Inventor Richard Browning Brought a Flying 'Iron Man' Exosuit to Comic-Con

Whether intentional or not, inventor Richard Browning's flying suit technology looks a lot like what viewers have seen in Marvel's 'Iron Man' trilogy.

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

Marvel’s recent Iron Man reboots have raked in nearly a billion dollars in box office sales, at least in part by awing viewers with futuristic technology. Inventor Richard Browning appears to have inadvertently taken a page out of Iron Man protagonist Tony Stark’s book by bringing a jet-powered exosuit to San Diego, California Thursday for Comic-Con International.

Browning’s suit is officially named “Daedalus,” likely after the Greek mythological father of Icarus (not the first time that name has been used for a project involving flight), and despite the striking similarities to Iron Man, Browning says he wasn’t aiming for a Marvel knock-off.

“It’s cool because I like the Iron Man film,” Browning told Player.One in a recent interview. “It’s a cool concept, and it’s nice having built something that’s not too entirely dissimilar. We could have painted it gold and red, and that would have made the point that we are really trying to aspire to recreate it, but no. It has nothing to do with comic books. We are trying to make it our own way. It’s just accidental it ended up looking and behaving like Iron Man.”

While in San Diego, Browning displayed the suit in action, flying roughly three feet above the ground. Aside from some protective gear, the suit is comprised of two jet-powered engines on each arm and another jet-powered engine strapped to Browning’s back to provide balance. There’s also the matter of what the inventor says is $15,000 worth of augmented reality equipment to display the suit’s data in front of him much like Stark’s “heads up display.”

For those unimpressed by a man paying thousands of dollars to fly about as high as the tailgate of the average pickup truck, Browning can actually take the suit much higher.

He told Player.One’s Autumn Noel Kelly he’s taken the suit up to 30 feet high (accidentally, he admits) at speeds of 40-50 miles per hour.

Browning’s next challenges are making the longer, faster flights less physically taxing; finding the technology to complete horizontal takeoffs; and figuring out a solution for surviving a potential engine failure without plummeting to the ground below.

Latest in Pop Culture