Jet-propelled milestone

The Martin Jetpack has been included in Time magazine’s 5 Best Inventions of 21, alongside Google’s driverless Prius and Amtrak’s cattle fat-powered train. New Zealand inventor Glenn Martin spent nearly 3 years developing a successor to the proven but impractical Bell Rocket Belt, which first flew in 1961. Martin’s version doesn’t look practical: he appears to have welded two enormous leaf blowers together and thrown on a harness. But the carbon-fibre composite frame houses a gasoline-fuelled, 2-horsepower engine — more power than a Honda Accord — that turns a pair of carbon-Kevlar rotors. Theoretically, the Martin Jetpack could take its operator up 8ft. Since it holds only 3 minutes’ worth of fuel, though, you won’t want to linger. The commercial application may be more for first responders than for early adopters. The Jetpack will sell for about $1,; field tests start in 211. Time also includes the Glenn Martin’s invention in a visual history of the jetpack.