New book charts history of jetpack as used by James Bond

Buck Rogers owned one, and so did James Bond 007. The amazing rocketbelt - a rocket-powered flying backpack - was a science fiction gadget that actually became reality, being built and flown by brilliant inventors and fearless pilots.

The first working rocketbelt was developed and tested by Bell Aerospace for the US Army in the early sixties. Eventually deemed impractical for military use, the device became a lucrative entertainment attraction, appearing in the James Bond movie Thunderball, and at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Elsewhere, wannabe rocketeers attempted to build their own rocketbelts. Most notably, three friends from Houston, Texas, built the superb Rocketbelt 2000, but their obsession with the machine shattered their friendship and set in motion an astonishing chain of events involving deception, assault, a bizarre kidnapping, a ten million dollar lawsuit, and a horrifically brutal murder.

The Rocketbelt Caper: A True Tale of Invention, Obsession and Murder by Paul Brown ( Lulu Press, $17.99 ) presents the complete history of the amazing rocketbelt, and reveals the incredible true story of the Rocketbelt 2000 caper. It also features an instructive Building a Rocketbelt essay, plus photographs.

“I’ve long been amazed by rocketbelts in movies and on television,” says author Paul Brown. “It was fascinating to learn that people around the world are building and flying these things, and maybe one day we’ll all have one!”

The Rocketbelt Caper: A True Tale of Invention, Obsession and Murder by Paul Brown is published in paperback by Lulu Press and is available from Amazon now.

Thanks to `JP` for the alert.

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