Iron Man-style flight suit inventor sets Guinness World Record before falling into lake
Richard Browning's record was verified at Lagoona Park in Reading
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A British inventor has set a Guinness World Record for recording the fastest speed in a body-controlled jet engine-powered suit.
Richard Browning, who has been compared to Iron Man, hit 32.02 mph (51.53 km/h) earlier today.
He then fell into a lake.
The flight suit features six kerosene-fuelled micro gas turbines, each of which has 22 kg of thrust.
It’s controlled through body movements alone, and Mr Browning had to work on his core strength exercises ahead of the record attempt, to ensure he was able to balance and hold his position in the air during flight.
The record was verified by Guinness World Records adjudicator Pravin Patel at Lagoona Park in Reading.
Guinness World Records says Mr Browning’s speed was “measured accurately over a minimum distance of 100 metres”.
Mr Browning, who is the founder of technology startup Gravity Industries, has ambitious plans for his flight suit, describing it as an “entirely new aviation category” when he spoke to the Independent earlier this year.
“This is real-world aeronautical innovation. We are serious about building a world-changing technology business,” he said.
“We stand at the very beginning of what human propulsion systems will do. It’s at the same point as the mobile phone was in the early to mid 80s or the internet of the early 90s.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments