OTTAWA -- An Ottawa-area inventor’s latest gadget is bringing a popular winter pastime to the next level.
Brydon Gibson, a 24-year-old engineer with a passion for tinkering with spare parts, developed a self-described jetpack that can help people reach speeds of up 30 kilometres per hour while ice skating.
“I’ve been calling it a jetpack, I know it’s not a jetpack, but it’s the easiest thing to call it other than ‘propeller weed whacker thing,’" Gibson told CTV News.
The “propeller weed whacker thing” is basically a wooden frame that attaches to the skater’s back, with a small motor inside that Gibson found online and an airplane propeller.
There’s also an old bicycle brake to control the throttle.
“A lot of bystanders don't really notice it,” Gibson said. “They just think its kind of a normal thing for a guy in the country doing stupid things."
There are still some kinks in the product that need to be ironed out, namely that it takes two people to get it started.
For now though, Gibson’s friends don’t seem to mind helping out.
“I think it’s a blast,” said Gibson’s friend Paolo Campanaro. “I love skating and I love being out on the river, so if I don’t have to use my leg muscles, it’s kind of awesome."
This isn’t Gibson’s first invention, having built his own guitar, a rock climbing wall in his garage and a working hovercraft last summer.
“I want to help inspire other people to do fun things like this,” he said.
