 16-year-old Harrison Martin manipulated the controls.
AirVenture observers said it was the largest crowd, other than for concerts, ever to gather for an event at the show’s AeroShell Square. Further demonstrations of the Martin Jetpack were scheduled throughout the week long show.
Fan-jet technology
The 113kg machine straps on to your back and uses patented fan-jet technology with regular petrol.
For years, Martin took NZ$20 from the $50-a-month family disposable income and disappeared into his garage every night, investing in his dream of building a jetpack.
His first test pilot was his wife, Vanessa. "I used to leave our seven-week-old baby in the house, run out to the garage, have the jetpack strapped on my back, test it, then run back into the house again," she said.
Early career
Martin started his career as an inventor at the age of three modifying his mother's vacuum cleaner.
At five, he imagined designing and building a flying machine that would transport him safely across the road. Two years later he produced his first aircraft, made of a bedsheet and planks of wood, but was talked down off the garage roof by his parents.
Martin left his job to work on the flying machine full time in 1999. He and his team worked around the clock to get the jetpack to Oshkosh. Now his days of working from his garage in the backyard are well behind him, Martin has secured the backing of a venture capital company and is enjoying extensive international interest in his jetpack.
His team announced the Martin Jetpack for sale at the airshow for interested parties prepared to make a $10,000 deposit. The jetpack is likely to retail for around NZ$100,000.
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