The ‘‘pilot'', Michael Van der Voiet, would have both feet on the ground at the airshow and would fly the company's jetpack as a drone, Martin Aircraft Company vice-president of flight operations Michael Read confirmed this week.
For Glenn Martin, who invented the jetpack in Dunedin 34 years ago, it is another sign the company that bears his name is moving away from his dream.
He is concerned the ground-breaking personal flying machine he once hoped would become as ubiquitous as the jet ski is becoming just another drone.
Mr Read, on the other hand, insists the drone version of the jetpack is merely broadening the device's utility and appeal.
‘‘It's where the future of aviation is ultimately, so we need to make sure we are in the appropriate position to handle where the market's going, and that is a mix of manned and unmanned aviation.''
But Mr Martin is convinced the company he parted ways with last year is following a ‘‘process'' that will ultimately lead to piloted jetpacks being dropped.
‘‘It is not what I intended and it is also not what the marketplace wanted.''
Mr Martin believed a major factor in the company's shift in emphasis was that it would be easier to produce an unmanned jetpack.
‘‘Building something that you don't have a person in has far less risk ... if it falls out of the sky, you are not going to kill somebody.''
Mr Martin said it was ‘‘psychologically easier for a corporate board'' to become just one more drone-building company.
‘‘To be the first person into the manned jetpack market, it was an opportunity to make lots of money.
‘‘Being the 301st company in the drone market is an opportunity to lose money.''
Asked why the jetpack would not have a pilot on board at the airshow, Mr Read said there was nothing unusual about a jetpack flying with a pilot on board, something demonstrated in China recently.
‘‘Everyone's seen the videos, but not everyone's seen it fly unmanned, so we are demonstrating that.''
Using the jetpack as a drone was ‘‘very impressive'', he said.
The 320kg machine could carry a 120kg payload and he expected jetpack drones would have applications in agriculture, power line work and search and rescue.
‘‘So you have a manned aircraft, you have a number of these aircraft tethered to your aircraft electronically, and you could fly in somewhere, render assistance, strap someone to an aircraft and fly them out.
‘‘They would effectively be a passenger on a drone.
‘‘There's nothing else like that in the world.''
Putting the jetpack to such uses was being tested but would not be demonstrated at the airshow, Mr Read said.
While Mr Martin no longer has the ability to direct the company's future, he holds 15% of the shares and wishes the company well.
‘‘I would be absolutely delighted if the Martin Aircraft Company was producing a product the customer wanted to buy and was dramatically successful in the marketplace.
‘‘I'm just like every other shareholder, with my fingers crossed.''
Mr Martin said the company had a long list of potential customers.
‘‘But the bottom line is at the moment they don't actually have a jetpack, they don't have a product to deliver. So everybody's waiting ...''
Mr Martin, who grew up in Wakari but moved to Christchurch to develop the jetpack, said when he was not on the speaking circuit offering his views on entrepreneurship, he was in the workshop ‘‘developing some stuff'' he was, as always, unwilling to talk about.
He will fly himself to the airshow tomorrow in the new two-seater ‘‘light sport aircraft'' he uses to ‘‘buzz around the country''.
