An undisclosed defense customer in Southeast Asia has ordered two JetPack JB12 personal aerial vehicles and has contracted with the U.S.-based manufacturer to train pilots and maintenance crews. According to JetPack Aviation, this is the first time the equipment has been delivered for serving military personnel, and the training will be provided through a program approved by the FAA and the U.S. Navy.
The student pilots have no flying experience and will receive their instruction in California. They will be taught to use the JetPack equipment while attached to tethers before progressing to more advanced off-tether training that will cover mission-specific operations.
JetPack is due to deliver the JB12 units this summer following an order valued at $800,000. The training will take two weeks and will include at least 50 six-minute tethered flights before the “pilots” progress to free flight.
Meanwhile, the company is preparing to start untethered test flights with an early P1.5 prototype of its single-seat Speeder VTOL aircraft. It hopes to start flying the P2 prototype in April, and then the P3 pre-certification version.
