Imagination Roars to Life

Christchurch inventor Glenn Martin’s ultralight aircraft, the Martin Jetpack, a $100,000 “jetski for the sky” able to climb to heights of almost 2500m, has been launched at an aerospace show in Wisconsin. No more traffic jams as you slice through the air at speeds of up to 186mph. Developed in secret over the past 10 years by Martin, his son, Harrison, 16, showed it off without mishap. Buyers of the $100,000 contraption will not need a special licence to fly, and if that sounds alarming, rest assured that Martin’s company will insist that every purchaser take a training course before turning the ignition key. One of the test pilots was Martin’s wife, Vanessa. “It was really an exciting experience, because at the time it was just a prototype. It was very loud, very noisy, very hot. It was like a beast that roars,” she said. “But once you throttle up, you feel it bite, and you leave the ground, and there’s this feeling of floating and  freedom – you become quite overwhelmed.”