A new rocket belt

Flight Journal, Apr 2003 by DiGregorio, Barry

The thousands who have been awed by a Rocket Belt (RB) demonstration no doubt ask why it isn't in every U.S. garage, police and fire department. Considering that it uses a nonexplosive, non-toxic fuel-hydrogen peroxide (H^sub 2^O^sub 2^)-it would seem to be an excellent recreational, emergency and rescue vehicle. In 1953, however, when the late Bell Aerospace assistant chief engineer Wendell F. Moore conceived the concept, he could hardly have guessed that the short, 21-second flight of his invention would not be lengthened for nearly 49 years!

Longer flights weren't possible until 1995, when a group of Texan entrepreneurs and former NASA engineer Doug Maliwicki (an expert in H^sub 2^O^sub 2^ propulsion), built an RB they called the "RB-2000." Made of light composite materials, with the piloting skills of Bill Suitor, RB-2000 flew for 24 seconds in March.

In September 2002, Eric Scott treated football fans at the University of Buffalo to a spectacular 28-second RB flight, flying RB pilot Kinney Gibson's famous machine-the one featured during singer Michael Jackson's world tour.

Expect a new RB flight record to be set soon. Swiss medical and chemical engineering consultant Arnold Neracher has been fascinated by hydrogen-peroxide rocket power ever since 1988 when he wanted to build H^sub 2^O^sub 2^ rocket engines for dragsters. He says his new RB will fly for 38 seconds with a light 21-liter fuel tank. If he is successful in flying for 38 seconds, he will set a new world record. Neracher also makes his own hydrogen-peroxide fuel, and using a ceramic-based catalyst he says is "secret," he hopes to increase its purity to 92 percent and achieve even longer flights. -Barry DiGregorio