When I was a kid, I dreamed of flying — not as a passenger, but as a pilot. Not with wings, but with power strapped to my back. Something that looked more like Iron Man than an airliner.
On September 5th, 2025, that dream took flight — quite literally.
At a secluded test site tucked into the English countryside, I became one of roughly 800 people on Earth to fly the world’s first real, fully operational jet suit — created by Gravity Industries, a British startup pioneering human flight in a way no one else has.
This wasn’t a simulation. No CGI. Just raw jet power, strapped to my arms and back, lifting me off the ground for 14 controlled seconds in a hover that felt more like something out of a science fiction film than real life.
Here’s what it was like.
The Dream of Flight Reimagined
Gravity Industries was founded in 2017 by former Royal Marine and inventor Richard Browning, who asked a simple but radical question:
“What if the human body could fly, with nothing more than personal jet propulsion?”
The result was the Gravity Jet Suit — a 1,300 horsepower, gas turbine-powered system that delivers vertical lift using micro-jets mounted on each arm and a backpack. The suit allows true 6-degrees-of-freedom flight, meaning the pilot controls direction, altitude, and orientation entirely through body movement — no joystick, no autopilot, no magic glove.
Since its debut, the Gravity Jet Suit has flown across five continents, wowed military audiences, appeared on major TV shows, and even entered early-stage search-and-rescue trials with emergency services.
But what’s often left out of the headlines is just how difficult, humbling, and transformative it is to actually learn to fly one.
Entering the Arena
When I arrived at Gravity HQ, I knew this wasn’t going to be a joyride.
Flight is earned here — through repetition, coordination, and a growing relationship with the machine.
My day began with briefings, safety checks, throttle orientation, and ground training. I learned how to balance the thrust vector, brace my legs, and tilt for directional control. I studied videos of other pilots. I memorised emergency cut-off procedures.
Then came the rig. Each arm unit weighs several kilos. The backpack houses the turbines. The harness connects your spine to the roar of mechanical thrust.
As I throttled up for the first time, the vibrations surged through my core. My feet stayed planted, but my body remembered that ancient urge: up.
14 Seconds of Everything
Several hours later, after incremental training flights and ground practice, I throttled up for real.
And I flew.
For 14 seconds, I hovered above the platform, mid-air, stable, locked in. The noise faded. Time slowed. I wasn’t strapped to a machine — I was the machine.
This wasn’t just about flying. It was about taking control of something impossibly powerful and mastering it. It was about becoming the thing you once thought was impossible.
Those 14 seconds were among the most unforgettable of my life.
More Than Just a Flight
The flight was the climax — but the story here is bigger than me.
This project is about:
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British innovation at its finest
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Technology that inspires the next generation of engineers, aviators, and thinkers
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The human spirit, daring to push its limits in an age where machines do more and humans do less
The documentary footage — which launches October 2025 — captures every stage of this journey. From the nerves to the triumph. From the turbine whine to the hover. It’s cinematic. It’s raw. And it’s very, very real.
What’s Next?
This isn’t the end of the story — it’s the start of a much bigger one.
If you’ve ever dreamed of flying, or wondered what the future of personal aviation might look like, I can tell you with certainty: it’s already here. And Gravity is leading the way.
Thank You
To the entire Gravity Industries team — your passion, support, and commitment to pushing human boundaries made this possible.
To everyone reading this: keep aiming higher. The future isn’t something we watch from the ground — it’s something we build, chase, and fly toward.
Stay tuned — the sky is just the beginning.
