The Iron Man Jet Pack – The Future of Transport?

You’ll have to be almost as rich as Tony stark to afford one.

The Daedalus – Photo from Gravity Industries

The Daedalus suit “Iron Man jet pack” is currently being sold at Selfridges, a swanky London store that caters to the upscale, borderline-royal, clientele of the great city. But this Iron man jet pack is truly only billionaire worthy at a whopping GBP 340,000, about AUD 601,000. So sadly only a few, rich, few will enjoy this experience. By few, I mean a very few people will become a bit of Iron Man because only 9 of these suits were made but who knows, this may be the standard way to travel 20 years from now, fingers crossed.

Daedalus was a mythical Greek inventor who made wings of feathers and wax and this is where the suit took inspiration. Developed and designed by Inventor Richard Browning and made by English tech newcomers Gravity Industries, its a heck of a way to come into the tech and transport industry. The Suit is composed of 5 kerosene fueled turbine engines – one for each limb and one on the back that puts out a staggering 1000 horsepower and has a flight time of 4 hours. It can lift an average weighted person up to 12,000 feet, but the usual billionaire might want to stay closer to the ground.

Browning, who also set the world record for fastest jet pack flight, is quoted to have said “It’s an entirely pure form of complete three-dimensional freedom,” and the Daedalus explores a “whole new area of human mobility” But he did inform the media that the iron man jet pack is still in its infancy and advised its purchasers not to push it beyond its capabilities. As much as the cars of old were clunky, inefficient, and smelly, iron man jet pack travel still has a long way to go before it becomes a viable commuting option. Moving it may seem impossible but it’s like holding yourself up with straight arms off the back of two chairs, so you still need to be physically fit to fly it at least. And the process of direct human flight has been in the works since the 60s. Remember the Kennedy jet pack demo and the one that 007 flew in “Thunderball”? Those were in fact real jet packs. Iron Man just gave it the push it needed.

While this is a fantastic idea that will save a lot of space, time, and be fun to say the least. This is still in the works and its best to approach the iron man jet pack idea with caution and wait for it to be further developed. We also remembered what happened to Daedalus’ son Icarus right?

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