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( Rocket pack in air. Pilot Bill Suitor.) The Bell Rocket Belt is a low-power Rocket Propulsion device that allows an individual to safely travel or leap over small distances. It is a type of Rocket Pack . In the start of the 1960s , Bell Aerosystems built for the US Army a rocket pack which it called the "Bell Rocket Belt" or "man-rocket", using Hydrogen Peroxide as fuel. This concept was revived in the 1990s and today these packs can provide powerful manageable thrust. This jetpack's propulsion works with overheated water vapour. A Gas Cylinder contains Nitrogen gas, and two cylinders containing highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide. The nitrogen presses the hydrogen peroxide on a catalyst, which decomposes the hydrogen peroxide to a mixture of Superheated Steam and Oxygen with a temperature of c. 740 °C. This was led by two insulated curved tubes to two nozzles where it blasted out, supplying the recoil. The pilot can vector the thrust by altering the direction of the nozzles through hand-operated controls. To protect from resulting burns the pilot had to wear insulating clothes. It has been used in presentations at Disneyland and at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia . It has also been seen in movies and on television. This was the style of device used by James Bond and in the Lost In Space television series. This type of jetpack was used in the James Bond film '' Thunderball '' of 1965. Likewise this jetpack was displayed in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984. It could carry a man over 9-meter-high obstacles and reached a speed of 11 to 16 km/h. However, its flying time was limited to 20 seconds. A later advancement from the years 1995-2000 could not improve the flying time to any more than 30 seconds. Apart from the extremely limited working time, this jetpack had no way for a controlled landing if its drive failed. This represents a substantial safety risk and differentiates the jetpack from Airplane s and Helicopter s, which can land safely without power by gliding or Autorotation . SPECIFICATIONS General Specifications
Performance HISTORY Wendell F Moore worked in "Bell Aerosystems" as engineer-missileman. He began to work to make a jetpack or rocketpack as early as 1953 (possibly, after learning about Thomas Moore's Work ). Experiments began in the middle 1950's. Making its engine did not present difficulties — the application of hydrogen peroxide was well developed by Missile men. The problem was reaching stable and steady flight, and for this a reliable and convenient system for control of pack in air had to be developed. In 1959 the U.S. Army contracted Aerojet General to conduct feasibility studies on a Rocket Belt and contracted Bell Aerosystems to develop a Small Rocket Lift Device (SRLD). The experimental rig, which worked on compressed nitrogen, was prepared. It had a frame of steel tubes, in which was suspended the tester. Two hinged nozzles were set on the frame. To the nozzles by flexible hose was supplied nitrogen at 35 atmospheres (3.5 MPa) (it it came from big cylinders). The engineer-operator on the ground regulated the supply of nitrogen by a valve, and the tester by levers under his shoulders inclined the nozzles forward and backward, trying to reach stable hovering at a small height. A safety rope was attached from below, so that the rig with the tester could not fly away too high. But the first tests showed that man is a very unstable projectile. Experiment found the best arrangement of jet nozzles relative to the center of gravity, their direction, methods of control of them in flight. In the test "flights" Wendell Moore and other members of his group participated. The first flights were more like short and sharp leaps, but further experiments proved to be very successful — in 1958 on the rig it was possible to reach stable flight to 5 meters for 3 minutes. Specifically, these impressions of success persuaded servicemen to select in favor of the Bell company. Contract with the administration of transport studies provided for production, flight tests and demonstration of a finished SRLD. For the pack they prepared a rocket engine with the thrust of 280 Pounds-force (1.25 KN or 127 Kgf ). The pack with its fuel weighed 125 lb (57 kg). The pack had a solid glass-plastic corset, prepared on the shape of the man's body. The cylinders of fuel and nitrogen were attached rigidly to the corset. Engine installation was fastened hinged and was governed by the levers under the shoulders. The engine thrust changed with the regulator, connected with the handle on the right lever. The handle on the left lever governed slanted nozzles (jetavators). The pilot was strapped to the corset. The tests of the pack began at the end of 1960. Flights were accomplished in a large hangar "on the leash" (i.e. with a safety rope). Wendell Moore completed the first 20 tethered takeoffs personally, checking the functioning of control systems, revealing deficiencies and improving the construction of the pack. On 17 February 1961 , the safety rope caused an emergency. During the flight the pack sharply went to the side