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.”
More coverage from the Future Forum
The specs: 2019 Subaru Forester
Price, base: Dh105,900 (Premium); Dh115,900 (Sport)
Engine: 2.5-litre four-cylinder
Transmission: Continuously variable transmission
Power: 182hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 239Nm @ 4,400rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.1L / 100km (estimated)
if you go
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (All UAE kick-off times)
Borussia Dortmund v Eintracht Frankfurt (11.30pm)
Saturday
Union Berlin v Bayer Leverkusen (6.30pm)
FA Augsburg v SC Freiburg (6.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Werder Bremen (6.30pm)
SC Paderborn v Hertha Berlin (6.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Wolfsburg (6.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Borussia Monchengladbach (9.30pm)
Sunday
Cologne v Bayern Munich (6.30pm)
Mainz v FC Schalke (9pm)
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Recent winners
2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)
2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)
2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)
2007 Grace Bijjani (Mexico)
2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)
2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)
2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)
2011 Maria Farah (Canada)
2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)
2013 Layla Yarak (Australia)
2014 Lia Saad (UAE)
2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)
2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)
2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)
2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)
THE%20HOLDOVERS
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About Okadoc
Date started: Okadoc, 2018
Founder/CEO: Fodhil Benturquia
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Healthcare
Size: (employees/revenue) 40 staff; undisclosed revenues recording “double-digit” monthly growth
Funding stage: Series B fundraising round to conclude in February
Investors: Undisclosed
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
Saudi Cup race day
Schedule in UAE time
5pm: Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Motors Cup (Turf), 5.35pm: 1351 Cup (T), 6.10pm: Longines Turf Handicap (T), 6.45pm: Obaiya Arabian Classic for Purebred Arabians (Dirt), 7.30pm: Jockey Club Handicap (D), 8.10pm: Samba Saudi Derby (D), 8.50pm: Saudia Sprint (D), 9.40pm: Saudi Cup (D)
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
FROM%20THE%20ASHES
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Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
The specs
Engine 60kwh FWD
Battery Rimac 120kwh Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) chemistry
Power 204hp Torque 360Nm
Price, base / as tested Dh174,500
The%20specs
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
