Harold M. Graham

Jan. 28, 1934 — Oct. 22, 2009

Harold M. Graham passed away Oct. 22, 2009. No services are planned at this time.

Mr. Graham, known to many as "Uncle Pete," was the original "Rocketman." Growing up, he attended the prestigious private school, the Nichols School, in Buffalo, NY, widely known as a school for gifted students. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, in 1965. After working at Bell Aircraft, first as an engineer on the Mercury spacecraft project, America's first man-in-space projects, and later as the first Rocket Belt pilot, Mr. Graham earned his master's degree in business administration at the University of Rochester, NY, in 1969, and his MS Accountancy at the University of Illinois in Urbana, IL, in 1970, along with the CPA.

He was the proud father of sons Mitch and Scott.

Mr. Graham has lived in Crab Orchard, TN, on his idyllic plantation estate, and was the owner-operator of Cumberland Air Charter, home based at the Crossville Memorial Airport, flying his Piper PA23-160 "Apache."

In early 1961, shortly after he had resigned as an engineer, Graham was approached by Bell Aircraft engineer Wendell Moore. Moore was the inventor of the Single Rocket Lift Device (SRLD) which evolved into the "Rocket Belt," perhaps best known through James Bond movies and the "Lost in Space" TV series. Bell had the contract to develop the reaction control system for the Mercury capsule and it was also the basis for the Rocket Belt, so Graham was familiar with the technology, and he was the perfect age to test the Rocket Belt for the Army, as its targeted users were Army recruits. Moore asked Graham if he would consider returning to Bell to become their test pilot for the Rocket Belt. Graham agreed and commenced training, first on a tethered Rocket Belt inside a hanger until his flying technique was perfected, and then venturing outside for the first free flight.

According to Graham, "The 20-man crew assembled at 7 a.m. on the morning of April 20, 1961, at a vacant [and undisclosed] area just north of the Bell Aircraft plant on Niagara Falls Blvd., and adjacent to the Niagara Falls Municipal Airport [IAG]. An FAA official had closed the airport for 30 minutes. The weather conditions of 40 degrees F and 80 percent humidity did not make for 'good visuals' with the rocket operating, as we soon discovered. Nonetheless, a 108-foot straight flight line at an average altitude of four feet made for a small snippet of history."

Graham went on to do many demonstration flights for the military, but most impressive was his flight before President John F. Kennedy at Fort Bragg, NC, in early October 1961 as part of project "WARN" (We Are Ready Now), a combat-readiness demonstration by the Army and the Technical Air Command. According to a report in the Buffalo Evening News, "Mr. Kennedy was described by an Army officer sitting near him as 'wide-eyed and open-mouthed — just like a kid.'"

In the fall of 2006, the First International Rocketbelt Convention was held at the Niagara Aerospace Museum in Niagara Falls, NY, right where Graham had first flown the original Rocket Belt. Graham and Millie flew to Niagara Falls in the Apache and met the other living Rocket Belt pilots for the first time. More men have walked on the moon than have flown a rocket belt or jetpack.

Graham was a sensation; dressed in his original Bell Rocket protective suit, helmet, with a "rocket belt" he made of PVC, along with his ukulele, he spoke to the crowd who had traveled from the far corners of the world in hopes of meeting him, and then performed his original song, "My Rocket Belt Daze." His song became an international YouTube phenomenon, and Graham was once again in great demand. Posted videos of his original flights started to turn up on YouTube and hundreds of other Internet sites. He and Millie returned to Niagara Falls the next year for the second International Rocketbelt Convention, held in conjunction with the Niagara Falls Air National Guard Air Show, "Thunder Over Niagara."

Graham became a pop icon, celebrated on such radio shows as Dr. David Livingston's Space Show and other local talk radio programs.

Hood Funeral Home and Crematory, LLC (www.hoodfuneralhome.com) was in charge of the arrangements.