If you’ve ever dreamed of taking off and flying like Iron Man but couldn’t bear the thought of burning fossil fuels to do it, you may just be in luck.
Britain’s Gravity Industries unveiled and flew an electric version of its jet suit for the first time on Thursday.
Spectators at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in Chichester, England, cheered as one of the company’s test pilots, Sam Rogers, spun the jet pack’s six electric ducted fans and lifted off the ground for a short, tethered flight.
It may not have been the hair-raising aerial display for which the company’s maverick founder Richard Browning is known, but overcoming the limitations of modern battery technology to allow for lift-off was a significant challenge.
“Unfortunately, diesel, gasoline and jet fuel are extremely energy-dense – very hard to compete with,” Mr Browning said.
Generating the amount of power needed to lift a person off the ground required several batteries mounted on the jet pack’s frame. As a result, the electric prototype is significantly heavier than the gas turbine version.
Mr Browning said the electric suit was operating right on the edge of what is possible with modern technology.
“We see this as a sort of beginning that we can improve upon,” he said. “The world and his dog are working on better batteries. So, as they come along we can make the electric jet suit gradually catch up with and eventually outcompete the gas turbine suit.”
One of the company’s jet suit engineers, Archie Sandberg, said: “We did the maths on it and it was so close to being feasible. We just wanted to prove it was possible.
“Even today we were 50-50 as to whether or not it would take off.”
Gravity Industries sells its gas turbine jet suits for more than $400,000 and supervises flights from its UK base.
Mr Sandberg said the company already uses a tethered version of the electric jetpack to help teach its customers to fly before they move on to the jet-powered suits, which run on aviation fuel and generate 1,000 horsepower.
Shortly after the electric jet pack flight, Mr Browning fired up one of the company’s turbine-powered suits for a demonstration, kicking up grass and dust as he took off, making the ride on board three columns of jet exhaust look easy.
Since he unveiled the first version of the jet suit in 2017, Mr Browning has become known as a real-life Tony Stark, performing hundreds of death-defying demonstration flights around the world and breaking two world records.
Often credited with reviving interest in the jetpack as a form of personal transportation after its heyday in the 1960s, Mr Browning has big ambitions for his jet suits.
“The jet suit started as a crazy idea: could you reimagine human flight?”
“I think we've done a pretty good job over the last four years proving that this is about as good as you can get,” he said.
“It's wonderful how it taps into human balance and control like a bicycle – it's a minimalist piece of technology that allows you to do something kind of superhuman.”
But far from being just another plaything for the world’s wealthy, Mr Browning believes there are many uses for his jet suit.
A former Royal Marine, Mr Browning has already demonstrated a possible military application for the technology, as well as a use in search and rescue operations.
“It turns out apart from entertaining people, or giving people the amazing experience of learning to fly one of these – the race series we were due to launch before Covid is still ready to go – military and search and rescue applications have bloomed in a way we never imagined,” he said.
“It just shows what opportunities emerge if you put a capability out there and start experimenting in a very open way.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
AIDA%20RETURNS
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The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
About%20My%20Father
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Roll of honour: Who won what in 2018/19?
West Asia Premiership: Winners – Bahrain; Runners-up – Dubai Exiles
UAE Premiership: Winners – Abu Dhabi Harlequins; Runners-up – Jebel Ali Dragons
Dubai Rugby Sevens: Winners – Dubai Hurricanes; Runners-up – Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE Conference: Winners – Dubai Tigers; Runners-up – Al Ain Amblers
Results
4pm: Maiden; Dh165,000 (Dirt); 1,400m
Winner: Solar Shower; William Lee (jockey); Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
4.35pm: Handicap; Dh165,000 (D); 2,000m
Winner: Thaaqib; Antonio Fresu; Erwan Charpy.
5.10pm: Maiden; Dh165,000 (Turf); 1,800m
Winner: Bila Shak; Adrie de Vries; Fawzi Nass
5.45pm: Handicap; Dh175,000 (D); 1,200m
Winner: Beachcomber Bay; Richard Mullen; Satish Seemar
6.20pm: Handicap; Dh205,000 (T); 1,800m
Winner: Muzdawaj; Jim Crowley; Musabah Al Muhairi
6.55pm: Handicap; Dh185,000 (D); 1,600m
Winner: Mazeed; Tadhg O’Shea; Satish Seemar
7.30pm: Handicap; Dh205,000 (T); 1,200m
Winner: Riflescope; Tadhg O’Shea; Satish Seemar.
The Ashes
Results
First Test, Brisbane: Australia won by 10 wickets
Second Test, Adelaide: Australia won by 120 runs
Third Test, Perth: Australia won by an innings and 41 runs
Fourth Test: Melbourne: Drawn
Fifth Test: Australia won by an innings and 123 runs
How to help
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The%20specs
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How to help
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Red Joan
Director: Trevor Nunn
Starring: Judi Dench, Sophie Cookson, Tereza Srbova
Rating: 3/5 stars
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group B
Barcelona v Tottenham Hotspur, midnight
THE BIO
Favourite author - Paulo Coelho
Favourite holiday destination - Cuba
New York Times or Jordan Times? NYT is a school and JT was my practice field
Role model - My Grandfather
Dream interviewee - Che Guevara
Brief scores:
Liverpool 3
Mane 24', Shaqiri 73', 80'
Manchester United 1
Lingard 33'
Man of the Match: Fabinho (Liverpool)
SPEC SHEET
Display: 6.8" edge quad-HD dynamic Amoled 2X, Infinity-O, 3088 x 1440, 500ppi, HDR10 , 120Hz
Processor: 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1/Exynos 2200, 8-core
Memory: 8/12GB RAM
Storage: 128/256/512GB/1TB
Platform: Android 12
Main camera: quad 12MP ultra-wide f/2.2, 108MP wide f/1.8, 10MP telephoto f/4.9, 10MP telephoto 2.4; Space Zoom up to 100x, auto HDR, expert RAW
Video: 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps, full-HD@60fps, HD@30fps, super slo-mo@960fps
Front camera: 40MP f/2.2
Battery: 5000mAh, fast wireless charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare
Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC
I/O: USB-C
SIM: single nano, or nano and SIM, nano and nano, eSIM/nano and nano
Colours: burgundy, green, phantom black, phantom white, graphite, sky blue, red
Price: Dh4,699 for 128GB, Dh5,099 for 256GB, Dh5,499 for 512GB; 1TB unavailable in the UAE
WIDE%20VIEW
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