Jetman wows crowds at Red Bull Air Race

It was a scene straight out of the movies.

Except the man free-flying over the Abu Dhabi Corniche with nothing but a black backpack and a remote control in each hand was not a character from a fictional, high-tech world inhabited by Iron Man or James Bond.

Australian entrepreneur David Mayman took to the skies at a speed of about 60 miles per hour as the crowds gathered to watch the 11th Red Bull Air Race World Championship in Abu Dhabi.

Mr Mayman has spent the past 12 years refining the technology for what he describes as the world’s first personal use vertical take-off and landing aircraft.

He demonstrated the latest model of his company’s JB JetPack for the first time in the UAE on Saturday.

Wearing a flying jumpsuit, helmet and the jetpack that holds two engines strapped to his back, Mr Mayman flew at a height of about 60 feet over the water wowing thousands of spectators who lined the Corniche breakwater.

Mr Mayman said he has been fascinated with flying ever since he learned to pilot a fixed-wing aircraft at the age of 16. He later learned to fly a helicopter.

 “But I always had a dream about vertical take-off and landing,” said Mr Mayman, 54, chief executive and principal pilot of JetPack Aviation.

“It starts off as being really frightening,” Mr Mayman said of the experience.

“There’s a lot of power, you’re talking about the power of a Nascar or Formula One car that’s sitting on your back. You can feel that. And then after maybe 25 flights, you get relaxed and it feels amazing, it’s like a magic carpet. It’s very balanced, it’s very stable and as you accelerate, the world just disappears.”

The Jet Pack Man was one of a several acts at the annual air race staged over the Corniche. A performance by the Red Bull Skydive Team Wing Suit Jump, acrobatic jets from the Al Fursan team and Pal Takats Paramotor Aerobatics took turns thrilling the crowds in-between the daredevil races.