Flyboard inventor cannot fly without pilot's licence

A Frenchman who invented a revolutionary board that allows him to 'hover fly' has been banned from using it because he does not have a pilot's licence.

Franky Zapata fears his design could be banned for years. “To be able to use it when you are not a pilot, certain governmental rules must be applied - but the establishment of the rules could take years”.

The Flyboard Air, launched a couple of days ago by the Zapata Racing group, was hailed by some as like Marty McFly’s hoverboard in Back to the Future but when it caught the attention of the authorities they immediately listed it as an aircraft and banned it from public use.

Mr Zapata’s group has been working on similar machines for years and since 2011 they have created different types of water-powered hoverboards.

“But this is new technology,” he said. The jetpack is filled with kerosene, and the board is equipped with turbo reactors, which is what allows it to fly.

It also comes with a remote control that mainly works on the tricky task of stabilisation – a job that took the group more than four months to resolve.

Mr Zapata told Connexion many foreign companies were interested in the product and were making offers but if the French authorities do not allow Flyboard Air to grow then he might as well go elsewhere to continue developing it.

For safety reasons, using the Flyboard Air is limited to those with an average of 50 hours of experience with the water board and all demonstrations are done over water to avoid injuries.

However, the Flyboard Air is claimed to be capable of flying to 10,000ft and reach speeds up to 150kph… but at present it can only be used for 10 minutes at a time.