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Personal jetpack one step closer to launch (video)

The three-year wait for a recreational jetpack may be almost over - assuming that regulators give their approval.

In its latest test, Martin JetPack said that its device - a 200-horsepower piston gasoline engine that powers a couple of ducted fans - remained aloft for more than seven minutes. No mention yet on an updated timetable for putting a human through a rigorous series of test runs, though the company has previously said that it's on track to do just that sometime in the current quarter.

Since its coming-out party at the Oshkosh air show in the summer of 2008, Martin Jetpack has garnered more than the usual amount of attention lavished on a tech start-up. Given the associations that the concept of a jetpack conjures up with futuristic space-age travel - think George Jetson and his flying saucer - that's easy to understand. Still, a note of caution is worthwhile. Still unclear is how the Federal Aviation Administration will respond. Although the agency did not answer a request for comment by the time this article was ready for posting, the last time the FAA weighed in, it classified the jetpack as an experimental ultralight airplane. That description may suggest that any approval would be contingent upon first establishing the kind of technology which allows for this kind of traffic - especially if we're talking about a "jet ski for the sky", in the description once put forward by its inventor.

Although it is not bringing in any revenue, Martin Jetpack, which is based in New Zealand, has enlisted financial and legal advisers to bring it public. Last year, the per-unit price tag of the device they sell was estimated at $90,000, a figure that has since climbed by $10,000.

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