After running a series of proximity tests, JetPack Aviation is ready to start the coolest thing (so far) for 2019. A Jet Pack Racing league.
“We tested how close two jetpacks can fly together without causing turbulence or interference with each other’s engine inlet air,” David Mayman, CEO of Jetpack Aviation, told Digital Trends. “The tests were carried out above a lake in Southern California with our twin-engine JB10 jetpacks.
JetPack Aviation benefits, naturally. Teams and their sponsors will need to buy or rent equipment from JetPack Aviation. And then there’s gotta be lucrative broadcast contracts for this. People are going to want to watch it.
“Initially, we see this as a similar format as the Red Bull air races,” he said, laying out his vision for the spectator sport of the future. “Pilots will have to navigate around pylons, and we are also working on some barrier concepts for vertical maneuvers. e.g., imagine flying over a wide horizontal inflatable beam but then having to turn around and come back underneath it. We’ve even looked at the options of controlling a ball. We’ve demonstrated it’s possible to hover, grab a ball, place it in a chest pouch, and then fly or take a ball between the pilot’s legs. A real game of Quidditch!”
The geeks at JetPack encourage anyone else in the business to come along for the ride if their equipment operates in close proximity without disruption the operation of other pilots equipment.
Jet Pack racing sounds like fun to me. Now we need a sponsor and some training, and a lot of practice. Did I mention training?
