“We are proud to have not just beaten our speed record today, we almost tripled it at 85.06MPH. That is faster than we have ever flown even in any of our 90 events across 30 countries since 2017.” —Richard Browning, November 14, 2019

Pioneering a new era of human flight, Richard Browning is Founder and Chief Test Pilot of Gravity Industries, which designs, builds and flies Jet Suits. The company was founded in March 2017 to challenge the perceived boundaries in human aviation and to inspire others to dare to ask “What if?” Prior to founding Gravity, Richard was a Royal Marines reservist for six years and an oil trader with BP for 16 years, where he discovered and implemented major new technologies, winning the BP Group innovation Award.

The Gravity Jet Suit, which he invented, looks like a high-tech backpack equipped with arm sleeves. The jet suit cost roughly $50,000 to develop, and utilizes a lightweight exoskeleton and a combination of kerosene-fuelled micro gas turbines strapped to Richard’s arms and back to allow him to control 130kg of thrust, sufficient to propel him off the ground and to actually fly for sustained periods of time. Richard himself set the Guinness World Record for “the fastest speed in a body controlled jet engine powered suit” on November 9, 2017 by travelling at roughly 32mph, a speed that he and his team have subsequently broken many times. In November 2019, he exceeded 85mph.

Richard transformed his “bonkers” (his words!) idea to learn how to augment the human body to fly into a fully realized and commercially viable product within the space of around two years. Most aspects of the suit have been improved since the older model set the first record, including the move to all-3D printing to save weight, as well as the addition of leg wings and “leg straights,” which make takeoffs more aerodynamic and speed the transition from lift-off to flight.

As Gravity Industries pursues it’s next phase of development, it is looking to create an electric version of the suit, which would be lighter and more environmentally friendly, and is also exploring the possibility of using bio-diesel fuel.