astronomy

Richard Browning (inventor)

Richard Browning (inventor) is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Richard Browning (inventor) rather than just read about it. In short: Richard Browning is a British entrepreneur, inventor and the creator of the Daedalus Flight Pack "Jet Suit". He is the Founder and Chief Test Pilot of the aeronautical innovation company, Gravity Industries, the company that designs and builds the invention.

Key takeaways

Richard Browning (inventor) belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Richard Browning (inventor) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Richard Browning (inventor) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Richard Browning is a British entrepreneur, inventor and the creator of the Daedalus Flight Pack "Jet Suit". He is the Founder and Chief Test Pilot of the aeronautical innovation company, Gravity Industries, the company that designs and builds the invention.

Education Browning was educated at Queen's College, a boarding and day independent school for boys (now co-educational) in the county town of Taunton in Somerset, followed by Cardiff University, where he initially studied engineering and then, after one semester, switched to exploration geology.

Career Browning set out in 2016 to experiment with the concept "using the human mind to balance and control the body in flight structure", adding power in the form of micro gas turbines (jet engines). His development journey, culminating in the first flight in November 2016, was the subject of a 2017 TED talk and the "Taking on Gravity" publication. Browning received initial investment and launched the company Gravity Industries in April 2017 together with WIRED magazine and Red Bull. Public demonstrations of the invention included over 100 flight events across 33 countries. He was referred to as a "real-life Iron Man" by several media outlets. TIME magazine featured the jet suit as amongst the best inventions of 2018, and has been displayed to Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg. Gravity Industries was recognised by Guinness World Record for the fastest flight in a body-controlled jet suit in November 2019 at 85 mph (135 kmph). Gravity Industries received a $640,000 investment from Tim Draper and Adam Draper after the first public demonstration outside Draper Associates & Boost VC offices at Hero City in San Mateo. Gravity Industries has facilities in the UK (Frome, Somerset) and the US (Meadows Field Airport, California). The company works with Special Forces mobility, search and rescue, and medical rescue to implement the jetpack into their operations, such as that demonstrated during the NATO Mountain Warfare Exercise conducted in December 2022, where Gravity Industries participated in an exercise with demonstration of its jet suit, the first time the technology was used during a NATO mountain warfare exercise. In 2020, the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) tested Gravity Industries' jet suits on the hilly terrain of the Lake District in the UK, cutting a 25-minute hike to a 90-second flight. The company made headlines again in 2021, when the British Royal Navy and Royal Marines spent three days testing the jet suits with Commando Royal Marines off the UK's southern coast, to help soldiers quickly board ships at sea, which is typically done via helicopter. Gravity Industries also performs TV & media work, commercial events & displays, brand collaborations, STEM initiatives, and public flight training & flight experiences. The company was planning to launch the Gravity Race Series in March 2020 in Bermuda, but this was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Gravity's jet suit was named the Daedalus suit, a name chosen by Browning's son when he was aged eight, in reference to Daedalus of Greek mythology, although as of 2022 the name is not used on the company's website.

Race Series The first ever jet suit race, a partnership between the Dubai Sports Council and Gravity Industries, took place in February 2024 in Dubai, with eight contestants from eight countries. It was the first sporting contest in the world where opponents fly in the air without the aid of an aircraft but instead rely on jet engines strapped to their backs to navigate a predetermined course.

Personal life Prior to founding Gravity, Browning was a Royal Marines reservist for 6 years and an oil trader with British Petroleum for 16 years, where he discovered and implemented major new technologies winning the BP Group innovation Award. He is married and has 2 children. Browning released his inaugural publication, Taking on Gravity: A Guide to Inventing the Impossible from the Man Who Learned to Fly (2021, Bantam: ISBN 978-1787630895) in 2021.

References

External links Gravity Industries Official Website

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Richard Browning (inventor)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Richard Browning (inventor) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Richard Browning (inventor) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Richard Browning (inventor) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Richard Browning (inventor)

In research: Richard Browning (inventor) appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Richard Browning (inventor) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Richard Browning (inventor) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1979 births, 21st-century British inventors, Alumni of Cardiff University, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Richard Browning (inventor) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Richard Browning (inventor) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Richard Browning (inventor) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Richard Browning (inventor) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Richard Browning (inventor) in simple terms?

Why does Richard Browning (inventor) matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Richard Browning (inventor)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Richard Browning (inventor).