Glenn Martin, a New Zealander, has spent 27 of his 48 years developing what he calls the world's first practical jet pack. He said he hoped to begin selling them next year for $100,000 each.

In June 1997, seven weeks after the birth of his second child, Martin figured his prototype was powerful enough to lift its first flier, as long as that person weighed less than 130 pounds, or 60 kilograms. So he turned to his wife. "I said, 'Hey, Vanessa, what are you doing tonight?"'

Vanessa Martin agreed to be her husband's levitating guinea pig.

She admits now that, deep down, she was not sure she would take off. At the same time, she was "very scared" of the device she calls "the beast."

The engine fired up, sounding angry, she said, and the air started blasting around her. "There's a moment when it will just bite," she said, and seem to grab the air and go. "That was it," she said. "I was totally addicted."

The current iteration of the product, the eleventh, weighs about 250 pounds and provides 600 pounds of thrust. It includes safety features like a ballistic parachute with a small explosive charge for rapid deployment in case of an emergency, like those used in some small airplanes. The pedestal that forms the main support for the device has a shock absorber like a pogo stick to soften landings. The weight of the engines and body of the flier sits lower than the rotors to create a pendulum effect that discourages the contraption from tipping upside down and creating what might be known as the lawn dart effect.

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