Photo: bbc.com
If Tony Stark were an actual person, his name would probably be Richard Browning and his jet-powered suit would look less flashy and have less features. But it would be impressive nonetheless.
Browning is a British inventor who’s been in the news for years, after developing, testing and then actually marketing a jet-powered suit that’s drawn comparisons to the Iron Man suit: the Gravity jet suit. Unlike the movie version, this one doesn’t take you too high into the air and can’t carry you for longer stretches (9 minutes, if you’re lucky) because of the high fuel consumption. Even so, when the suit went on sale in London last year, it came with a price tag of £340,000 ($408,000).
Now, Browning can add another notch on his belt: he’s the man to finally carry out a mission that was initially scheduled to take place in 1934, the BBC informs. In doing so, Browning set a new personal record for his jet-powered suit, for the longest flight so far: 1.3 km (0.8 miles) over the Solent, which separates the Isle of Wight over mainland England.
In 1934, German entrepreneur Gerhard Zucker came to England with a revolutionary idea: to deliver mail to the Isle of Wight by rocket. People here were enthusiastic at first, until it became clear to them that Zucker’s rockets wouldn’t ever be able to reach their destination, letter or no letter attached. He was driven out of the country over safety concerns and the idea dropped.
Enter Browning: having the jet-powered suit, he somehow managed to get his hands on an actual handwritten letter in the year of 2019, and he was on his way. He flew from Hurst Castle in Lymington to Fort Albert in Freshwater at a speed of 60 mph, and crossed the Solent in 75 seconds.
As the video available at the bottom of the page shows, once he landed, he set out to find the recipient of the letter and complete the mission.
Now, Browning can add another notch on his belt: he’s the man to finally carry out a mission that was initially scheduled to take place in 1934, the BBC informs. In doing so, Browning set a new personal record for his jet-powered suit, for the longest flight so far: 1.3 km (0.8 miles) over the Solent, which separates the Isle of Wight over mainland England.
In 1934, German entrepreneur Gerhard Zucker came to England with a revolutionary idea: to deliver mail to the Isle of Wight by rocket. People here were enthusiastic at first, until it became clear to them that Zucker’s rockets wouldn’t ever be able to reach their destination, letter or no letter attached. He was driven out of the country over safety concerns and the idea dropped.
Enter Browning: having the jet-powered suit, he somehow managed to get his hands on an actual handwritten letter in the year of 2019, and he was on his way. He flew from Hurst Castle in Lymington to Fort Albert in Freshwater at a speed of 60 mph, and crossed the Solent in 75 seconds.
As the video available at the bottom of the page shows, once he landed, he set out to find the recipient of the letter and complete the mission.
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