Youngstown's 'Rocket Man' William Suitor shares jetpack stories in new memoir

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (WKBW) — A Youngstown man who once strapped a rocket to his back and flew into history has written a memoir about his life as a jetpack test pilot.

William Suitor, known as the "Rocket Man," was one of the test pilots for Bell Aerosystems' famous rocket belt — a jet-powered device developed in the 1960s that could carry a person into the air for 21 seconds.

I met up with Suitor at the Niagara Aerospace Museum in Niagara Falls, where two of Bell's rocket belts are on display.

"This is a rocket, 800 to 1000 horsepower rocket that you wear on your back. It was invented by Wendell F. Moore from Youngstown, New York. He worked for Bell and he came up with the idea. He was working on the Bell X1 program when Chuck Yeager was having trouble at high altitude controlling the plane because the air was so thin," Suitor said.

WATCH: Youngstown's 'Rocket Man' William Suitor shares jetpack stories in new memoir

Suitor's connection to the rocket belt began in 1964, when he was 19 years old and living next door to Moore.

"And I used to cut his lawn. Hey kid, do you want a job? It's that simple," Suitor said.

Suitor flew the jet belt more than 1,000 times over the course of his career. He served as one of the stunt doubles for Sean Connery in the James Bond film Thunderball, flew into the first Super Bowl, and made a surprise appearance at the opening ceremony of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

"When I opened the throttle it like exploded off of the thing there. And I went down to the fifty-yard line, turned looked up at President Reagan in the black glass in front of me, and then landed and saluted the president.... My wife was waiting down at the track," Suitor said.

The crowds always loved the show the test pilots put on, Suitor said.

"No matter where we went, the crowd was blown away by it," Suitor said.

Suitor said he documented his experiences along the way, knowing a book was eventually in the works.

"Every time we'd finish a job, I'd write a little story about it, knowing one day I'm gonna write a book," Suitor said.

The memoir, co-authored by Karla Schweitzer, is titled One Hell of a Ride and goes on sale Tuesday on Amazon.

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