Jet Suit Racing Set to Take Flight in 2019

Jet Suit Racing Set to Take Flight in 2019
Richard Browning, chief test pilot and CEO of Gravity Industries, wears a jet suit and flies during a demonstration flight at Bentwaters Park, Woodbridge, Britain, on Oct. 4. (REUTERS/Chris Radburn)
Reuters
10/14/2018
Updated:
10/14/2018

IPSWICH, England—Forget cars, bikes, and boats. Next year “Iron Man”-style jet suits will be the new vehicle to race in.

The British creator of the jet engine-powered suit that allows you to take flight said he would launch a new racing series over water next year featuring men and women from different sporting backgrounds.

“The idea of ... a race around a kind of air race circuit, in three dimensions with 1,000 horse-power jet suits, it’s going to be astounding and phenomenal,” inventor Richard Browning told Reuters.

Richard Browning, chief test pilot and CEO of Gravity Industries. (REUTERS/Chris Radburn)
Richard Browning, chief test pilot and CEO of Gravity Industries. (REUTERS/Chris Radburn)

The suit, which has a record speed of 32 miles per hour, is made up of five miniature jet engines mounted on the pilot’s arms and back and is reminiscent of the one worn by Robert Downey Jr in the Marvel superhero “Iron Man” film trilogy.

Browning, a former commodities trader who first developed the suit in his garage with friends around three years ago, put the jet suit on sale in a London department store in July with a 340,000 pounds ($443,360) price tag.

By Hanna Rantala
Richard Browning, chief test pilot and CEO of Gravity Industries, wears a jet suit and flies during a demonstration flight at Bentwaters Park, Woodbridge, Britain, on Oct. 4. (REUTERS/Chris Radburn)
Richard Browning, chief test pilot and CEO of Gravity Industries, wears a jet suit and flies during a demonstration flight at Bentwaters Park, Woodbridge, Britain, on Oct. 4. (REUTERS/Chris Radburn)