Australian technology and mining entrepreneur David Mayman has been developing the light-weight device for 10 years together with his business partner Nelson Tyler.
“After 10 years of working together, Nelson and I have finally launched our jetpack in public when I flew around the Statue of Liberty in New York and what an extraordinary location to do it. We are truly privileged and humbled,” said Mayman.
The daredevil says flying around the Statue of Liberty “was an incredible experience, one I have been dreaming of since I was a young boy.”
“It’s the culmination of decades of work by Nelson and me. We have just proved that personal flight is a reality, it’s here and we will stay at the forefront of this,” said Mayman, who claims he is the first person “to prove the viability of personal flying devices.”
“It would be wonderful if one day this opens the door to a vast new industry of affordable personal air transportation with applications for search and rescue, law enforcement, disaster relief and recreation,” added his friend and partner Nelson Tyler.
Mayman and Tyler say on their website the device “is extremely light and small and can easily be carried around by the pilot” and can climb up to 10,000 feet (about 3,000 meters).
In fact, there are many flying devices that are called jetpacks – they just differ a little in construction. One such gadget was developed by Swiss ex-military and commercial pilot Yves Rossy, who calls himself Jetman. He repeatedly made headlines by soaring above the clouds over the Dubai skyline with nothing but a jetpack powering him through the skies.
