Comedy | July 30, 2008 | 6 comments

The Martin JetPak: a $100,000 nerdy flying contraption

source: http://disembedded.wordpress.com/2008/07/30/the-martin-jetpak-a-100000-nerdy-flying-machine/

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New Zealand inventor Glenn Martin has built what he describes as the ultimate personal flying machine, the world’s first practical jetpack. Modern-day attempts to build jetpacks have evolved from the 1940’s and 50s comic book marvels and early television-series heroes. Since the 1960s, science geeks have built a number of real jetpack designs, but none has been able to fly for more than a minute.

Martin’s JetPak is said to be able to run for 30 minutes. The contraption doesn’t look much like the classic jetpacks of science fiction. Martin's JetPack has somehow been able to make the future look very, very nerdy. It is also not, to put it bluntly, a jet. A gasoline-powered engine runs the Martin JetPack, not really jets as we know them today. According to Martin, all that counts is that it flies.

And just how well does this very, very noisy dream machine actually fly? Well, so far the ultimate personal flying machine, priced at $100,000, has not flown any higher than six feet. That’s about $17,000 a foot!!

Photographs and two humorous videos of Martin's geeky personal flying contraption are included.
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6 comments // The Martin JetPak: a $100,000 nerdy flying contraption

  • LindseyIndigo
    • 0
      LindseyIndigo  

    • Its interesting that this story has been clipped in various incarnations all over the site over the last few days, and yet it hasn't made it onto the top news as far as I can tell... Which is crazy, because its the coolest thing ever! I want one. But I guess everyone would have one eventually, and then the skies would get congested...

    • 3 years ago
  • flyingkick
  • Pattyhax
  • jahbini
    • 0
      jahbini  

    • I imagine that this will be next year's cell-phone. Just think of all the teen-age girls flying from home to mall to school in cliquish packs. That thought alone should make these things illegal forever!

    • 3 years ago
  • Bigdog_mike
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