OSHKOSH, Wis. — This isn’t how a jet pack is supposed to look, is it? Glenn Martin’s invention is a 250-pound piano-sized contraption that people settle into rather than strap on.
As thousands looked on Tuesday, the inventor’s 16-year-old son donned a helmet, fastened himself to a prototype Martin jet pack and revved the engine, which sounded like a motorcycle. Harrison Martin eased about 3 feet off the ground.
With two spotters in a mild wind, the pilot hovered for 45 seconds and then set the device down.
The Martin jet pack can — in theory — fly an average-sized pilot about 30 miles in 30 minutes on a full 5-gallon tank of gas. It was unveiled at AirVenture Oshkosh 2008, the annual aviation convention of the Experimental Aircraft Association in Wisconsin. The Associated Press
