Without the support of Wellington-based venture capital technology company No 8 Ventures, Kiwi jetpack inventor Glenn Martin wouldn’t have been able to afford to keep his machine in the country.
When Inventor and engineer Glenn Martin was only four he “repaired” his mother’s vacuum cleaner, cleverly disassembling it and putting it back together. It exploded when it was plugged in.
 When he was eight he’d grown to the extent of making a high powered Morse key which shorted out all the electricity in his Dunedin suburb.
“Even as a four year old I would crawl around with a screwdriver in my hand,” says Martin, who sees his inventor’s mind as something intrinsically childlike.
“I did the classic things kids do. My father had a great workshop where I used to make stuff. If I had some wacky idea he would give me some advice and teach me how to do things. I made a glider and jumped off the garage roof - nearly broke my leg.”
Martin’s love of flight was intensified growing up during the space race.
“I remember Neil Armstrong stepping on the moon when I was nine years old. And last year I got an email from Neil Armstrong. I have it printed out on my desk, I guess I should frame it sometime,” says Martin.
“[Neil Armstrong] was one of my heroes for a number of reasons. He was a scientist and an engineer who helped develop the aircraft, he didn’t just fly it.”
As a boy, the Kiwi inventor also loved space themed TV shows and movies. He watched the Thunderbirds and James Bond’s Thunderball , in which Bond is propelled in a jetpack.
“The idea of a jetpack has always been a common theme in science fiction.”
In 1981 while studying biochemistry at Otago University Martin thought, “why don’t we have jetpacks?”
The first serious attempts to build a Jetpack were made by the US military in the 50s, and the most successful jetpack was the Bell Rocket Belt which first flew in 1961. However it could only fly for 26 seconds.
Then along came Glenn Martin (who founded the Martin Aircraft Company in 1998 specifically to research and develop a jetpack that could fly 100 times longer than the 26 seconds of the Bell Rocket Belt).
With a small team of engineers he developed a concept which he, his family and Canterbury University kept a secret for years – the intricacies of which he will detail at a public lecture at Paramount Theatre on September 7.
His jetpack was unveiled in July 2008 at the largest annual general aviation event in the world (the legendary Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture meet at Oshkosh, Wisconsin).  Since then, 1,600 people have ordered a jetpack at US$100,000 each; one country wants 500 per year for search and rescue projects, and another wants 400 per year. America has put forward 11 possible applications for its use including border patrol and search and rescue.
Martin reckons his jetpack could be the next adrenaline activity next to bungy jumping and skydiving.
“It has big tourism potential,” he says.
His company has done market trials and would price the adventure activity around the same as a tandem parachute (NZ$280-$300). This will involve about an hour’s training on a jetpack simulator beforehand, followed by a solo flight around an arena. An instructor will have the power to take over the control of the jetpack by remote should anything go wrong.
However he says if you want to buy a jetpack you will have to get certified, which will involve about 10 hours of training.
The jetpack adventure tourism experience would electronically limit people from going too high or too fast.  Martin aims to have the experience running within the next year, but has yet to secure a venue and a location.   
“We are still looking for more funding,” he says.
The tourism experience would allow people to fly one metre off the ground at no more than 20km/hr. Without constraints the pack can carry a person thousands of feet up in the air.
Martin says the project would not have stayed in New Zealand had it not been for No 8 Ventures’ support.
“They bought shares and invested in the company - several million dollars worth. They were vital, without them we wouldn’t have kept it in New Zealand. We would have found alternative capital in the US.”
Managing partner of No 8 Ventures Jenny Morel says the company jumped at the idea when Martin approached them.
She says the 2008 AirVenture was a proud day for the company and New Zealand.
“[It’s] the hugest airshow you can imagine, [it was] incredible to be the centre piece of that crowd for our launch,” she says.
Glenn Martin will give a free public presentation about the Martin Jetpack, Paramount Theatre, 6pm, September 7.