For all those James Bond wannabes out there, the Martin Jetpack can make your dreams come true! The crowd present at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture 2008 witnessed the first public flight of the jetpack, performed by 16-year-old Harrison Martin, son of the inventor.

The flight lasted for several seconds, after the jetpack lifted Martin junior a few feet off the ground. The author of the invention is a 48-year-old inventor from New Zealand, who has been trying for years to make his project fulfill the dreams of many people: to fly.

Glenn Martin, who sees his hopes become reality after almost three decades of continuous work on the device, is hoping to be able to begin commercializing his invention starting next year, with a starting price of at least $100,000.

The idea of the jetpack travel dates back almost 50 years ago, when such devices appearing in various movies made the public believe that the idea could indeed materialize someday. The Martin Jetpack team has been working on creating a device capable of delivering longer flights, powered by affordable fuels.

Harrison Martin, who has been testing his father’s invention on numerous occasions, said he has been doing flights at about seven feet about ground level. But that’s nowhere near what the Martin Jetpack team has in mind for the machine.

According to Harrison Martin, normal operations are expected to take place somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 feet, while at the same time, the device should be able to reach 8,000 feet, with 30-minute long flights (depending on the pilot’s weight). Furthermore, the jetpack is expected to reach over 60 mph, although at this point it is very slow.

Previous jet packs have had a problem with the duration of the flight, which was limited to only a few minutes. However, Martin seems to be very optimistic about his invention, as he promised improved performance that will turn even the more skeptic witnesses into true believers.

According to a member of the team, the device has been in secret tests for the past week, at a location near Fond du Lac. The device is powered by a purpose-build V4 gasoline engine, which provides 200 horsepower at 6,000 rpm.

The Martin Jetpack team explained that the machine comes with a ballistic parachute, while an undercarriage is meant to absorb the impact.

There are a lot of skeptics regarding Martin’s device, simply because there have been so many unsuccessful attempts to create a safe device, capable of doing more than just lift you off the ground for one minute.

It is true that the jetpack doesn’t look like what we’ve seen in the movies, but for those who expect something less big and more fashionable, they’ll probably have to wait some more, until technology and science will evolve enough to make that happen.

Martin has been a dreamer ever since his college years, and all the members of his family have had the honor of being the first testers to his prototype devices, including his wife.

It’s been a well kept secret, but Martin hopes that his device, weighing 250 pounds, is not only the safest jetpack ever built, but it is also easy to control. Thousands of people attended the AirVenture moment, and a lot of them can’t wait to see how this device will evolve in time.