You may think that New Zealand seems like a wilderness filled with sheep and Hobbits, but there’s one thing they’ve got that we don’t…freakin’ jet packs.
Not too long ago, we wrote about The Martin Aircraft Company, which we’re assuming is the only New-Zealand-based jet-pack manufacturer. Back then, they were testing out the Martin Skyhook, an unmanned jetpack that would let you fly up to 220 pounds up to 30 miles. Well, despite the recent New Zealand earthquake, the company’s still doing well (although one jetpack was slightly damaged in the quake when it fell over.) In fact, they’re considering making putting up 30% of the company on the New Zealand Stock Exchange. So, if you ever had a childhood fantasy of partially owning a jet pack factory, here’s your chance (and man, you had a weird childhood.)
The jet packs come in three different types: a recreational version for personal use, a government/military version with longer range and the unmanned skyhook. They haven’t sold any yet, although they claim they have over 6,000 “expressions of interest.” Here’s a couple more expressions of interest… we want some goddamn jet packs. We just don’t want to have to pay $75,000 for them.
Video of the latest unmanned jet pack test after the jump:
https://www.youtube.com/v/YxHL55BIjj8?fs=1&hl=en_US
[Stuff.co.nz via Endgadget]