Personal Jet Packs May Soon Be Available to the Public

(Our happy hour fact to amaze your drinking buddies with.)

A New Zealand man has developed a jet pack that has the ability to fly 30 miles in 30 minutes at altitudes of up to 1,500 feet.

In front of thousands at an air show in Wisconsin, inventor Glenn Martin's 16-year-old son hovered three feet off the ground for 45 seconds using a prototype pack. Aviation experts in the audience were said to be impressed, and Martin declared "people will look back on this as a moment in history."

Martin claims the pack will be fully functional and ready for market within a year. But before you get too excited imagining yourself soaring over gridlock, keep in mind that the device will be priced at $100,000, and it is unclear the extent to which the FAA will regulate it for personal use.

See a video of the "historic" flight after the jump (we promise it's not a clip from "The Rocketeer.")