Get Yourself A Rocket Belt

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Mar 22nd 2007 at 6:00PM

I do a lot of talking about personal flight options in the form of private jets and flying cars and the like but this takes personal flight to the extreme. For $250,000 you can get yourself a rocket belt. That's right, a Jetson-style jet pack custom-made for your weight and size. The service includes a fully-tested custom rocket belt, a machine to help you make your own rocket fuel, hands-on training including 10 flights in your own rocket belt and expert support. You probably can't use this to commute to work but you could always rent yourself out for promotional gigs and it is definitely a toy that all your friends won't have.

Tags: gadgets, personal flight, rocket belt, RocketBelt, toys

Filed under: Gadgets, Wings, Preferred

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Moe Mar 24th 2007 6:34AM

They have been around since the 60's originally built by Bell (the helicopter people) and called the Bell Jet Pack. They were very hard to control and extremely expensive to operate.

lancelot2323 Mar 24th 2007 9:13AM

The Bell Pack, mentioned abovewas a minor design change on the jet packs made for NASA. They were hard to control, since you didn't fly, so much as jumps through the air without touching the ground. In the 80's along with the space shuttle came a redisigned jetpack thatdoes more flying and less jumping. Since then the idea has been to make the flights safer, control better, less jumping and more real flying. On the upnote, when I last remember checking the prices for jetpacks in the early 90's. The old bell was down to about 3/4 of a mil and the new ones were a mere 13,000,000 dollars. It's nice to see the price dropped, maybe soon we all can afford one. :-)

Nancy Mar 24th 2007 9:08AM

If this has started up in the 60's, what is taking so long to make this affordable to the consumer, let alone more compact and easier to use. With the technology we have today, compared to the 60's, this should be a shoe in for any company...like buying a car, it has its liabilities! This country is screaming for changes and needs it badly, its the big corporations that will be hurt by this, why do you think we are still stagnet in our pursuits.

onnie Mar 24th 2007 9:30AM

They have had v-8 car engines that get at least 40mph since the early 50's. Ford accidentally sold one to my great grandfather. MY great grandpa sent a letter telling ford how great his gas mileage was and they sent people out to get it from him. They paid him a couple of hundred dollars and he thought that was great. Years later he didn't think it was so great when gas went up. It's funny what we are not aware of. They have already invented ways to clean up the enviroment and make life heathier for all of us, but the money must not be as good as the money is for trashing the earth.

Rick Nader Mar 24th 2007 9:53AM

Man, I love internet babble. More factless BS than every other venue but the corner bar. Is Cliff Klavin the god of internet blogging or what?

I heard that all members in the government already have these jet packs, equipped with cloaking devices gleaned from alien spacecraft. If they let the rest of us know about it, they will be shot. Don't tell anyone...

NAK Mar 24th 2007 10:14AM

This type of travel is not likely to become standard. Or else we would all have had helicopters in our driveways already. The Bell jetpack from the '60s, and like the ones today, still suffer from the same problem... limited fuel capacity equates to limited flight time. Not long enough to travel a distance to make it economically feasible. The fuel is a pressurized hydrogen peroxide mix. Very expensive and very unstable. I agree with the other person who said it is only good for shows and demonstrations. Plus, the fact it is NOT a toy like some people use their high-powered sports cars for. Can you imagine some jerk getting drunk, strapping on his jetpack, flying (if you can call it that) too high and run out of fuel? That’s one trip straight down with a great big sudden stop. Don’t expect to see this at a local dealership near you anytime soon.

Eddie Lucas Mar 24th 2007 10:15AM

I do not trust our government to tell the truth, act in our best interests, or anything else besides waste tremendous amounts of tax payers money.Whether or not they do have jet packs is totally irrelavent to these facts.

dan smith Mar 24th 2007 10:17AM

A "Jetsons" beltpack? Funny those did not have rockets on them. Maybe you should actually watch the cartoon before you write such a sappy piece.