and reached the length of the rope, which broke. The pilot with the pack fell to the left side from approximately 2.5 meter height, breaking Moore's Kneecap , and he could no longer fly it. After this, Moore's associate, engineer Harold Graham, accepted the function of Test Pilot ). On 1 March flights were renewed. Graham carried out 36 more tethered test takeoffs, mastering control of pack in air. Finally, pack and pilot were ready to present flight. ( One of the first flights of the Bell rocket pack. Pilot Harold Graham between 1 and on 3 May 1961 ) On 20 April 1961 (the week after Gagarin 's flight) on vacant land near Niagara Falls airport was perfected the first rocket pack free flight in history in the free space and without tether. Harold Graham reached the altitude of approximately 4 feet (1.2 meters), and he smoothly flew forward with a speed of approximately 10 km/h. It flew on the straight 108 feet (less than 35 meters) and it landed. The entire flight continued 13 seconds. Jetpacks and rocket packs ceased to be fantasy. In the subsequent flights Graham mastered the technology of control of the pack and mastered the more complex methods of piloting. He learned to fly in a circle and to turn on the spot, he flew over streams and cars and ten-meter hills and between trees. In all from April through May were perfected 28 flights. Wendell Moore attained absolutely reliable work from the pack and confident piloting from Graham in order not to go wrong before the public. In the course of tests these maximums were achieved: duration of flight 21 seconds; flying range 120 meters; height 10 is meters; speed, 55 km/h. For a timetable of Bell Rocket Belt flights go to http://www.rocketbelt.nl/site.html and click on ''Bell Rocketbelt'' and go to the bottom of the page. ( "Rocketman Salutes His Commander in chief". Pilot Harold Graham salutes to the President after successful landing to the coast.) ( IMAGE: Harold Graham over water, Fort Bragg , NC, USA 12 October . 1961) On 8 June 1961 , the pack was for the first time demonstrated publicly — before several hundred officers on the military base Fort Eustis . Then followed other public demonstrations, including the famous flight in the court of the Pentagon before 3000 colleagues of the military department, which observed with enthusiasm how Harold Graham flew over. Gene Shoemaker wearing a Bell rocket belt while training astronauts.]] On 11 October 1961 , (according to other data, 12 October ) the pack was demonstrated personally to President Kennedy in the course of exponential maneuvers on the military base Fort Bragg . Graham took off from an amphibian LST and flew over over a strip of water, and landed several meters in front of the President and dashingly returned honor to the commander-in-chief of the U.S. Army. According to the evidence of eyewitnesses, the President controlled flight, after opening his mouth from consternation. Harold Graham with the operating command travelled over many cities of the USA, they visited Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Germany, France and other countries, each time with the enormous success demonstrating the rocket pack in action before the wide public. But the army was disappointed. The maximum duration of flight of rocket pack was 21 second, distance 120 meter. In this case the entire command of the service personnel accompanied the pack. During the 22nd was expended 5 U.S. gallons (19 liters) of scarce Hydrogen Peroxide . In the opinion of servicemen, "Bell Rocket Belt" was more a spectacular toy than an effective means of transport. The army spent for the Bell Aerosystems contract $150,000 dollars; Bell spent $50,000 more dollars. The servicemen refused to further finance the SRLD program, and the contract was finished. A small video with record of one of Harold Graham's flights can be downloaded here . Size 436 kbyte, size asf, needs Windows Media Player . OPERATING PRINCIPLE ( USA patent No 3243144, 1966 rocket pack "Bell Rocket Belt".) All existing rocket packs are based on the construction of the "Bell Rocket Belt" pack, developed in 1960-1969 by Wendell Moore. Moore's pack has two major parts:-
( Operating principle of rocket engine) In the figure the hydrogen peroxide cylinders and compressed nitrogen cylinder are designated (pressure c. 40 atm or 4 MPa). The pilot turns the engine thrust control handle, and opens the regulator valve (3). Compressed nitrogen (1) displaces liquid peroxide of hydrogen (2), which on the tubes enters the gas generator (4). There it contacts the catalyst (thin Silver plates, covered with a layer of Samarium Nitrate ) and is decomposed. The resulting hot high-pressure mixture of steam and gas enters two pipes, which emerge from the gas generator. These pipes are covered with a layer of heat insulator to reduce loss of heat. Then the hot gas enters the jet nozzles (Laval nozzle), where first they are accelerated, and then expand, acquiring Supersonic speed and creating reactive thrust. The whole construction is simple and reliable; rocket engine has not one moving part. PILOTING The pack has two levers, rigidly connected to the engine installation. Pressing on these levers, the pilot