My buddy Jim's 1960s water rocket toy

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kleinbauer
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My buddy Jim's 1960s water rocket toy

Post by kleinbauer »

In 1960 my buddy Jim who lived across the street from me received a water rocket toy. I owned a really well made water/pump model. It was the best until Jim's Aunt Doris gave him the greatest toy I have ever seen. Remember I said 1960! The rocket had a Base, First and second stage. You had to drive stakes into the earth to secure the base to the ground. You connected a garden hose to the base. Then the first stage was added. Next the second stage got clicked into the first stage. Adjusting for my age and memory I would say the first stage was 24" long and 3" in diameter. The second stage was 8" to 12" long with a three or more rubber nose cone. You turned on the water and waited 3 minutes. Then you got on the end of a 20 foot long string. When the string was pulled the first stage jumped up 5 to 10 feet. The second stage went about 500 feet up and 200 down range. I am being consevative with the height!!! We would have kids stand in several place so the rocket could be spotted as it came down. We only shot it a few times the first day.
The second but fatefull day Jim came home with older kids from school. Jim hooked up the rocket as a few of them mocked the toy. When the string was pulled there was nobody who did not think the toy was COOOOL! (As we used to say) Several launches ended with the rocket landing on Jim's roof. That was it! We would have to wait until his dad got out the ladder. Coming home from school the next day I could see the rocket sitting on the roof from the hill behind his house. Several days later we had a bad storm. When I came by I noticed the rocket was gone! I thought Jim's dad had gotten it down. Nope!
Several months go by and I am over in another guys garage. At that time Jim and *** were not talking. As I was talking to *** I could see the rocket on ***'* garage wall. I asked him where he found it. He said he found it in Jim's backyard. I told *** the whole story. I then went over and told Jim where the rocket was. We went over there but *** denied ever seeing the rocket.
So there is my story and I am sticking to it! I have seen all kinds of PVC and soda bottle rockets. But I am telling you in 1960 there was a toy that had a two stage garden hose powered rocket. I was just wondering if anybody else had one of them back then?
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Tim Chen
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Re: My buddy Jim's 1960s water rocket toy

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kleinbauer wrote:In 1960 my buddy Jim who lived across the street from me received a water rocket toy. I owned a really well made water/pump model. It was the best until Jim's Aunt Doris gave him the greatest toy I have ever seen. Remember I said 1960! The rocket had a Base, First and second stage. You had to drive stakes into the earth to secure the base to the ground. You connected a garden hose to the base. Then the first stage was added. Next the second stage got clicked into the first stage. Adjusting for my age and memory I would say the first stage was 24" long and 3" in diameter. The second stage was 8" to 12" long with a three or more rubber nose cone. You turned on the water and waited 3 minutes. Then you got on the end of a 20 foot long string. When the string was pulled the first stage jumped up 5 to 10 feet. The second stage went about 500 feet up and 200 down range. I am being consevative with the height!!! We would have kids stand in several place so the rocket could be spotted as it came down. We only shot it a few times the first day.
The second but fatefull day Jim came home with older kids from school. Jim hooked up the rocket as a few of them mocked the toy. When the string was pulled there was nobody who did not think the toy was COOOOL! (As we used to say) Several launches ended with the rocket landing on Jim's roof. That was it! We would have to wait until his dad got out the ladder. Coming home from school the next day I could see the rocket sitting on the roof from the hill behind his house. Several days later we had a bad storm. When I came by I noticed the rocket was gone! I thought Jim's dad had gotten it down. Nope!
Several months go by and I am over in another guys garage. At that time Jim and *** were not talking. As I was talking to *** I could see the rocket on ***'* garage wall. I asked him where he found it. He said he found it in Jim's backyard. I told *** the whole story. I then went over and told Jim where the rocket was. We went over there but *** denied ever seeing the rocket.
So there is my story and I am sticking to it! I have seen all kinds of PVC and soda bottle rockets. But I am telling you in 1960 there was a toy that had a two stage garden hose powered rocket. I was just wondering if anybody else had one of them back then?
Welcome to the forum! That's an awesome story. I'm afraid I've never heard of a water rocket quite like the one you describe because I've only ever seen the kind that you have to pump up with air. It does sound like a feasable way to launch a water rocket and hopefully you or someone else will be able to come up with a way for us to make a rocket that works on a garden hose like that. I can see where this could be a lot of fun.

One question I have for you is if you recall how the staging mechanism worked. You see, reliable staging is sort of a "holy grail" to us water rocketeers. I have been refining my own design for a few months and many people have done different designs over the years. If your toy rocket uses a different method it might give us a better way of doing it.

