An Australian entrepreneur has flown around the Statue of Liberty wearing what he claims is the world's only jetpack.

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David Mayman and his team at Jetpack Aviation say he is the first person to "prove the viability of personal flying devices".

"Mayman's flight was the culmination of a 10-year challenge to design and build a light-weight, wearable flying device that will allow people to take to the skies," the statement read.

Mr Mayman told triple j's Hack program it is a unique experience.

"Flying a jetpack is pretty hard to describe to anybody, very few people have done it," he said.

"All you've got is your hands out there on the handles, and then the rest of the world. It's not like flying a helicopter or an aeroplane where you've got all that infrastructure around you."

He said at the time of his New York flight, he was too focused on piloting to take it all in.

"I was just doing my job the best I could, and then when I landed it was this huge sigh of relief," he said.

"I sat down and had a beer and thought, 'OK, that's done, what's next?'

"It's literally the beginning. People tell me that I've come so far in 10 years, but we're at day one of another 20-year adventure."

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The JB-9 jetpack uses scaled-down airline engines, is small enough to "sit in the back seat of a car" and has no wings or other aerodynamic aids.

The company claims the JB-9 can reach 10,000 feet (3,050 metres) and a top speed of 102 kilometres per hour and fly for about 10 minutes.

The JB-9 is not available commercially, and Mr Mayman warned it would be expensive if it entered the commercial market.

"[They are] never going to be as cheap as a mid-range car," he said.

The company says the next version, the JB-10, is already in development.

Long history but not all jetpacks are 'jetpacks'

The Martin Jetpack in flight. ( martinjetpack.com )

Jetpack Aviation's claim to have the world's only jetpack relies upon a strict definition.

"As far as we're concerned, a jetpack is something that you can take off and land from vertically," Mr Mayman said.

"So if you can imagine walking out your front door and being able to take off from your porch."

Jetpack Aviation added: "When someone else develops a jet engine (not a gasoline-powered ducted fan that weighs several hundred of kilos) backpack that the pilot can jog down the road with — then we will change the title."

The Martin jetpack, being developed by a New Zealand company which raised $27 million on the Australian share market and is taking orders for delivery in 2017, uses gasoline-powered ducted fans.

Using two 200-horsepower engines, the Martin Jetpack can fly as high as 1 kilometre, carry a 120-kilogram payload in addition to the pilot, and has an endurance of 30 minutes.

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The Martin jetpack is being marketed to emergency first responders as well as farming, agriculture, filming, mining and other commercial uses.

In the 1960s, Bell Aerosystems developed a personal jetpack using a hydrogen peroxide-fuelled rocket with two hinged nozzles for control.

The Bell Rocket Belt was made famous when Sean Connery as James Bond used one in the 1965 movie Thunderball, and was also featured at the opening ceremonies of the 1984 Olympics Games in Los Angeles and the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Swiss "jetman" Yvves Rossy, a former fighter pilot, flies a strap-on wing powered by small jet turbine engines.

In 2008, he successfully flew 35 kilometres over the English Channel at speeds of up to 200kph.

In 2009, turbulence forced him to ditch in the sea while attempting to cross the Strait of Gibraltar, a 38-kilometre trip which would have been the first intercontinental flight using a jetpack.

In 2013, he circled Mt Fuji in Japan nine times.

Last week the airline Emirates released a video showing Mr Rossy flying in formation with fellow jetman Vince Reffet and an Airbus A380 over Dubai.