deflects the nozzles back, and the pack flies forward. Accordingly, raising this lever makes the pack move back. It is possible to lean the engine installation to the sides (because of the ball and socket joint) to fly sideways. Control with the aid of the lever is somewhat rough; for finer control the pilot uses a handle on the left lever. This handle governs the tips of the jet nozzles. The tips (jetavators) are spring-opposed and can with the aid of the flexible thrusts be slanted forward or back. The pilot inclines the handle forward or back and slants both nozzle tips at the same time to fly straight. If pilot must turn, he turns handle, to slant the nozzles in opposite directions, one forward, another back, turning the pilot and the pack around its axis. By the combination of different motions of lever handles the pilot can fly any way, even sideways, to turn, rotate on the spot, etc. The pilot can control his rocket pack's flight differently, by changing the Center Of Gravity of his body. For example, if we bend the legs and raise them to the stomach, the center of gravity will move forwards, and pack will be inclined and it will also fly forward. Such a control of pack, with the aid of the body, is considered incorrect and is characteristic of novices. Most experienced pilot Bill Suitor asserts that during the flight it is necessary to hold legs together and straight, and to control flight by the pack's levers and handles. This is the only way to learn to competently pilot the pack and to confidently carry out complex aerial maneuvers. On the right lever it is the "gas handle". In the fixed state it completely shuts the fuel regulator into the engine. Turning the handle counterclockwise, the pilot increases the engine thrust. During servicing of the pack with compressed nitrogen the handle is fixed in the closed position with a Shear Pin . The timer is on the same handle. Since the pack has fuel for only for 21 seconds of flight, it is necessary to know when the pack will run out of fuel, so that the pilot is not 10 meters above the ground with his tanks are empty. Before the flight the timer is set for 21 second. When pilot turns the handle for the takeoff, the timer begins counting and will give second-by-second signals to a buzzer in the pilot's helmet. In 15 seconds the signal becomes continuous, telling the pilot that it is time to land. SPECIAL FEATURES OF FLIGHTS OF THE BELL ROCKET BELT ( The first flight of the pack was on 20 April 1961 , air temperature 4degC, air humidity 80%. Harold Graham is wrapped in clouds of condensed vapor.) The pack's pilot wears shielding overalls made of thermoresistant material, since the exhaust jet and the engine's pipes are very hot. The crash helmet (which has inside it the signal buzzer) is put on. The rocket thrust-chamber's supersonic exhaust jet makes a deafeningly loud sound (by force to 130 Decibel s), more like a shrill screech than the roar of an aeroplane's jet engine. The rocket pack is a very noisy flight vehicle. As a rule, the jet exhaust is transparent and not visible in air. But in cold weather the water vapor, which is a large part of the steam-gas mixture, condenses soon after it leaves the nozzle, and then a cloud of water fog enwraps the pilot. Specifically, for this reason the very first tethered flights of the Bell Rocket Belt were carried out in a hangar — the reason was winter. The jet exhaust is also visible if the fuel is not decomposed completely in the gas generator, which occurs if the Catalyst works poorly or the hydrogen peroxide is Impure . RB2000 ROCKET BELT In 1995 the construction of the rocket pack was improved. Three engineers from Texas, Bradley Wayne Barker (Brad Barker), Joe Wright and Larry Stanley, after inviting professional inventor Doug Malewicki, built the new version of the rocket pack, which they named "RB 2000 Rocket Belt". The "RB 2000" pack in essence repeats the construction of Wendell Moore, but is made from light alloys ( Titanium , Aluminium ) and Composite Material s, has increased fuel stock and increased power. As a result its maximum duration of flight is increased to 30 seconds. On 12 June 1995 Bill Suitor flew the RB2000; afterwards he gave the RB2000 back to Bradley Wayne Barker , who drove away with it, and it has not been seen since. "No, I did not drive away with it, I stayed and partied" (Brad Barker). A Lawsuit resulted. For more information go to http://www.rocketbelt.nl/site.html and click on ''RB 2000 Caper''; also go to http://www.rocketbeltcaper.co.uk . The Bell Rocket Belt was successful and popular but was limited in its potential uses to the Army due to limited fuel storage. As a result, the Army turned its attention to missile development, and the Rocket Belt project was discontinued. THE ROCKET BELT IN POPULAR CULTURE The Bell Rocket Belt became fairly famous. It had a small role in the James Bond movie Thunderball in 1965, the television series Lost In Space , and 1966's The Ghost And Mr. Chicken . It has also appeared at the 1964 New York World's Fair , Disneyland , the Olympic Games and other major events. See Jet Pack for more information. EXTERNAL LINKS
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