The Rocketeer Excitement in the Air TV Special

Many of us take flying for granted.

Whether it's a simple flying machine or

a sophisticated aircraft, though, there's

still a kind of magic in our ability to fly.

But, one dream of flight has yet to

be realized; a person flying virtually on

his own without the aid of an airplane.

Just imagine strapping a rocket to your

back and taking off. Impossible you say.

Well, not if you're the Rocketeer.

There's EXCITEMENT IN THE AIR as the

Rocketeer, Bill Campbell, takes you behind

the scenes of this summer's high

altitude movie adventure.

Then meet

real-life rocketeers who soar in flying

devices that mix daring excitement

with danger.

This would appear an awful

lot like strapping a bomb to your back.

And discover the secret of flying a man

without a plane.

It's all part of a

special sneak peek at THE ROCKETEER.

Just who is the Rocketeer? Well, the

character and the story all began in the

imagination of artist Dave Stevens.

It's the story of a guy who is a racing pilot,

a stunt pilot, and he comes upon this

device, this rocket pack, that he has no

idea where it came from, who owned it,

only that when he puts it on, he can fly

without a plane and it's every fliers

dream to be able to do that. It's fantasy time.

The pilot Stevens created is Cliff

Secord. Cliff is just a regular Joe who

doesn't really have any superpowers.

It's the trappings that make him look

like something more than human. He's

basically, every man. He's a pilot

extraordinaire, and that helps him in

mastering this machine.

The rocket pack

is a sophisticated machine, so keeping

the Rocketeer airborne is not as

simple as filling a tank of gas. It takes

a little magic, courtesy of some very

special effects.

Ready rehearsing and action.

Director Joe Johnston

knows how to surprise us. In his

first movie, HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS, he

made us all believe that a kid could be

less than an inch tall. Now, he's faced

for the job of getting the Rocketeer off

the ground.

The most important thing about that, for

me, was that you really believe that this

thing is pushing this guy through the air.

Once cliff finds the rocket, he's

thrown into a world of danger.

Everybody wants the rocket pack;

the FBI, Nazi spies, gangland thugs, even a

Hollywood matinee idol.

I want that rocket Eddie.

That rocket's got to be got, and

he's got to get it for his side. And

his side isn't the good side.

Briefly seduced by Sinclair's dashing

charm his Cliff's best girl, Jenny Blake.

Her infatuation with Sinclair lands her

right in the middle of the chase.

What it all boils down, she, you know, she's been

looking at Neville Sinclair - who is - was Timothy

Dalton's character - thinking he this is

this man is my hero. Throughout the

course of the film, she realizes that he

is a sham, basically, and that Cliff is, is

the real hero.

And the hero comes in an

aerodynamic package.

When you see him

burning through the clouds, I mean, it

looks like a rocket, and it looks like a

human missile.

For Cliff Secord, the ultimate dream of

flight is realized when his afterburners ignite.

It's been a common dream of all

men, everywhere, to try to fly like a bird.

The dream begins in ancient mythology.

Icarus tempted fate by flying too close

to the Sun and plunged to his death.

Leonardo da Vinci's 15 century concepts

were the work of a visionary.

However, the practicality of his

bird-like harness was never tested.

Other creative thinkers have followed.

The laws by which these wings are

manipulated are the old. lost laws of Greek cosmic

motion, which I have rediscovered.

Dreamers, through the ages, have had mixed

results. But undaunted, continue to

develop a variety of flying

contraptions. Most met with limited success.

And it is my strong conviction that by utilizing these inner

universal forces, we shall all be able

to fly like the birds.

I wouldn't touch that if I were you.

Even when the design succeeds,

there's always a learning process before

a during pilot gets it right.

They set it off the first time completely by

accident, it bounces around the inside of

the hangar and trashes the - trashes their

hangar, and then they strap it to a

statue of Charles Lindbergh, that they

steal from the flight school.

He doesn't just, you know, find the thing,

strap it on and fly away.

I think we're gonna need a helmet.

- How do I look? - Like a hood ornament.

I'm gettin' it.

- Why don't you just call 'em rocket boy? - Nah, that's lousy.

- What about that rocket man? - That's worse.

- What about missile man? - Nah, that stinks.

Come on Bigelow, give us a better name.

-How about Rocketeer? - Rocketeer, that's swell.

It is often said that the best way to

understand a person is to take a look at

what that individual has left behind. This

impressive monument to the life of one

man is the largest airplane ever built,

the Spruce Goose, and it sits here in

its immense home in Long Beach,

California. Its creator was Howard Hughes,

a genius whose aircraft design and

experimentation changed the course of

aviation history. To Cliff Secord, the

Rocketeer, Howard Hughes played a very

important role as well. He was, quite

simply, the father of the rocket pack.

Howard Hughes, man of action.

Drop the ladder.

I designed the Cirrus X3.

What was it like ...

strapping that thing to your back?

It was close as I'll ever get to heaven, Mr. Hughes.

Where's my rocket pack, Secord?

Nothing to it, Howard. Just basic aviation.

Heroic flyer, adventurer, and designer,

Howard Hughes was at the forefront of

the aviation world in his day, and the

aircraft he built anticipated the future.

We had several of the space shuttle

astronauts down here, touring the Spruce

Goose, and they pointed out things that

are still used in the space shuttle and

on large aircraft today.

The Spruce Goose

was built nearly 50 years ago, and flown

only once. Yet it is still the largest

winged object ever to have left the

Earth's surface. Just how possible would

it have been for a daring innovator like

Howard Hughes, or any of his

contemporaries for that matter, to have

conceived of and built the ultimate

flying device, a rocket-powered backpack.

He constructed the fastest planes and

broke all of the aviation speed records

of his day, and even though a lot is

known about Hughes, there are still quite a

few mysteries.

There are quite a few

things that Hughes Aircraft developed

that people don't know about. Hughes was

incredibly ahead of his time. He always

tried to be on the forefront and to use

the latest in technology,

If such a rocket pack actually existed,

it would be the type of machine people

might die trying to possess, and would

certainly end up pitting nations against

one another, as the Rocketeer finds out.