Jetpack

While we've seen a number of wearable underwater propulsion systems, they've typically been strapped to the user's arms or legs. The CudaJet is different, in that it's a true backpack-style underwater jetpack.

Wisconsin's Ascend Dynamics has been flight-testing an 80-lb (36-kg) electric jetpack device with 12 coaxial rotors and an aluminum trellis frame. The company hopes to raise enough cash to build a powerful carbon fiber version for production.

JetPack Aviation CEO David Mayman says the company is in discussions with the Air Race World Championship team on starting a world-first race series in September that would see jetpack pilots competing on parallel aerial obstacle courses.

A milestone for California's JetPack Aviation today. Six years after David Mayman's historic jetpack flight around the Statue of Liberty, the company has made its first two sales: a pair of 6-jet, 120 mph JB-12 jetpacks to an unnamed military buyer.

Last month, we reported on astonishing first flight footage from the Copterpack, an Australian electric personal flight device. Now, eagle-eyed pixel peepers have scrutinized the video and presented evidence that a tether wire has been edited out.

A green alternative to the humble kerosene-burning jetpack? Video shows an Australian man rising high off the ground using a two-rotor electric personal flight device he calls the Copterpack. It's bulky, but looks surprisingly stable and controllable.

Flying super-marines may soon be a thing. Gravity Industries has teamed up with the UK Royal Marines to demonstrate its Iron Man-style jet suit in a ship boarding exercise, and has released video of the results.

Richard Browning's Jet Suit may have a lock on cool, but now it's looking for practical applications. GNAAS has collaborated with Gravity Industries on a test flight in the Lake District to see if the flight system could be used by paramedics.

In a stunning new video, jet wing pilot Yves Rossy has proved he doesn't need to drop out of a plane or helicopter to fly any more. He can now levitate off the ground using a new autonomous VTOL system that looks like an almost relaxing way to fly.

​We've been reporting on David Mayman and Jetpack Aviation for some years now, and this weekend he was in Sydney with his roaring jet turbine JB-10 jetpack to take another stab at a flight he tried to perform 10 years ago. We were privileged to watch this stunning flight in person.

​Let's face it: due to the amount of thrust required to lift a person off the ground, practical personal jetpacks may never exist – at least, not for use in the air. Underwater jetpacks, however, are another story. We've seen a few lately, with one of the latest incorporating a novel backpack unit.

The team at Jetpack Aviation has just completed test flights in which two pilots flew close enough together to playfully boop each other on the nose. Next step: the world’s first jetpack race series, starting in 2019, and yes, the jetboards and jet suits of the world are invited to participate!