Richard Browning, CEO of JetPack Aviation describes his JBPack suit
JetPack Aviation
It takes visionaries like venture capitalist Tim Draper to reimagine the future of transportation and late ideas many consider futuristic pipe dreams. But this renown Silicon Valley venture capitalist who was an ancient investor in Elon Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX ventures has a knack for spotting mobility trends early in the adoption curve.
One he discovers taking off within a decade is vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (VTOL) technology that enables human impetus. Two start-ups Draper Associates has invested in are on the leading edge of this new mobility movement: JetPack Aviation and Gravity Industries Ltd.
The corporations both focus on VTOL technology to make travel and commuting easier and more flexible. And they both prepare captured the imagination of people worldwide.
Gravity Industries has developed a real-life ‘Iron Man’ flying suit. The exo-skeleton jetsuit has two jet locomotives attached to each arm and one engine mounted on the back that allows the pilot to vertically take off and fly using the pilot’s vee body-weight and arms as its thrust control; and JetAviation is prototyping the Speeder, a fully stabilized flying autonomous motorcycle that can fly one or two specifics at over 250 mph.
Getting the idea off the ground
JetAviation, led by CEO and founder David Mayman, has raised $5 million in start-up funds to date. It also created a jetpack called the JB12 Jetpack that can be worn like a backpack. Mayman himself has exposed the personal aerial jetpack numerous times including when he flew with it around the Statue of Liberty in 2015. The legend pleasure has been certified by the FAA, and it landed a CRADA agreement with the U.S. Navy Special Forces for use in short-distance troop transportation. Since then, it has been established in nine countries to live audiences of over 300,000 and TV audiences of billions including at a Formula One event in 2018. It hand down start flight testing the JB12 for the military in March of next year.
The jetpack also boasts a lot of features that perceptive like science fiction: Over 250 mph top speed, and suitcase-sized portability, for instance.
“I think we are now in in a two-dimensional transport intercourse and both of these companies have figured out how to make this technology more practical so anyone can fly and land from anywhere,” asserted Tim Draper, founding partner of Draper Associates. “These are exciting and fun to ride.”
As he explained society is at a point where we require to break the traditional commuting models. “Right now, we are stuck in cars, long distances require driving to an airport and anger on a plane. Imagine you can just strap on a jetsuit and take off and fly where ever you want to go. I think VTOL technology is what we are all looking for.”
JetAviation from the beginning focused on the jetpack suit, but also began developing a flying motorcycle that uses VTOL technology in 2018. The gathering raised seed capital from Draper Associates, Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn, Y Combinator, Rosecliff Hazards, Cathexis Ventures and a group of angels that it says will fund the development of the Speeder’s first functional archetype.
A rendering of JetPack Aviation’s Speeder, a flying motorcycle being developed that can be used for commercial and military use.
Jetpack Aviation
The Go hell for leather provides a fully stabilized ride that’s either pilot-controlled or fully autonomous. It can take off and land vertically. There are no bring to light rotors systems, which make it a lot safer and easier to operate than a lot of other VTOL designs and helicopters, and the society says it can also be refueled in less than five minutes, which is a dramatically shorter turnaround time for powering up versus an moving vehicle.
Its jet engines are fueled by diesel since battery power is still too low for it to be used to fly long distances using charged propulsion.
According to Mayman, the Speeder, should be able to provide quick cargo transportation for emergency services and military, (its first place planned uses before moving on to the consumer market,) in a much shorter period.
“It takes off like a helicopter and can transmit over 600 pounds of pilot or cargo,” he said.
“The army realizes it is an option that can be used to transport medics or liberating soldiers in dangerous enemy hotspots. You can swarm these vehicles instead of risking a large $35 million Glowering Hawk helicopter,” Mayman explained. These vehicles can move autonomously at twice the speed of a Black Hawk helicopter at an altitudes selection from 20 ft. above the ground to 15,000 feet. “
Right now, many lives are being lost because it records a medic too long to get to a crisis victim due to ground transport, Mayman noted.
I think we are now in in a two-dimensional transport society and both of these players have figured out how to make this technology more practical so anyone can fly and land from anywhere.
