Gravity Industries Jet Suit Takes Flight Over Eden Project Grounds in Cornwall

Richard Browning took off from the grassy stretch outside the Eden Project’s famed biomes on a beautiful late March morning, the engines roaring to life as they have every time he has flown one of these. This time, he was demonstrating the Jet Suit at Anthropy UK, a gathering of movers and shakers in Cornwall. As the creator of Gravity Industries and the suit’s chief pilot, he intended to give everyone a taste of what personal flight is like when the engines roar, movement is instinctive, and the crowd feels the blast of exhaust in their face.

He lifted off, banked left and right, hovered briefly, then landed again as part of the Eden Project’s low-key presentation. No death-defying antics, simply a smooth, well-judged flight against the backdrop of the famed domes and Cornish countryside. That’s not to say you wouldn’t get a good sense of the Jet Suit in action; after all, a show celebrating British invention was searching for a homegrown example to highlight.

Five tiny gas engines power the Jet Suit, one on each arm around the elbow and one on the back. They generate over 1,000 horsepower to propel you into the air, which is more than enough to get you airborne. The pilot points the arm-engines down to take off, adjusts them for direction, and maintains a steady body position to remain upright. It’s similar to balancing on three legs of propulsion – one from each arm and one from the backpack – except that in the real world, there are no flight computers to map the trajectory, only the pilot’s feeling of balance and a steady stream of minute adjustments.

The fuel is standard jet A-1 or diesel, contained in a bladder on the rear of the suit. Real-world flight times average around 3 minutes, while older versions can last much longer, especially with lighter weights on board. So far, the highest speed recorded is 85 mph, but public shows often limit speeds and altitudes to acceptable levels. The suit weighs roughly 27kg before the fuel is added, and the structural pieces are surprisingly commonly made of 3D printed polymer, which helps keep the weight down and allows it to follow the body better.

Browning and his colleagues have flown the Jet Suit in over 300 events across dozens of countries. They’ve conducted real-world testing with NATO units to assess how it operates in mountain rescue situations, and they’ve even raced the vehicles in legitimate competitions. So the Eden Project visit was simply the next stage in this process: get it out there in the real world, let people hear the turbines for themselves, and give them a greater idea of what it’s like to fly on a human scale.

It’s worth noting that the technology is still a beast to deal with. Pilots must have strong arms and shoulders to raise their own weight, as well as the weight of the suit, while in mid-air. They will require some substantial training before they can discard the tethers, but even then, the control mechanism remains extremely direct. You move your arms, and the suit moves with them; it’s a fairly primal feeling. Years after their first public flights, the demos continue to be well received due to their simplicity, and when they took the suit to the Eden Project, it simply worked as intended, going up, moving around, and landing as neatly as a button with only the pilot’s input, while a crowd of innovators saw some top-notch British engineering on display.