Giant Homemade Rocket Slams Into Parked Truck

There is a long history of humans creating rockets of some kind dating all the way back to 13th century China. They launched “arrows of fire” that were launched from catapult-esque machines and propelled by black powder. The first model rockets were invented in by the Carlisle brothers, Robert and Orville, in the 1954. They created a what could be considered the first modern rocket model with a model rocket motor. The brothers sent their designs to G. Harry Stine, who is considered one of the founding fathers of model rocketry.

Stine started a rocket company out of Denver that was called Model Missiles Incorporated. At first they used a fireworks company to produce their rocket motors. Later they teamed up with another company that had developed a high-speed automated machine that pushed production ability up. Estes Industries is one of the major rocket companies still operating today. The models have gotten better over the years but are basically the same as they were in the 1970s, though the failure rate has been greatly reduced since then. The 80s and 90s were especially bad.

The kids and adults in this group have built a giant model rocket and are trying to launch it in a park. This rocket is so big that it barely fits on a standard pallet. I’m curious how high they thought this rocket was going to go. Obviously, it does not quite get the desired height as it falls apart fairly quickly. I feel bad for the guy’s truck that it crashed into, but the truck does not seem that damaged by its rocket encounter. To be fair t to the rocket, it might have been too heavy for the motors they used, causing it’s flight failure.