---
title: "New Race Would Force Jetpack Pilots to Careen Through Obstacle Course"
description: "JetPack Aviation is in talks to create a category of air racing specifically for jetpacks, New Atlas reports — what could possibly go wrong?"
date: "2022-01-31"
modified: "2022-01-31"
authors:
  - name: "Noor Al-Sibai"
    job_title: "Senior Staff Writer"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/jetpack-racing"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
tags:
  - "jetpacks"
  - "racing"
  - "the digest"
---

# New Race Would Force Jetpack Pilots to Careen Through Obstacle Course

![JetPack Aviation is in talks to create a category of air racing specifically for jetpacks, New Atlas reports — what could possibly go wrong?](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/jetpack-racing.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Getty Images/Futurism\</em\>*

## Jetpack Racing

An aviation startup called JetPack Aviation is in talks to create a category of air racing specifically for jetpacks, [*New Atlas* reports](<https://newatlas.com/aircraft/mayman-on-jetpacks-jan-22/>). What could possibly go wrong?

CEO David Mayman told the website that his company is working with the Air Race World Championship — the new name of the Red Bull Air Race competition, [which folded in 2019](<https://www.speedsport.com/more/red-bull-air-race-championship-folding/>) — to "create a parallel jetpack racing series" that would see motorsport drivers go head-to-head. Well, sort of.

"Some of the folks they're thinking about are young racers, people with motorcycle experience, [Dakar \[motorsports rally\] experience](<https://www.dakar.com/en/>), that sort of thing," the Mayman told *New Atlas*, adding that he's "been very clear that \[JetPack Aviation will\] get the ultimate say on who gets to fly."

## Rings and Hoops

If it comes to fruition, Mayman said the the race would feature a "series of pylons, rings and hoops" and would take place over water. Pilots, however, won't be sharing the same course due to safety concerns, but could race each other while completing parallel courses.

"The obstacles will be vertical as well as horizontal," he told *New Atlas.* "You'll have to go under this and over that, through this ring and around this pylon."

JetPack Aviation already allows "select participants" to [test its jetpacks](<https://jetpackaviation.com/jetpack-training-lp/>) after just two days of training — as long as they can drop about $5,000 for the honor.

In his interview with *New Atlas,* Mayman admitted that if the Air Race deal goes through he'll have a lot of jetpacks to make and pilots to train.

"At the moment we're talking about launching around September, so we need to build another six machines and train about 30 new pilots, which we'll then whittle down to ten," he said. "It's going to be a mission!"

Though Mayman noted that JPA spends roughly 70 percent of its resources completing the three orders — one for a private consumer and [two for Southeast Asian militaries](<https://newatlas.com/aircraft/jetpack-aviation-first-sale-jb12-military-customer/?itm_source=newatlas&itm_medium=article-body>) — it's unclear if the company will be able to fulfill its promises. For one, we don't exactly how many jetpacks the company has already made or how long it takes to make them.

But we've got our fingers crossed.

**READ MORE:** [Jetpack racing could join this year's Air Race World Championship](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/jetpack-nobody-buy>) \[*New Atlas*\]

**More Mayman:** [*Jetpack Builder Complains That Jetpacks Just Aren't Getting Any Attention*](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/jetpack-nobody-buy>)

## Author
At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/noorfromfuturism.bsky.social>)