"Jetpack" mastermind Glenn Martin was
always hell-bent on danger, one of his school friends says.
Dunedin man Peter Mackenzie attended Kaikorai Valley High
School with Mr Martin (48) and remained friendly with him
when the pair studied at the University of Otago in the late
1970s.
Mr Mackenzie yesterday described Mr Martin as a super-smart
"adrenaline junkie".
"He loved dangerous things - motorbikes, kayaking,
white-water rafting, rally cars. He was always making things
. . . building kayaks or putting on the crash helmet and
rallying."
Mr Martin's love of danger was combined with exceptional
intelligence.
"He was always the smartest kid in the class, and was a
little bit naughty too, but I guess that was just your
typical boy."
Mr Martin's efforts at making things were not always without
drama.
As a teenager, he nearly burned down his parents' Taieri Rd,
Dunedin, home while building a kayak in the basement
workshop,when he left a welding torch on and he went for a
cup of tea.
A biography on Mr Martin's company website says he
disassembled and put back together his mother's broken vacuum
cleaner at the age of 3, proudly plugging it in and blowing
the "entire electrical grid of his town".
Mr Mackenzie said Mr Martin was "always tinkering", usually
in his electrician father's workshop.
At university, he showed a particular talent for microbiology
and left Dunedin after graduating in the early 1980s to work
in Christchurch in sales and marketing for Ego
Pharmaceuticals.
By that time, his interest in aero-dynamics, particularly in
ducted fan propulsion, was well-developed.
He had already designed a prototype flying machine using
ducted fan propulsion before he left university.