Thanks for telling the story! That was cool!
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kleinbauer
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Post by kleinbauer »

There is a modern version of the rocket but it is under a recall. I was hoping to find a picture of the one from 1960 and who made it.
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Brian
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Post by Brian »

hello, ive never seen a garden hose water rocket, id like to here more about it.
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kleinbauer
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Post by kleinbauer »

Put garden hose rocket in Google and start reading.
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Tim Chen
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Post by Tim Chen »

kleinbauer wrote:Put garden hose rocket in Google and start reading.
I was about to ask how to find it but Brian beat me to the punch. This is cool. Thanks for pointing it out!
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kleinbauer
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Post by kleinbauer »

Modern version of what Jim had. It is under a recall. The one Jim owned looked like a real NASA rocket.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml01/01158.html
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Tim Chen
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Post by Tim Chen »

kleinbauer wrote:Modern version of what Jim had. It is under a recall. The one Jim owned looked like a real NASA rocket.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml01/01158.html
It sucks that dumb people hurting themselves cost companies and consumers so much. We all end up paying more for stuff because some dope sues because they spill hot coffee on their lap while driving. Do we really need Caution: HOT on our beverage cups?

That rocket looks like it would be fun to check out and now nobody can buy one because someone didn't follow the directions.

I wonder when they will take baseballs off the market because some kid "was hit in the head" with one? Jeepers!
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Re: My buddy Jim's 1960s water rocket toy

Post by wilsonscott »

I owned the rocket you have described, and I have been looking to buy one for a long time. The rocket was made of white opaque plastic and looked like a NASA rocket, more or less. There was a metal clip between the two stages that released the second stage at about ten feet. I would say 500 foot flight is a conservative estimate to be sure. I lost mine 40 years ago. If anyone knows where I could buy one, please email me.
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Re: My buddy Jim's 1960s water rocket toy

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wilsonscott wrote:I owned the rocket you have described, and I have been looking to buy one for a long time. The rocket was made of white opaque plastic and looked like a NASA rocket, more or less. There was a metal clip between the two stages that released the second stage at about ten feet. I would say 500 foot flight is a conservative estimate to be sure. I lost mine 40 years ago. If anyone knows where I could buy one, please email me.
Do you recall how the staging system worked? What would cause it to release at 10 feet? Those rockets are rare and nobody has been able to determine how they worked because nobody can find one.
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kleinbauer
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Re: My buddy Jim's 1960s water rocket toy

Post by kleinbauer »

It took years to track down Jim's Water Rocket. If you look up the history of Mattel you will find a REAL rocket scientist worked for them. The water rocket was called "Mattel's H2O Water Missile" It hooked to a garden hose. It took 3 minutes for the top stage to charge. It had to be secured to the ground with metal spikes. You had a 15 foot or more length of string to pull to launch the rocket. The missile came in two versions. One had a rubber tip and one had a tip you could put caps in so it exploded on impact.

I found pictures of the rocket on Ebay and other online. I kept calling it a rocket when it is called a missile.
kleinbauer
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Re: My buddy Jim's 1960s water rocket toy

Post by kleinbauer »

Here is a finished auction on Ebay. Note pictures on bottom of auction.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0472246077
kleinbauer
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Re: My buddy Jim's 1960s water rocket toy

Post by kleinbauer »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ryan_%28designer%29 Most likely the guy who designed the Mattel H2O water rocket.
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Re: My buddy Jim's 1960s water rocket toy

Post by U.S. Water Rockets1 »

kleinbauer wrote:Here is a finished auction on Ebay. Note pictures on bottom of auction.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0472246077

You didn't win that auction did you?
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kleinbauer
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Re: My buddy Jim's 1960s water rocket toy

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No I did not bid. I just did a follow up when I figured out what the toy was called and who made it. Lots of lame water rockets out there. I saw the real deal designed by a real inventor. Lots of people make copies of a copy. One guy puts something on a Youtube video and then come the copies. People have emailed me asking how the second stage worked off the first. It was Jim's rocket and we never took it apart. The second stage missile got stuck on the roof. Then it blew off in a storm. Fat Art came by and took the rocket home and put it in his garage. When I told Fat Art who it belonged to he made it disappear. Jim used to clean Fat Art's butt every few months for doing something stupid. Several missiles have shown up on Ebay the last year. There is one with a long rubber tip and one that you put caps into the tip. If you do a search use H2O and Missile. I was using "Water Rocket" and missing it.

Mattel H2o Water Missile 1959