The Disneyland TV program aired Disneyland Around the Seasons on December 18, 1966. The episode contained this great clip of a man wearing a jetpack (or rocketbelt), flying around Disneyland. The entire program can be found on the DVD Disneyland: Secrets, Stories & Magic.
See also:
Jet Pack Video (1966)
Rebuilding Tomorrowland (1966)
Bell Aviation's Rocket Pack (1964)
Jet Flying Belt is Devised to Carry Man for Miles (New York Times, 1968)
Where's My Jetpack? (2007)
Tomorrowland, Disneyland Opening Day (1955)
How Do You Like Them Apples?
The Tomorrowland That Never Was (1965)
Rocket to the Moon (1967)
What was the chick with the glasses saying?
ReplyDeleteI think she swore.
I will confess to being really, truly jealous.
ReplyDeleteI remember those long way back last century :-)
ReplyDeleteAnd still ..
Alex
http://www.mediaplanetaria.com
Jetpacks are so inherently cool. Shame about the 30 second endurance...
ReplyDeleteIs it just my imagination, or did that guy with the jet pack have a worried expression on his face as he was taking off?
ReplyDeleteThat video is both fantastic and so sad at the same time. I could have been one of those kids watching that....and you're right I think the pilot did look a little worried. I wonder if his name is lost to history?
ReplyDeleteWoody Allen used one of this jetpacks in the movie Sleeper. I confess it was one of the funniest scenes I've ever seen!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, his name is not lost to history. Bell had a very small number of rocket belt pilots, and most of them are still alive. I've met a couple.
ReplyDeleteThe three guys on the right in this picture:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/beamjockey/250976670/
all flew rocket belts for Bell. The fourth flew POGO platforms derived from the rocket belt.
Harold Graham, first person to fly a rocket belt untethered, had left the program by the time of the Disneyland flights.
I think the pilot in the film is either Bill Suitor or the late Robert Courter. Comparing with other photos of the time, or asking old hands at Bell Aerospace, could identify him with certainty.
There was one jetman in the opening ceremony of Olympics in LA'84.
ReplyDeleteThe Rocket Belt Pilot is Bill Suitor - he also flew (along with Bell Aerospace colleague Gordon Yaegar) for Sean Connery in the James Bond Movies, Lost in Space, and Suitor flew the Nelson Tyler Rocketbelt in the opening ceremonies of the 1984 Olympic ceremonies. As for the worried look on his face - he had a rocket on his back. He has most recently been a Director with Jet Pack International (Eric Scott flies the GoFast JetPack) and is currently testing Nino Amarena's Thunderpack. He is an international consultant for Rocket Belt Pilot Training.
ReplyDeleteThe author of this article on Altair VI wants to know if the jetpack shown at Disneyland in 1966 is the same as the one being tested here in Arizona for the Apollo lunar missions:
ReplyDeletehttp://altairvi.blogspot.com/2008/12/wheres-my-jetpack.html