Gerard has done a great job on building his own rocket belt.
One of the unique things about his belt is that Gerard is
using a ball valve to control the fuel flow, unlike most of
the other belts that I have seen in the past that use the
plunger type valve. Similar to the one used on the Bell Rocket
Belts. Gerard has used a bell crank to slow down the movement
of the valve. This set up maybe is the answer to a controlled
flight. Without using the complicated and expensive to make
plunger valve.
My congratulations goes out to Gerard on his first test firing
of his rocket belt on December 31, 2006. The tests were successful,
even with the cold temperatures and high humidity the catalyst
pack decomposed the peroxide. Gerard promised to keep us informed
as he contently tests his rocket belt and his first test flight.
in the near future.
Click on pictures
below to enlarge
Gerard fueling his rocket belt using eye protection
and proper clothing. |
Gerard twists the throttle and the rocket belt comes
to life. |
Gerard in a cloud of steam. If you close you can see
the peroxide has decomposed as it exits the nozzles. |
|
|
|
These are the first pictures of Gerard practicing on a tether I predict that Gerard will be the next one to fly with out a tether.
