Here is a bit of history on my project. The hole idea started
after seeing some old Bell footage of a stadium flight on
tv. Probably a foot ball game or something. That is all it
took and I was hooked! I thought the rocket belt was the coolest
gadget. That was back in 1997. I did some research on the
web about the concept. At that time finding little information
and things moved at a snails pace. In fact you had one of
the very first web sights about hydrogen peroxide rockets.
I recall looking at the photos you had on it. In 2001 I started
construction of a belt, and Im still constructing. At that
time I had no equipment or skills to build with. I talked
with Arvil Porter about building a motor for the belt. I finally
got down to see him, and he was hired to build the rocket
chamber and nozzle assembly. At that time I just had nothing
to work with. Since then I bought a little bit at a time as
I could afford to. I have done the rest of the work my self.
Im self taught with the welding, and machining side of things.
All the milling work is done on a bench top mill retrofitted
for cnc. And my lathe is just a cheep 9x20 hobby lathe. I
really need to upgrade it. The mill works ok for what it is.
The real problem for me is time. Im away during the week for
work. This pretty much only lets me tinker on the weekends.
I work for a small underground utility construction company.
We do work for the electric company, and cable company. Most
of my day is spent putting wires in the ground or hooking
them up. It’s way off from what I really like to do.
The pay is good and has help to build this thing. It’s
been a real learning experience. If I put all the time into
school that I have put into the rocket belt. I probably could
have been a doctor by now! Not as much fun thought. Im also
at the point now where I can design my own nozzles, chambers,
and size catalyst packs. Pretty much all of the information
on H2O2 motor design has come from Mark Wells. He has been
kind enough to provide me with some 1960's documentation that
has been very helpful in learning the science that makes these
motors work. Mark and I also traded some design ideas on the
throttle valve back and forth for over a year. the project
so far! At this point I plan on concentrating my own fuel.
The shipping cost on this stuff is just crazy and a bit out
of reach for me at this time. Im currently working on a small
test motor concept. It will be useful in testing the catalyst,
and distillation process on a small scale. That is pretty
much where things are at. In the end I would really like to
hire out the belt for events and such. It would be nice to
get a bit of $ back on it.
Jeremy is close to testing and flying his own Rocket Belt.
His workmanship is incredible. He promised me that he would
keep me up to date on his progress. I predict he will reach
his dream and will be flying soon.
