Remember Elroy from the Jetson's, or how about Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story? Can you remember what they both have in common?!? ...besides being cartoons, they both have their own personal jet/ flight packs. But by the time the newest flying carton character comes out, we might be able to fly ourselves...
The Martin Jetpack was first publicly seen in 2008 and for the small fee of $76,000 you could literally be flying to work. As of now, you don't need a pilot's license to fly it, but you are required to complete Martin's training program before receiving your jetpack.
The thought that I could potentially see someone flying this down the street is kinda ill. Will I see someone flying it anytime soon, I doubt it... at least not for about 10-15 years. I think this is cool and all but considering its price, I think it needs to offer better mileage and/or a better sense of security. Right now based off of the FAA regulations, the maximum speed you can fly it is 63 mph, which means the furthest you can travel on one tank is about 30 miles.
So although flying the Martin Jetpack is exciting and all, like I said, we probably wont be seeing these anytime soon. But its not to say there aren't other means of flying on your own... what about your own personal flying car? You could be on a busy street in Boston and instead of driving to New York, why not fly!
Well I can give you a heads up on some juicy info I stumbled across on autoevolution.com. The US Military has supposedly made an agreement with Terrafugia, the company behind the worlds first successful flying car for civilian use, to work as a sub-contractor to Textron Systems' AAI.The first prototypes are supposed to be developed before June of 2015.
But you don't need to wait for the Military, if you have about $200,000 and a Sport Pilot license you can order you own. With low level production being down right here in Massachusetts, the company is planning to deliver its first civilian vehicle within months.
So I'm not sure how long it'll take until flying is the norm, but I'm excited to see it become a reality. With more government assistance, I think we could be flying in no time... but then again, there are a few more options... but we'll talk about that in another post~