Eddie Lucas Mar 24th 2007 10:16AM

I don't understand why my name is being posted along with my comments. I thought that that is confidential information.

laszlo meszaros Mar 24th 2007 10:35AM

Jet or not to jet? This would be great if it were affordable. But you know how the big corperations are about someone cutting their profits,they will not hear of it. Make them from a kit,sometimes this will work,but as they say its the sudden stop that kills you, first, figure out how not to drop like a rock!

Tailor the Sailor Mar 24th 2007 10:55AM

Eddie Lucas

The Government's on to you....lol

Thomas Mar 24th 2007 11:46AM

OMG don't sell these in Oklahoma. People here have barely mastered driving automobiles! If you get them in the air it will be a rain of Skoal.

Bob Mar 24th 2007 11:54AM

There is also a car that runs on water.... I saw it on "That 70s Show.." shhh.. The government doesn't want us to know about it... In fact they have sent an assassin to kill me for telling you. Good bye. Have to run.

Len Mar 24th 2007 12:17PM

Just another thing to kill those among us who can afford such a contraption.

1stbgdg Mar 24th 2007 1:13PM

Ok, the space-age has gotten personal.
$250000 tob buy, but how much to refill?

Paco Sanchez Mar 26th 2007 1:58AM

I saw this contraption at the 2007 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Califoria. The crowd loved it, and Bob Eubanks had an "aerial orgasm" watching it. I am still waiting for my Dick Tracy watch. This way, when my Jet Pack runs out of fuel, I can call my loved ones and let them see the look on my face when I realize gravity is going to win!

ezmark69 Mar 24th 2007 2:37PM

My great grandpa found a jet pack in a box of cracker jacks. It ran on water using a plastic engine that the big oil companies have been hiding for years through murder, extortion and rape. When cracker jack found out they sent the Men In Black to De-neuralize him but he had his reflectorized contacts on so it actually bounced back on them. he buried this super secret jet pack somewhere in the deserts of New Jersey.

James Post Mar 24th 2007 1:53PM

Fun toy, but the problem is still endurance. The 1960's models got 19 seconds of flight time. As a tactical device -- you take off, you are a low flying sniper target for 15 seconds, you land, and wait for the recovery team to come take the thing off of your bleeding hulk...

thefoosebow Mar 24th 2007 2:04PM

This "Rocket-Belt" or "Jet-Pack" is a fun idea but it will never become a commercially marketed product because the petroleum industry will have nothing to do with it. If the oil tycoons (the petroleum industry) is not in control of any given mode of transportation... it will NEVER see the light of day commercially. Many years ago their was talk about "Super-conductors" being mass produced and replacing traditional automobiles in the way that we know them. Auto's would not require tires anymore because a "super-conductor" is essentially a reversed polarity magnet on the underside of the vehicle using the opposing magnetic force from the earth's core to allow the vehicle to float (fly), at a given height, likely to start off at about 2 or 3 feet to start so people could become used to flying personal transportation vehicles. This would have been the ultimate in transportation progress because we would never need to worry about poor driving conditions such as snow, rain, ice, pot-holes, etc. or spending billions on building new and larger roadways and highways. This technology would reflect the image that, people in the 1950's thought, the 21st century should/would look like but we will probably NEVER see that technology... not in our lifetimes because the petroleum industry would lose BILLIONS of dollars from the loss of the tire industry and the politicians that are "In bed", so to speak, with the petroleum industry would NEVER allow people, even the most qualified, to operate such a vehicle in a personal capacity because they would lose millions of dollars in incentives, perks & kick-backs from the industry.
In short...lol, automobiles and personal transportation devices will always resemble what they are today all because the petroleum industry leaders refuse to let go of the past (a dead technology) and move on to bigger and better things... PROGRESS.

Rick-o Mar 24th 2007 2:10PM

Let's face it people, any jet or rocket pack you strap on your back is going to be DEAFENINGLY LOUD. The wearer might not even be able to hear with headphones on. And lets not forget how having thousands of shrieking, whistling little jets everywhere will improve the quality of our lives. No, until they can make these things near silent they are not going to be in huge demand.
Want my advice?...try magnetics.