References in Popular Culture
The concept of jet packs appeared in popular culture, particularly science fiction long before the technology became practical. Perhaps the first appearance was in pulp magazines. The 1928 cover of Amazing Stories featured a man flying with a jet pack.
When Republic Pictures planned to do a superhero serial using its renown "flying man" scenes as used in The Adventures of Captain Marvel, the character of Captain Marvel was tied up in litigation with the owners of the character of Superman. For its postwar superhero serial, Republic used a jet pack in King of the Rocket Men. The same stock special effects were used in other serials.
While several science fiction novels from the 1950s featured jet packs, it was not until the "Bell Rocket Belt" in the 1960s that the jet pack caught the imagination of the mainstream. Bell's demonstration flights in the U.S. and other countries created significant public enthusiasm.
Two episodes of the 1964 animated series Jonny Quest featured characters using jet packs (referred to as "rocket belts").
In 1965 the jet pack appeared in the James Bond movie Thunderball when 007 played by Sean Connery used a jet pack in the pre-title sequence to escape the bad guys and rendezvous with his French contact. The pack was piloted by Gordon Yaeger and Bill Suitor. The jet pack had a brief cameo in Die Another Day. In the same year of 1965 it appeared in the pilot episode of Lost in Space with jet pack stock footage appearing in the television series several times. The jet pack from Thunderball was also featured, though somewhat anachronistically, in the 2005 video game adaptation of From Russia With Love
A Bell Rocket Belt was featured extensively in the 1976 CBS Saturday morning children's live action TV show Ark II.
A rocket pack (unknown make) was seen in an episode of the TV series The Fall Guy.
A jet pack was also the basis of an episode of Gilligan's Island.
A rocket pack flight famously occurred on the opening of the summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984, piloted by Bill Suitor, who landed opposite the presidential platform, where Ronald Reagan sat.
Jet-packs appear in the popular video game Halo: Reach. On September 13, 2010, during a Halo: Reach launch party at London, England's Trafalgar Square, stuntman Dan Schlund of Texas's "Rocketman" firm (which provides jet packs for use by marketing and sporting companies) donned a Halo-esque "Spartan armor" suit and a jet pack and maintained flight for 30 seconds before landing safely.
Jetpacks also appeared in other video games, including Tribes, Giants: Citizen Kabuto and Armed and Dangerous.
NCIS: Season 7, Episode 11 "Ignition". An investigation into the death of an aviator and an experimental jet pack is hindered by a lawyer who appears to have a vendetta against NCIS. Agent Timothy McGee is also revealed to have an obsession with jetpacks and jetpack technology.
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