You remind me of this childhood tale,
tdracer:
Those of you who indulged in the science/art of model rocketry certainly remember Jetex and Estes. The first item in the Rocketeer's Pledge was "I shall not place explosive payloads in my rockets." The Hell you say - what a great idea!
My genius/crazy cousin and I used to harvest gunpowder by sawing shotgun shells in half. We made pipe bombs and cannons that shot pinball-sized bearings through the siding of our barn. We lived to tell the tale.
Next we perfected our own special recipe black powder. We stuffed a paper towel tube with about a half-pound of of "Griffely" (for that is what we called the high explosive admixture). We mounted the payload section onto a proprietary-design Estes rocket: two stages, the first utilizing the most powerful solid boosters available and the second with Jetex igniter fuse to blow the payload.
Our launchpad was a five-acre pasture on our farm. The site was a good 1,000 feet from the rambling farmhouse, which featured a glass-enclosed sunroom which overlooked the pool, putting green, corral, and flower garden.
We lit the fuse and ran away. Seconds later, our mighty booster took flight off of its launching rod with a loud whoosh and a cloud of smoke. As it reached an altitude of ~60 feet, the aft stabilizer fins parted and the unguided guided missile took on a flight trajectory parallel with the Earth's surface. Stage two ignited on schedule. Accelerating furiously the sumbitch headed straight for the patio directly in front of the sunroom! Deals with God were made. For a second or two, the only sounds where the chortling of red-winged blackbirds and the see-saw buzzing of cicadas. Silence. Then...KABOOM! Ear-shattering! Tinkles of falling glass! No bird- or bugsound! Our homemade high explosive had shattered three 8' x 8' glass window-walls. My cousin and I were filled with the pride of our chemical and aeronautical prowess, but with the terror of our grandfather's ire. To say he was highly displeased doesn't even come close. He gave us an ass-whuppin’ so severe that I still sit down with an abundance of caution, more than 60 years later. I am still here to tell the tale. Barely!
- Ed DuPont von Braun
