A SALISBURY inventor has flown a letter across open water to the Isle of Wight. 

Richard Browning, from Harnham, flew in his jet suit from Hurst Castle in Lymington to Fort Albert in Freshwater, a distance of 1.3km, or just under a mile, and is the furthest Richard has ever flown.  

Richard, has been described as the "real-life Iron Man", and was following in the footsteps of German entrepreneur Gerhard Zucker, who tried to send mail by rocket to the Isle of Wight in 1934.

He has previously demonstrated the jet suit in the grounds of Salisbury Cathderal, an event attended by more than 250 students from across Salisbury as part of a special programme promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). 

Richard, who is the founder and chief test pilot of city-based aeronautical firm Gravity Industries, hopes the suits (costing around £500,000 each) will later be turned into a racing series, and has recently performed demonstrations in Shanghai and Boston.

He said: "It is hard to truly describe what it [flying] is like."

Video courtesy of the BBC