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Jeff Overley -
There was James Bond. There was the Rocketeer. And now there is Bob Wilson, self-described "handyman, inventor, whatever," who is inspiring awe by donning a water-powered jet pack and soaring high into the Orange County sky.
The 51-year-old Seal Beach man for a few weeks has been buzzing around Huntington Harbour, where tests of his "H20 Jet Pack" have led to rampant rubbernecking among motorists, impromptu crowds among passersby and at least a little attention from a police helicopter. "The coolest thing ever," said Costa Mesa resident Margie Do, who pulled over to snap photos after seeing a man flying in circles while propelled by twin columns of surging saltwater. "Really the coolest thing I've ever seen," added Huntington Beach resident Staci Guillen, who had also pulled over and who watched for two hours as Wilson's friends zoomed about the bay.Various versions of the contraption have long been the stuff of fantasy for woefully wingless humans. Bond glamorized the concept in "Thunderball," the armed forces have studied military applications, and at the 2007 Tournament of Roses Parade, a "rocketman" blew away onlookers with 25 seconds of airborne action. Wilson conceived his gizmo less than one year ago after seeing a similar device (known as Jetlev) advertised on YouTube. It's priced at a cool $99,500, putting hydro flight out of reach for all but the very wealthy or, in Wilson's case, the very clever. "I said, 'Well, shoot, I'm going up to the farm in Idaho in August,'" Wilson recalled. "'I'm going to build one out of muffler pipe.'"
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