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Buy Martin Jetpack This Fall

You should be able to buy a Martin Jetpack this fall. It has a 31.5 mile range and a maximum speed of 63 miles per hour.


(Martin Jetpack test flight)

Naturally, you're eager to get started, but how do you use it? Martin Jetpack has got your back:

The Martin Jetpack is a unique aircraft and all owners are required to pass the Martin Aircraft Company approved training program before receipt of their aircraft.

The Martin Jetpack complies with the FAA Part 103 Ultralight Regulations. The Ultralight class does not require an FAA recognised pilot's license. However to attempt to fly any aircraft without professional instruction is extremely foolhardy.

Martin Aircraft Company have devised a unique training program which all owners are required to pass. The program is modelled on the standard helicopter training program with parts of the Bell Rocket Belt and Harrier training programs incorporated.

Training for the first 10 owners will take place in New Zealand.

Oh, and just in case:

Production versions of the Jetpack are equipped with a Ballistic Parachute system from Ballistic Recovery Systems. This enables the pilot to be saved from a catastrophic failure down to a reasonably low altitude. Ballistic parachutes can open at very low altitudes, particularly if the aircraft has some forward speed.

The price? According to their website: "Depending on production volume, the initial cost will be about the same as a high-end motorcycle or car. As volume increases this will drop to be similar to a mid-range motorcycle or car."

Remember those sf ideas of yesteryear, like the flying harness from E.E. 'Doc Smith's 1928 novel Skylark of Space, the anti-gravity belt from Philip Nowlan's Armageddon: 2419 A.D. and the cool jump harness from Robert Heinlein's 1961 classic Stranger in a Strange Land?


(Cover of Amazing Stories August 1928)

The dream lives on in the modern science fiction movie, like these jetpacks from Stephen Spielberg's Minority Report.


(Police jetpacks from Minority Report)

If you're one of those people who have been whining "where's my jetpack?", just click this link to register for your Martin Jetpack. So go! And, if you're not ready to mortgage your future, you can pick up one of their cool t-shirts for just $35.00; go to Martin Jetpack t-shirt.

Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/11/2010)

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