The idea
Bell built several versions of the rocket POGO under contract with the NASA as a possible civil and military transport, because it was intended to be used as a means of transportation on the moon during the Apollo missions as well as a army transport over things like ravines; however NASA decided not to use the POGO because of the risk of a crash, and decided to send the Rover car instead of the POGO.
Bell had demonstrated that all the versions of the POGO flew in Earth atmosphere.
Development
The Proposed one man POGO flying platform was originally set out for transporting moon astronauts as an extension to Bell's Rocket back pack technology project. It developed from the plans for the Bell Rocket Belt, an early jet pack prototype built by Bell in the early and mid 1960s.
The device
The first POGO was a single place model with a vertical tube with a platform for the pilot to stand on with the rocket engine and peroxide tanks at the front. The pilot would be, controlling it from a controller panel like on the Bell Helli-vector.
A second POGO was the two place POGO that was able to carry a passenger in front and it was controlled from the back, this POGO had the rockets and tanks between the two pilots.
A last version of the Bell POGO was the "reverse" POGO built with the rocket engine and the peroxide tanks at the back and Bill Suitor was the only Bell pilot to fly the reverse POGO.
It was known to have been tested in 1967 and reportedly in 1966 and 1968.
The "Basic US GI factor"
It was assumed by the US Army that a 19 year old recruit with only basic training must be able to use the kit after a brief chat and couple of demonstrations without killing or seriously injuring him self or others. It was considered too skillful for a basic GI to use.
Stats
- Crew- 1 and 1 passenger.
- Range- short.
- Speed- low.
Also see
- Avro Flying Car
- Bell Jet Belt
- Bell Helli-vector
- Bell Helli-jeep
- KGB Chita Jet Belt
- Bell Rocket Belt
- RB2000 Rocket Belt
- North American X-15
- Space Race
- Lockheed X-17
- Bell X-1
- North American X-15
- Operation E.M.I.L.
- Hiller Flying Platform
Links
- https://www.pinterest.com/pin/263390278179170137/
- http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewvideo/37053/The_Bell_pogo_craft/
- http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/33674-strange-planes-the-bell-pogo-video.htm
- http://rocketbelts.americanrocketman.com/pogo.html
- http://www.pogo.org/blog/2015/02/20150223-the-unredacted-truth-about-spare-parts-overcharges.html?referrer=https://www.google.co.uk/
- https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nV0Osu4FMu0C&pg=PA120&lpg=PA120&dq=Bell+Pogo&source=bl&ots=NyE8-ifCI-&sig=VfiI0Z3NY4RBoioizdgUN_2G0sk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwioys-NvKXLAhXERhQKHRB_AJ0Q6AEIQjAI#v=onepage&q=Bell%20Pogo&f=false
- http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-illustrated-history-of-jet-packs-1703841619
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Pogo
- http://dbpedia.org/data/Bell_Pogo.ntriples