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Daredevil Sets New Record With Jet Pack

Eric Scott Makes Trip Across Gorge In 21 Seconds

POSTED: Tuesday, November 25, 2008

A Denver daredevil used a hydrogen-peroxide powered jet pack to travel 1,500 feet across the 1,100-foot-deep Royal Gorge in southern Colorado.

Eric Scott said beforehand it's incomparable to anything he's done in the past. He was not wearing a backup parachute during Monday's stunt, reported KMGH-TV in Denver.

The jet pack carried only 33 seconds of fuel, which gave him no time to spare to cross the chasm. He made the crossing at 12:20 p.m. in 21 seconds, flying at 75 mph, according to Go Fast Sports & Beverage, which sponsored the stunt.

"It's a lot of fun, but this machine needs to fly longer. This dream's got to evolve, and other people need to be able to share this. I'm sure there are many people here that would love to experience what I just did, and I'd love to be able to share it with somebody," Scott told KMGH after his record-breaking flight.

"It's pretty much incomparable to anything I've done in the past," Scott said last week via cell phone from Mexico City, where he was performing similar -- though not quite as daunting -- feats with the jet pack. "I've never done a distance that long, and then there's such a huge gap below."

The Royal Gorge test ranks as the longest, highest flight attempt for the Go Fast Jet Pack, the company said. Go Fast said the stunt is the biggest feat of daring since Evil Knievel crossed the Snake River.

With hundreds of people looking on, Scott took off from the north side of the gorge, near the Royal Gorge Bridge, and landed on a small circular white pad on the stage on the south side.

The Royal Gorge, which was cut by the Arkansas River, has seen its share of stunts, although it typically doesn't attract the types of daring acts that, say, Niagara Falls does.

Still, it was the site of a tragic stunt in October 2003 when a world-renowned Australian sky diver was killed. Dwain Weston, 30, died when he miscalculated a parachute jump from a plane over Royal Gorge bridge while wearing a "wing suit." He hit a railing on the bridge at 120 mph and was killed instantly. The accident happened during an inaugural sky-diving event sponsored by Go Fast.

Several other people have died while attempting to parachute from the bridge.

Scott admitted that one small problem could have created devastating results, but said he was confident in the technology.

Scott's jet pack weighs 135 pounds and can propel the driver up to 80 mph. The original jet pack, developed by Bell Aerosystems in the 1960s for the military, was too heavy and could fly for only about 20 seconds, making it impractical.

The technology eventually gathered dust until entrepreneur Troy Widgery and a buddy decided to take a stab at developing a lighter pack that could fly longer.

They formed Jet P.I. to accomplish that task. After several years of development, trial and plenty of error, they developed their version: a jet pack that can fly for over half a minute using hydrogen peroxide as fuel.

The pack also incorporates carbon fiber technology, which helps to lighten the load.

Widgery said he initially thought he could build the jet pack for about $20,000, but he has pumped in an estimated $1 million.

But the jet pack also now brings in some cash -- up to $25,000 per event. Last year, it appeared during Monday Night Football.

The company hopes to develop a lighter, more advanced model featuring a turbine that would be able to fly for nine minutes. Widgery said there could be military or police applications for such a jet pack, although, in reality, it might be able to tap only an extremely niche market.

"It'll probably be more of a novelty than anything," he said. "It'll be more for people like (British tycoon) Richard Branson and extreme athletes."

Jet Pack International hopes to market similar jet packs to the public in the next few years. It would cost about $200,000.

According to the Denver Post, Scott is the most experienced and longest currently flying jet-pack pilot in the world. He has been flying jet packs for more than 14 years and has successfully piloted more than 700 flights.

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