[ale] Extreme OT, rocketry: was Engineering Archaeology

[lollipopman691]

Match heads & a CO2 cartridge were how one of my high school friends lost three fingers off his right hand.  I was taught early not to try this.

-- CHS

On Sunday, January 25th, 2026 at 2:08 PM, Steve Litt via Ale <ale at ale.org> wrote:

> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, 19 Jan 2026 20:50:45 +0000
> lollipopman691 via Ale ale at ale.org wrote:
> 
> > Whoa! IIRC, launching model rockets against ground targets was
> > explicitly verboten. And in fact still is (
> > https://www.nar.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=114127&module_id=669234
> > ), NAR Rule 8.
> > 
> > GFY!
> 
> 
> Let me tell you about my buddy Johnny's ultra-safe rocketry. Rumor
> was he'd take a hollow metal fence post for a picket fence, block one
> end, drop in a lit M80 firecracker followed by a golf ball, and aim a
> trajectory toward the house of someone he didn't like, a quarter mile
> away.
> 
> I never saw that but I did see this when Johnny and I were 15:
> 
> He drilled out a used CO2 cartridge, filled it with match heads, and
> tried to light it. Nothing happened. So he poured lighter fluid into
> the space not taken by matchheads and lit it. The exterior flamed for a
> second and then went out. So against my warning, he refilled the lighter
> fluid and took a propane torch to the whole thing. Nothing happened.
> 
> Bored, I walked around his yard. A few minutes later I happened to be
> about 10 feet away from him when simultaneously I heard a Krakatoa
> volume explosion and felt a sting on my ankle, which was now bleeding.
> The next sound was shrieks of laughter from Johnny, whose face was
> bleeding in six places from the same shrapnel that had sliced my ankle.
> Johnny ALWAYS laughed maniacally after blowing something up.
> 
> Maybe someday I'll tell you how Johnny brought a harpoon gun to middle
> school.
> 
> Toldja it was extremely OT :-)
> 
> SteveT
> 
> Steve Litt
> Spring 2023 featured book: Troubleshooting Techniques of the Successful
> Technologist http://www.troubleshooters.com/techniques
> 
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