Developer Glenn Martin, who has been working on his flying machine for 30 years, intends to make it available on the market in 2012 at a cost of about $100,000 (£60,000). Last month, the jetpack made its first high-altitude test flight, taking a dummy pilot to 1,500 meters (5,000 feet) under remote control while Mr Martin watched from a helicopter.

So who wants one of these?

I'd genuinely love one, but it doesn't have the range for my daily commute. 10 more miles or so and I'm there, dude.

Jon

I think that the range is a minimal problem. In a couple of years it will be better than that.

I think that the range is a minimal problem.

We've had working jet-packs for over 60 years, but the range has never significantly improved. It's simply a matter of physics. They're all powered by chemical fuels which have a fixed energy content, and people are not getting any lighter.

Um, I consider running out of fuel in midair to be a more than minimal problem

Agreed but there are a couple of points in it's favour. Firstly they aren't rockets they're ducted fans, so they're essentially internal combustion engines. And we are quite good at improving the efficiency of those and there's going to be a lot of money pumped into such research in the near future. Secondly, they can also improve the aerodynamic efficiency of the fans to give more lift with lower power, thus reducing fuel usage rate. So I think there is some leeway to increase the range. You're not ever going to get 1000 miles of range in a tank, but you might get to 100 rather than 30. And it's less hassle to 'recharge' than an electricly powered vehicle as it stands. No hydrocarbon engine we currently have gets anywhere near 100% efficient, even in combustion terms, so there's room to improve.

Course as a hydrocarbon powered vehicle it's dead as the dodo in the long term. Hopefully by then we might have figured out how to make batteries good enough to power it that don't weigh half a ton.

Jon