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Record flights signals jetpacks no longer a thing of the future

Science fiction has long promised us a future filled with jetpacks.

Thanks to the flight of jetpack invented in New Zealand, commercial production may not be far off.

Inventor Glenn Martin took his personal flying machine, the Martin Jetpack, to new heights a few days ago. With a weighted dummy strapped in the remote-controlled pilot's seat, the jetpack took its "passenger" to an impressive 1.5 km above sea level. Skip to 0:30 to see the flight.

An off-the-shelf ballistic parachute brought the dummy back to earth safely, but with a bit of bump.

The Martin Aircraft Company says, "The aircraft sustained some damage on impact, but we would expect that it is likely a pilot would have walked away from this emergency landing."

The 115kg Martin Jetpack runs on gasoline and uses two "superfans" to propel its user into the air. Its current design allows for a half hour or more of flight, with a climbing speed of 1000 ft/min and a cruising speed of 100 km/h.

Glenn Martin has spent 30 years and $12 million on his jetpack dream. With the recent successful flight, he aims to have manned and unmanned versions produced within the next 18 months.

"In the past two years we've gone from unveiling a world leading invention to a company on the verge of international commercialization of both the manned and unmanned versions of the jetpack," Richard Lauder, Martin Aircraft chief executive said.

The Christchurch-based company is now engaged in an intensive testing and refining process.