With so much progress being made in the world of science and technology, it is not surprising that we would see some very strange developments from time to time. Power suits capable of flight are not all that uncommon these days. A new Guinness World Record for the fastest speed attained in such a suit was recently recorded by English inventor Richard Browning – or as most people know him, the real-life Iron Man.

Human Flight is Coming a lot Closer

One of the things our species has never been able to successfully achieve on our own is flight. More specifically, we can’t fly by ourselves without relying on helicopters, airplanes, kites, and whatnot for even brief amounts of time. Flying on demand whenever and wherever we want is not something most consumers will get to enjoy anytime soon. Then again, Richard Browning recently showed it can be done, even though there are certain risks involved.

More specifically, Browning made a lot of media headlines for developing his very own Iron Man suit. Although this may sound like an overstatement – he doesn’t look as technologically advanced as Tony Stark in this regard – all of the functionality seems to be there. Browning’s power suit is capable of flight over pretty decent distances and at a shockingly high speed. In fact, his suit recently set a new speed record which was promptly recorded in the Guinness World Record book.

The record was set at Lagoona Park, Reading, where Browning achieved a top speed of 32.02 miles per hour while flying in his power suit. It took three runs to do so successfully, as this power suit isn’t without its flaws whatsoever. The first and second attempts failed due to a mistimed run and even a drop into a lake. This just highlights how difficult it is to not only create a working power suit but also control it effectively. Achieving such a high speed with nothing to break one’s fall if things go awry is pretty scary, to say the very least.

As of this week, Browning is the proud holder of the Guinness World Records title for “fastest speed in a body-controlled jet engine power suit”. As this is a brand new title, it’s not entirely surprising that few people will have heard of it before. It will be interesting to see whether or not anyone will try and take the crown from Browning in the future. There will be plenty of people who will look at this feat and think they can improve upon his power suit in general.

Rest assured Browning will not sit idly by. His goal is to ensure his power suit achieves a speed of several hundred miles per hour. This is a speed which is achieved by wearing a metal suit, which will not entirely protect one’s body from crashing into things. Daedalus, as the suit is known, should be capable of flying at thousands of feet as well. It sounds incredibly dangerous, which would explain why there are only a handful of people planning to work on similar technology.

Daedalus’s further development will be funded through parent company Gravity. The firm has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep working on the suit’s design and improve its functionality. The plan is still to create a commercially viable suit in the near future, which will effectively give birth to flying humans. An interesting future lies ahead in this regard, assuming things ever get to that level.