Video of the Day: World’s first jetpack flies over the Statue of Liberty

For almost a century now, people have tried to build a jetpack to enable them to fly. Well, it’s 2015 and we’re here to introduce the first official, non-steam-based one.

Jetpack Aviation unveiled its JB-9 jetpack, with inventor and aviator David Mayman lifting off from a boat and flying around the Statue of Liberty in New York. Running on kerosene, using two vectored jet engines, the JB-9 reaches high speeds and altitudes for 10 minutes depending on the weight of the pilot.

“I’ve been flying it off the public radar for some time,” Australian entrepreneur David Mayman said. “It was time to bring it out of the closet, so to speak. I’ve spent my life in software and mining and fairly sensible occupations, but my overriding passion has been to build a jetpack, since I was very young. Nelson Tyler and I got together 10 years ago –he’s an extraordinary engineer and inventor based in Hollywood. And that’s really what’s made it possible.”

Tyler was the perfect partner: He contributed to the Rocketbelt flight project at the 1984 Olympics and remained determined to build a jetpack for the last 45 years. The JB-9 is truly the first device to meet the public’s expectation of what a jetpack should be.

“It’s a jet and a backpack,” said Mayman. “It can take off vertically. With no fuel in it, I’ve jogged about a kilometer with it strapped to my back. Even full of fuel I’ve jogged a few hundred meters. There’s a large suitcase that our whole JB-9 will fit into. It’ll fit in the back of a car. The little handles fold up, but that’s about it.”

The JB-9 can hold 10 gallons of fuel, burning at around a gallon a minute. And with the fuel being kerosene, it is cheap, safe, and easily available. The jetpack uses a carbon-fiber corset that straps to the aviator’s back, with the majority of the backpack section carrying the fuel. Mounted on each side is a jet turbine engine that provides an upward thrust. 

Before the JB-9 can be available to the public, Jetpack Aviation is working on a method for the device to stabilize itself. Nonetheless, one is in the works and a safely functioning jetpack will have a ton of practical and commercial uses. But most importantly, they’ll be super awesome.

Source: Gizmag