First, the Sydney, Australia native was obsessed with going up. In 2005, Pemberton became the youngest Australian to summit Everest, and in 2006 he became聽the third youngest person to climb the Seven Summits鈥攖he tallest mountain on each continent. Then he discovered that coming down could be just as much fun. At the age of 21, he began BASE jumping and skydiving with a wingsuit, a fabric outfit that allows a skydiver to glide for several miles before deploying a parachute. But gliding wasn鈥檛 enough, and he realized his real passion: flying.
For the last five years, Pemberton and a group of engineers and friends have developed the X-Wing, a carbon-fiber wing聽that fits on a skydiver’s聽back. Last year, while testing the X-Wing, Rex flew 15 miles, from Los Angeles airspace to Catalina Island, a feat we documented here. This year, Rex and his team affixed two small jet turbine engines to the X-Wing鈥攅ffectively turning it into a jetwing鈥攁nd ventured down to Baja, Mexico to test out the prototype. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to become a human rocket. We don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going to happen,鈥 says Pemberton. 鈥淎ll sorts of things could go wrong:聽parachute malfunctions, engine fires鈥︹ To find out, you can tune in here on July 28. In the meantime, here鈥檚 a bit more about the human rocket.
Age: 33
Number of Skydives: 4,000, including 3,000 wingsuit dives
Coolest Record: Becoming the youngest Australian and the third-youngest person to complete the Seven Summits at age 23
Weirdest Record: Becoming, perhaps, the only person to give a motivational speech on each of the 7 continents
How It All Started: Topping out on a randomly聽chosen mountain, 19,000-foot Hualca Hualca in聽Peru at the age of 16. 鈥淚 was on a class trip, and we just saw this peak and decided to climb it,鈥 says Pemberton. After that, he couldn鈥檛 stop going on adventures鈥攎ountaineering, BASE jumping, wingsuiting, and now, pushing the envelope of powered flight.
Most Famous Sibling: Caroline Pemberton, Miss Australia 2007 and television host
Favorite Wingsuit聽Flight: Jumping off the north face of the 13,000-foot Eiger in the Bernese Alps. 鈥淚t鈥檚 such an iconic mountain,鈥 says Pemberton. 鈥淚t combines my two favorite things:聽flying and mountaineering. I can hike up the west flank, fly down for three minutes, and be walking the streets of Grindelwald a few minutes later.鈥
Most Practical Achievement: Earning his pilot鈥檚 wings in the U.S. He will soon get a pilot鈥檚 license in Australia as well.
Favorite Way to Relax: Slacklining in his front yard in California
Years Developing the X-Wing: Four. X-1 was a plywood cutout of Rex traced by his sister that he strapped to a wooden cutout of a delta wing. The latest versions, X-12 and X-13, are carbon-fiber wings outfitted with advanced electronics, small jet engines, and a smoke system. Pemberton and a partner hope to start demonstrating them at air shows soon.
On the Future of Jetpack-Powered Flight:聽鈥淭his is something in my life I won鈥檛 put on a shelf. I think we will evolve this and the tech for a long time to come,鈥 he says. 鈥淚 think the future of powered flight is going to be limitless.鈥
Up Next:聽This Fall, Rex is heading back to his native Australia for a yet-to-be-revealed project聽involving big-wave surfing.