NEW
July 2011
ALR Piranha 1/72

Edgley Optica 1/72

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Canadair CL-84
Dynavert

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Back in stock
Dassault
Balzac V 001


EARLY JETS ENGINES
DOUGLAS 671
Von Braun
MARS PROJECT 1969
REPUBLIC XP-84
REPUBLIC
P-47 jet engine project

REPUBLIC XP-47J

LOCKHEED
L-133
SWORDFISH
concept
plane of 1946

GOLDEN COMET
concept
plane of 1946

HORTEN X Entwurf I

MORE
'46 resin kits:
HORTEN
KAMPFJAGER
HORTEN XVIIIa
America
bomber project
HORTEN XVIIIb
America
bomber project
Me P1106
"T" tail
Me
P1106 "Rocket"
HORTEN IX Early design
HORTEN XIII
HORTEN IIIf
EMW
A9
and
EMW
A10
EMW
A6
RuhrstahlKramer
X4
Lippish
LP-12 Entwurf IV
NOVA
pre-Saturn design
BELL
RoBo

Soviet
R-7 Sputnik, 1/72

Soviet
R-12b
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Rocket
Belt
1/12 scale - 56 eur
1/35 scale - not avalable
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available FEB 2014; up: the boxart
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mail
me to order |
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This kit was first released in 1999. At this time there was
almost nothing about the belt on the internet.
Hopefully, William P.Suitor provide me some precious
information and I was then able to make the kit.
The kit is now released again almost as it was in 2000.
To assemble this kit, your will need to make some elements by yourself with metal wire and foil.
Renaud, January 2014
Below: clic to enlarge |
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Up: the assembled 1/12 scale kit |
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Below: the 1/12 scale instruction sheet
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Below: the 1/12 parts |
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Below: the 1/35 parts |
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Below: clic to enlarge |
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From 1999:
In 1945, aeronautical engineer Wendell Moore
joined Bell Aircraft to work on the X-1B experimental rocket plane. That
particular aircraft used rocket thrusters to complement its control surfaces
in the thin air of the upper atmosphere. The thrusters ran on hydrogen
peroxide.
Yes, hydrogen peroxide. The same hydrogen
peroxide used to bleach hair and disinfect wounds. For when hydrogen peroxide
is put in contact with a silver catalytic agent, the peroxide quickly decomposes
into steam that can be directed through a nozzle create a powerful thrust.
It's a cheap, powerful rocket fuel.
Soon, Moore was flirting with the idea of
using this same propulsion system to propel single human beings through
the air Buck Rogers-style. Under contract with the US Army, Moore and Bell
Aircraft devoted their skills and creativity to the creation of a "Small
Rocket Lift Device" -- the Bell Rocket Belt. Standard oxygen bottles
became the fuel tanks and spare components from Mercury spacecraft were
used to construct the propulsion system. The propulsion system and the
tanks were fixed on a fiberglass corset that was strapped to the pilot's
back. Pressurized nitrogen forced the peroxide over a silver-coated catalytic
screen, creating the thrust. Yaw control was at left hand and throttle
at right, both in the form of motorcycle-type rotating grips.
Fully fueld, the pack weighed 120-pounds
and allowed for 21 seconds flight. A vibrating device was installed on
the back of the helmet to warn the pilot when it was time to return to
the ground.
On April 20, 1961, Harold Graham became
the first person fo fly by Rocket Belt. His flight lasted all of 13 seconds
and covered 112 feet. But although the Belt was developed for the military,
it was not a practical personal transportaotin system. Its range was far
too short, the rockets were very noisy, and the hydrogen peroxide fuel
was too unstable and corrosive for field use.
In the end, the Bell Rocket Belt found its
greatest use as a "stunt" device, showing up the 1964 New York
World's Fair, the first Superbowl, in the CBS TV series LOST IN SPACE,
and perhaps most memorably, in the opening sequence of the 1965 James Bond
movie THUNDERBALL.
With special thanks to William P. Suitor
for his precious help.
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