WATCH: Real-life ‘Iron Man’ suit built by UK entrepreneur
Personal flight without the use of large bulky airplanes have always been a dream for man. Popular culture’s nearest visualization of this may be that of Marvel Comics’ “Iron Man” suit. A man from the United Kingdom took this idea and made it a reality.
Richard Browning is the founder of a company called Gravity and his top project is the personal flight suit “Daedalus”, reports TechCrunch. The suit provides propulsion to the wearer via four miniature jet engines. Two engines are strapped to each arm to provide ample lift while moving the arms handle movement.
“It’s less dangerous than riding a sports bike through the countryside,” says Browning.
Browning also notes that the fuel he uses is non-combustible. “If I fell in some imaginably bad way and somehow burst my robust fuel system, I would just leak it very slowly on the floor,” he explains.
The mini jet engines are theoretically capable of more thrust. However, Browning intentionally throttled them down to limit hovering to a few feet off the ground. He also keeps a pair of guys with fire extinguishers within 30 feet whenever he goes out flying.
Browning insists that he has no commercial ambitions for Daedalus, and simply took on the personal project to answer “what if.”
The suit still looks a bit crude but the awe it can inspire is undeniable. In the first place, who wouldn’t want to fly around like a super hero in an armored power suit? Alfred Bayle/JB
