In a landscape of stately buildings and the most luxurious yachts, eight pilots dressed in "Iron Man" jet-powered suits took off in Dubai, taking part in the world's first race of its kind, according to CNN. They experienced the "Power of a Bugatti in a backpack"!
"Unlike most races, you race in three dimensions,” said Richard Browning, chief test pilot at Gravity Industries, the UK-based firm that developed the suit and organized the Jet Suit Race Series with the Dubai Sports Council.
The eight pilots raced on a 1 kilometer course where they had to slalom through 12 giant inflatable obstacles floating in the water. Each run lasted about 90 seconds.
Jet Suit Race Series
"We had people disqualified, people who got lost, we had someone who ended up in the water – it was total chaos, in a great way,” said Browning, who hopes the event will inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers to dream big.
The Gravity technology combines five motors — a large one on the back and a pair of "mini-jet engines" on each arm — into a 3D-printed polymer, aluminum, and titanium suit that can lift a person into the air.
The jet suits are also being tested by special forces, paramedics and soldiers. Pilots control the direction of flight by moving their arms – for example, if they point their arms down, they fly up, and if they raise their arms to the side, they drop down.
The jet-powered suit uses jet fuel or diesel and can reach speeds of up to 136 kilometers per hour. Accidents are also spectacular. “Because we do what we do above the water, if you make a mistake, you fall into the water – it's more dramatic. It's a little expensive to fix [the suit], but everyone's fine," Browning explained, writes digi24.ro.