ENGLAND, United Kingdom (Reuters) — The British inventor of an “Iron Man”-style jet suit has lofty hopes for powering his creation from a curiosity to a tool in industries ranging from entertainment to the military.
Richard Browning, a 38-year-old former commodities trader with little experience of engineering, developed his jet suit with the help of friends over the last 18 months, just for fun.
But Browning is aiming to turn his hobby into a business – and sees potential for the technology to be used in the military, search and rescue, theme parks, display teams, as well as for private use for individuals with the funds to buy one.
“We had this grand vision of could you approach the challenge of human flight in an entirely different way,” Browning told Reuters. “Very much augmenting the human body rather than putting the human in a flight machine. And after many, many iterations we’ve got to a pretty awesome place.”
Browning showed off his piloting skills at a flight test on Thursday, breaking his record for speed by travelling over 30 mph, covering a distance of several hundred meters.
The suit, dubbed Daedalus, is powered by six gas turbine engines – two mounted on his lower back and two on each arm – which combined generate 800 horse-power. It also features a helmet with a holographic heads-up display and body armor. Browning described it as “a bit like riding a bike in three dimensions.”
A project that started in his garage, Browning says he has secured investment from a United States venture capitalist, and spurred interest from entertainment giants and the British and US militaries.
In addition to the friends who helped him develop the Daedalus, Browning says that he now has software engineers, 3D printing experts, jet propulsion specialists and polyurethane welders working on the project with him.
Browning is not the only person to have pursued dreams of jet-powered glory. In Dubai, firefighters have showcased water jet boots that allow the wearer to fly over bodies of water, and French inventor Franky Zapata has created a jet-powered hover-board.
The next step in Browning’s project is the Genesis suit which he is developing with the aid of experts and his investors. Despite asking potential buyers to wait for the Genesis, Browning said he had already sold a Daedalus suit to one customer.
Browning still however, has challenges to overcome, before he can really emulate “Iron Man” – specifically – how to ascend safely from the ground to a height that a parachute could be deployed – effectively with no safety net.
“The next version beyond the prototype version will be vastly more capable. And that’s what we will be revealing to the world in the next few months,” Browning said.
Whether Browning’s dreams of widespread commercial adoption for his creation take flight, or come crashing down to earth, remains to be seen.