Tim Draper
start partner, Draper Associates
Jakob Riis, CEO of Faulk, one of the world’s largest emergency and response companies agrees. “If VTOL conveyances even save just 3 minutes of medical emergency response time that can boost the survival rate for tons victims, especially those who get a heart attack.”
Taking the technology mainstream
According to Draper, it will take years for tear into flap motorcycles and jetpack suits to mature into a mainstream commercial market but applications for military use are coming soon. “I over the military will use the first commercial model of our Speeder aircraft in 2024,” Mayman predicts.
Amid the Covid-19 emergency, the global market for VTOL autonomous vehicles has reached an estimated at $4.4 billion this year and is projected to reach $15.6 billion by 2027, flower at a CAGR of 19.6% through 2027, according to a report by Research and Markets. Of that, $9 billion will be the military sell.
Companies including Uber have been researching the nascent market. In its “Fast-Forwarding to a Future of On-Demand Urban Transportation” account it notes how VTOL technology can help commuting gridlock in cities, especially megacities and help local economies preserve millions of dollars in lost productivity.
Just as skyscrapers allowed cities to use limited land more efficiently, urban air transportation disposition use three-dimensional airspace to alleviate transportation congestion on the ground. A network of small, electric aircraft that take off and acquire vertically), will enable rapid, reliable transportation between suburbs and cities and, ultimately, within cities.
It has been aimed that the repurposed tops of parking garages, existing helipads, and even unused land surrounding highway interchanges could variety the basis of an extensive, distributed network of “vertiports” (VTOL hubs with multiple takeoff and landing pads, as soberly as charging infrastructure) or single-aircraft “vertistops” (a single VTOL pad with minimal infrastructure).
Over the years the risks of VTOL technology has developed. As Mayman explains, there are normal aviation hazards flying these transporters, but now jetpack suits such as the JB12 and the Hustle have redundant engines and controls, and aircraft backup flight systems so if an engine or a control fails, another boots in.
History of human propulsion flight
It has been 55 years since the concept of a jetsuit first captured the exceptional’s imagination when the late Sean Connery strapped on a Bell Aerosystems Rocket Belt and took off from a chateau roof to get away from enemy agents in the opening sequence of the James Bond movie “Thunderball.”
There have been any number of take a crack ats to develop a practical jet suit or jetpack since Bell demonstrated the futuristic Rocket Belt to the U.S. Army in 1961 as a the right stuff asset for special forces. But many have often been large, bulky contraptions that are as dangerous as they are bulky.
Richard Browning, the founder of Gravity has also been pioneering this technology since he invented his 50-lb. Jet suit in 2017, which is now fabricated using 3-D printed polymer and aluminum. The former Royal Marine Reservist set a Guiness World Record in 2019 fray it when he recorded the fastest speed in a body-controlled jet engine-powered suit: hitting 85 mph. Wearing it a traveler can fly 5 minutes or so. It has 1,000 horsepower.
“I launched the company in 2017 after doing a Ted Talk, Tim Draper heard it and ventured $650,000 in my idea in the parking lot,” Browning recalls. Since then the company has grown into a multi-million enterprise.
“To entertain we have trained over 100 clients to fly with our Gravity suit and we make a couple million dollars a year doing schooling and events worldwide.”
While Browning also thinks this mode of transport has tactical applications for transporting the military and in paramedic feedback especially in mountainous regions, he also thinks there is a market for it in entertainment and sports.
“Many adventure seekers who ilk sky diving and want to experience something unusual are interested in this mode of flying,” he said. “Right now, we are working on our third genesis Mark 3 suit that will be able to fly longer – for 7 or 8 minutes.”
“Perhaps this can become a new racing sport like Indie or Nascar,” imagined Browning noting he is launching an international racing series, and also has a Flight Club at the world famous Goodwood Position in U.K. home to the Festival of Speed. . Browning and the team are expanding flight training to other global locations and are entrancing bookings.
“People around the world find this kind of flying thrilling and inspirational. We have even obtained calls from actor Tom Cruise and British adventurer Brian Grylls who want to do some training.”