Rocket man

Flight Journal, Jun 2001 by DiGregorio, Barry E

Suitor and Tyler conducted a series of successful Rocket Belt flights for the entertainment industry; here, Bill Suitor describes a typical Rocket Belt flight:

"When the Rocket Belt equipment truck arrived at the site, the fueling apparatus, Rocket Belt and Rocket Belt service stand were unloaded. Prior to the actual fueling, you made a full pressure check for any leaks or flaws in the Rocket Belt system's fuel tanks and hoses. This was accomplished by pumping in nitrogen gas and then checking for any leaks by placing soapy water on the fittings and hoses. If there was a leak, tiny bubbles formed around the affected area. The fuel supply drum was made of pure aluminum and held thirty gallons of hydrogen peroxide-enough for about six flights. The fueling process was never taken lightly because ninety-percent-pure hydrogen peroxide can cause fires and severe burns if it contacts any organic material-especially human skin. Only essential personnel were permitted near the Rocket Belt during fueling operations. Eye protection, Dacron clothing and flight suits, rubber gloves and rubber boots were worn at all times by the two-person fueling team. Extreme care was taken to ensure that contaminants did not get into the peroxide fueling hose; pure distilled water was used to flush out any foreign particles that may have entered the tubing and to wash down anything that came into contact with the peroxide.

"Once the Rocket Belt had been fueled, as with any professional aircraft maintenance, a preflight safety check was conducted. This checklist included making sure all the straps that attached the Rocket Belt to the pilot were snug and comfortable, checking to see whether the throttle handle was fully closed with the safety-locking pin in place, and slowly opening the nitrogen shutoff valve that led from the tank to the regulator. Once all this had been accomplished, the pilot opened the peroxide fuel valve beneath the fuel-pressure gauge on the right side of the Rocket Belt and watched the pressure build to an operating point of five-hundred and seventy psi, never to exceed five-hundred and seventy-five psi. At this point, you were almost ready for takeoff.

"Because the Rocket Belt contained only twentyone seconds' worth of fuel, an alarm system alerted you when fuel was getting low. This allowed time to begin descending. You did not want to find yourself eighty feet above the pavement with your fuel exhausted. To prevent this from happening, we used a timer on top of the throttle handle that ran on a six-volt dry-cell battery. You set the timer by going past the thirty-second mark and then returning it to the twenty-one-second mark. The pilot activated it by twisting the fuel throttle. After ten seconds, the timer set off a vibrating buzzer at one-second intervals for fifteen seconds; then it vibrated steadily. The warning buzzer was in the back of the pilot's helmet which, along with providing obvious protection for the head, also helped to suppress the tremendous sound generated by the release of steam from the rocket nozzles during flight.