FANCY wearing seven-league boots? It鈥檚 no fairytale: a team of Russian
engineers has developed 鈥淨uickwalker鈥� boots, which allow you to leap over
obstacles 2 metres high, take 4-metre strides and reach speeds of up to 60
kilometres an hour.
鈥淪peed is not the ultimate goal. Their main function is to reduce the
muscular exertion required to run,鈥� says their inventor, Viktor Gordeyev, one of
a small team of designers from the State Aviation Technical University at Ufa in
the southern Urals.
Each time the wearer takes a step and puts their weight on one foot, an
engine mounted in the heel of the titanium and aluminium frame on that boot cuts
in. This drives a hydraulic piston that propels the wearer forward. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a
great feeling,鈥� says Gordeyev. 鈥淵ou get the sensation of flight.鈥� Small tanks on
the sides of the boot hold 40 grams of fuel, enough for a journey of 20
kilometres.
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While the team made their first prototypes in 1972, the Soviet military
classified the design as secret in 1985 and ordered 100 trial pairs for Red Army
infantrymen to wear as they supported fast-moving tank units. Army generals
later rejected the design and the boots were declassified in 1990.