Fareham firm turns jet packs into a reality - and it plans to equip emergency services with them to aid in disasters
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Now, thanks to innovation by Maverick Aviation, a firm based at Fareham Innovation Centre, lightweight jetpacks are set to play a life-saving role in real-world rescue and disaster relief.
The tech start-up is developing hands-free devices, which use micro gas turbine engines to propel first responders through the air and reach inaccessible areas safely and quickly.
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Hide AdOther applications include engineering and maintenance, such as onshore and offshore wind farms, along with policing, security and defence, as well as adventure experiences.
Founder Antony Quinn said: ‘We are keen to move away from any parallels with sci-fi and superheroes because personal flight mobility is already a reality.
‘This is about exhaustive R&D, along with rigorous technology validation processes, to create hands-free jetpacks which can be used for engineering and maintenance tasks, and life-saving rescue roles.’
Antony, who trained as a jet suit pilot with Gravity Industries, set up the firm while on shore leave from his career as a Royal Navy Commander.
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Hide AdWith R&D funding through Innovate UK, Britain’s innovation agency, Maverick Aviation has stepped up design and development from new premises at Fareham Innovation Centre, next to Solent Airport at Daedalus.
Previously the firm was a virtual resident at the centre, which is home to 61 companies.
With a core team of five, led by chief technology officer Matt Denton, the man behind the world’s largest rideable six-legged robot and animatronics engineer for cinema blockbusters Star Wars and Harry Potter, Maverick Aviation has grand plans – but its work is under wraps due to pending invention patents.
Antony said: ‘Our aim is to make our jetpacks the Land Rover Defender of its kind - a machine workhorse, with affordable units produced for a wide range of industries in the UK and for export.
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Hide Ad‘Users will be able to strap on the jetpacks as easily as a rucksack and fly safely and intuitively without costly training, opening up the market to potential mass production and remote software upgrades.’
Stephen Brownlie, centre director at Fareham Innovation Centre, said: ‘Maverick Aviation is disrupting the market in the same way the electric car is challenging the internal combustion engine.’
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