Personal Flight

At speeds over 100 mph, Franky Zapata has become the first person to cross the English Channel on a jet-powered hoverboard

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Franky Zapata successfully crosses the English Channel on his jet-powered Flyboard Air

After ending up in the water on his first attempt, flying Frenchman Franky Zapata has now successfully crossed the English Channel on his jet-powered Flyboard Air. The 22-mile (35.4-km) crossing took Zapata some 22 minutes, holding speeds over 100 mph (160 km/h).

Ferocious jets whip up the water below David Mayman as crowds line the stairs of the Sydney Opera House

Aircraft

Own the Sky: David Mayman launches jetpack documentary with thunderous public flight demo

Seeing David Mayman flying his thunderous JB-10 jetpack in person is an absolutely astonishing experience. We were there to watch his "redemption flight" in Sydney Harbour and attend the premiere of Own the Sky, a stunning documentary made about Mayman's life by a boyhood friend.

Trek Aerospace's Flykart2 is just what it sounds like: a flying go-kart. And it's one of the five finalists to progress to the final stage of Boeing's GoFly competition

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Boeing announces its five GoFly personal flight device finalists

Boeing's race to achieve safe, quiet, compact VTOL personal flight devices has narrowed its list down to five competitors, each of which get US$50,000 to help develop their prototypes. Meet the Phase II GoFly winners going on to compete for a US$1.6 million final round prize pool.

Jetpack Aviation is taking orders now on its US$380,000 jet turbine-powered flying motorcycl;e

Aircraft

The Speeder: Jetpack Aviation opens pre-orders on jet powered flying motorcycle

Jetpack Aviation has leap-frogged its own flying car project with the announcement that it's taking pre-orders now on a self-stabilizing, jet turbine-powered flying motorcycle capable of 150 mph speeds, 20 minute endurance and 15,000 ft altitudes.

The Hexa will land on four large floats, suitable for ground or water landings

Aircraft

The Hexa manned multirotor: It’s real, and you can fly it

Flying taxi services may take some time to arrive, but if you want to be among the first to pilot a manned multicopter, you'll have the chance in 2019. Lift Aircraft is preparing to debut a personal flight experience in an 18-prop electric VTOL aircraft for about the price of a skydive.

Head-first into infinity and beyond ... that's the Dart Flyer promise

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The head-first VTOL personal aircraft concept not for the faint of heart

Yes, that's a head poking out the end of this terrifying personal flight concept. Called the Dart Flyer, it's essentially a quadcopter with a winged pilot cocoon on top of it. Definitely not one for nervous flyers, it's been submitted as a contender in the GoFly challenge, sponsored by Boeing.

Richard Browning prepares to fly up the longest zip line in Europe

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Real-life Iron Man Richard Browning flies his Gravity jet suit up Europe's longest zip line

Personal Flight pioneer and real-life Iron Man Richard Browning has found an innovative way to speed-test the aerodynamics of his Gravity jet suit. He's been flying up and down Europe's longest and fastest zip line in Wales. Check out the video!

The Zapata Ezfly is a jet-powered flying Segway that it seems almost anyone can fly

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Zapata Ezfly: The jet-powered aerial Segway anyone can fly

The Zapata Ezfly looks for all intents and purposes like a Segway of the sky. You stand on a small platform equipped with a series of jet thrusters, holding two handgrips that come up from the base, then rise up into the air and zoom around, steering with your bodyweight.

Gravity founder Richard Browning has just set the Guinness World Record for "fastest speed in a body controlled, jet engine powered suit"

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Video: Richard Browning sets new speed record in Iron Man-style jet suit

Real life Iron Man Richard Browning has put his jet-powered flight suit to the test, setting a new Guinness world speed record. Watch him skim the surface of a lake at top speed before tumbling into the water.

The range of the autonomous Passenger Drone is claimed to be around 20 miles (32 km/h)

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Autonomous Passenger Drone swoops onto the flying taxi scene

The field of flying taxis is one that is starting to fill up. Joining the likes of the Ehang 184 and Volocopter is the newly announced Passenger Drone, which is built to help usher in an era of personal aerial transportation by autonomously carrying people from point A to point B.

The design of the personal flying vehicle for Boeing's GoFly contest is entirely open to interpretation

Aircraft

Boeing throws US$2 million behind contest to build personal flying machine

While a number of inventors have brought the idea of a jetpack closer to reality, personal flight remains a dream for most of us. Boeing has had enough of the dreaming, and is putting up US$2 million in prize money to encourage bright ideas around building an easy-to-use personal flying device.

Alex Borg of AmazingDIYProjects in his home-built multirotor chAIR

Aircraft

Swedish flying carpet goes electric

Around this time last year, we featured a crazy Swedish multirotor flying machine invented and flown by engineer Alex Borg. At that time, it featured eight petrol-powered rotors, but earlier this year he opted for lots of electric motors. And now the chAIR manned VTOL has taken off.