Photo: Toshifumi Kitamura [Getty Images]
Great news, everybody. Your dreams of owning Tony Stark’s Iron Man suit have finally come true. All you need is a planet ticket to London and around half a million dollars.
Former oil trader turned inventor Richard Browning, long inspired by Stark’s high-flying ways, decided to spend the last few years constructing a flying jet-suit, which he debuted this past weekend to quite the fanfare.
Currently only being sold at London’s Selfridges department store, the futuristic wet-suit looking device can reach a top speed of 32 mph and fly as high as 12,000 feet, which doesn’t sound dangerous at all.
Equipped with five mini-mounted engines mounted on both arms, it may look heavy and hot to wear, but Browning says the ensemble is oddly comfortable.
“The only heat you feel is just standing there in a leather jacket on a warm summer’s day. The heat strangely blows away. If you watch this as an audience member you probably get exposed to more warmth than I do as the pilot. It’s actually surprisingly calm and not very violent. It’s very passive and gentle when you’re flying it,” Browning told WILX.
Inventor Richard Browning flies in his jet suit as it goes on sale in London, proving anyone can be a real-life Iron Man – for £340,000 pic.twitter.com/ETvXzR45gA
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 19, 2018
Sadly, you won’t get very far in the suit, as flight time is currently restricted to about three or four minutes. A second, more impressive version of the cutting-edge outfit is in the midst of development and will allow for nine to ten minutes of flight, according to Browning.
Of course, becoming a real-life ‘Iron Man’ isn’t going to be easy unless you have the income of Tony Stark, considering the suit’s massive $443,000 price tag. Guess I’ll be sticking to my ‘Thruster’ in Grand Theft Auto 5.
