This photo shows a $100,000 noisy way to hang motionless 3 feet off the ground.
These things and "flying cars" have been popping up as the Next Great Thing for about 60 years now. They get about as far as these tethered tests and then they go away.
Posted on 09/09/2011 12:44:41 PM PDT by Kartographer
As a kid of 8, 9 and 10 years of age 1948-50, I went to the movies every Saturday morning (my parents divorced in 1950 and I no longer saw movies for awhile) and I think that what I saw was the series described in the following first paragraph. Commander Cody came later.
King of the Rocketmen (1949)
Jeff King (Tristam Coffin) is the mysterious Rocketman, who flies with the aid of his atomic-powered rocket suit. The rocket’s highly-advanced controls, located on a small panel over Rocketman’s chest, are three dials that read “Up,” “Down, and “Speed.” In 12 cliffhanging chapters, Rocketman and his associates prevent the evil Dr. Vulcan from taking over the world.
Commando Cody, Sky Marshall of the Universe (1953)
Originally developed for TV, Republic Pictures first released this film in the theaters in 1953 and later to television in 1955. Each of the twelve 26-minute TV episodes tells a complete story. In them, Commando Cody a.k.a. Rocketman tangles with an alien megalomaniac known as the Ruler. In the final episode, Rocketman captures the Ruler and ends his plot. The show contains stock footage from the three original serials, as well as new footage shot just for the TV show.
I am a bit younger than you. Since I was part of a large family the only time I got to go to the movies when we loaded up the car and went to the drive-in. We didn’t have a TV so I would go over to my neighbors and watch the Saturday morning shows. They had one of those cabinet TVs with the tiny screen. Commando Cody was one of those shows.I think I read somewhere that they reused the same outfit that Rocketman used.
We didn’t have a TV either (there wasn’t a TV in our house until I was 15) but for some reason my parents were willing to give my sister and me the dime each every Saturday to go to the local movie theater. For that dime we got two movies, a serial, a cartoon, the week’s newsreel, and of course, the previews of coming attractions.
Popcorn was a nickel, as were cotton candy and candy bars. So, for a quarter you could have a good old time!
This photo shows a $100,000 noisy way to hang motionless 3 feet off the ground.
These things and "flying cars" have been popping up as the Next Great Thing for about 60 years now. They get about as far as these tethered tests and then they go away.
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