New Zealand’s Martin Aircraft Co., which unveiled its Martin Jetpack at last year’s AirVenture in Oshkosh, is holding an auction on eBay that will allow the winning bidder to become the first person, outside their close development team, to fly the Martin Jetpack as a fully fledged test pilot.
“Our aim is to make the easiest-to-fly aircraft in the world,” said Glenn Martin, the jetpack’s developer. “Because of the fly-by-wire systems we have developed in the last year, we recently had a novice pilot fly solo quite safely with 12 minutes of flight time.
“Whoever wins this auction, whether it’s a highly qualified pilot or someone who has never flown before, we will be able to tailor a testing program for the jetpack that matches their skill,” he continued.
The winning bidder will have to travel to Christchurch, New Zealand, but once there they will receive Jetpack Test Pilot Training that includes at least six flight sessions over three days of training. The experience will be recorded by video camera, and the pilot will be signed off as a Martin Jetpack test pilot, and registered in company records for historical recognition.
Alternatively, they can bring up to three friends, who can each share flying duties.
The successful bidder will also get to go behind the scenes with Martin and spend time with the avionics, technical and design experts who’ve worked on the jetpack.
The eBay auction runs until Sept. 24. Starting bid is $30,000. The winner must be over 18 years old, hold a current drivers license and weigh less than 90kg (198 lbs).
When this first historic offer is completed, Martin Aircraft’s partner in this venture, Total Experience, will make available a limited number of individual and corporate flying packages in the Martin Jetpack.
For more information: TotalExperience.co.nz or MartinJetpack.com
