Late 50's or early 60's water-hose powered rocket?

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billeblurzz

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My first rocket related toy was a water powered yard rocket that I would hook up to a water hose for launching. It seemed to be decalled like a Mercury Redstone with a red gantry tower too! Or maybe not! Does anyone happen to recall such an item in their childhood? I've always wish I could find something like that!
 
Not quite the same, but I had a water powered plastic jet. You would stake one end of the arm to the ground. The water pressure of the hose would exit the jets' exhaust and power the jet in a circle and you would get doused playing underneath. I think it was made by Wham-O. Great during the summer.
 
I had those from time to time, and there were bigger ones that were all red, and I want to say even had a booster?

-Hans
 
I had those from time to time, and there were bigger ones that were all red, and I want to say even had a booster?

Yes - I had a two-stage rocket like this.
 
Well I got this toy when my dad came home from the Navy and gave it to me in the early 60's. I remember that it was in a long box and the rocket had some kind of checkerboard markings on it. It does seem that the paint scheme was like the Mercury Redstone and the years would have been right during the early space program. Want to say it even deployed a parachute recovery! You pulled a string from a distance away when the water pressure built up for launch!😮
 
My first was the Mach X by Quercetti. Claimed altitudes 200 m, sling-powered, parachute recovery w/ adjustable delays. A very sophisticated little device. I'm sure they pulled it from the market because the two-handed sling, lifted as high as arms could reach, would likely stike someone in the face/chin. (I figured early on that that was not a good scenario.) Edmund Sci sold them for a while in the late 60s and 70s. I have a broken one somewhere in my pile-o-junk.
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I believe that's it!!! Wow...I have NEVER been able to find something about this! So cool!! The 1958 time frame, the checkerboard insignia, USA markings...that's it! Thank you!
 
Wow Scott 650!!!!! That was a VERY interesting look at that toy. It reminded me of a toy my late Dad rigged up for me. By today's standard, It would be called a Shuttle. I wish I had a picture to share, but to Dad, it was just a toy and not worthy of a photo. Dad took my X-20 Dyna-soar slngshot glider and rigged it up to a large stage Water Pump rocket. At apogee, the X-20 would separate and Glide back while the water Rocket did it's thing. My Dad was a frustrated want-to-be engineer. He could design just about anything. Too bad He couldn't go to college but after the Army, He married His childhood Sweetheart ( MOM) and the 3 of us kids came along and His income wouldn't stretch that far.
 
My dad in the Navy at that time late 50's early 60's actually was working on the nuclear program of the Navy! He was putting into commission the Long Beach nuclear cruiser ship...The First nuclear powered surface ship...The Nautilus being the first atomic submarine! Fitting then that the Mattel toy was being promoted as
a nuclear missile!
 
Billeblurzz, Wow!!!!!! The Long Beach was the first nuclear powered ship model put out by Revell ( I think). It was also the 1st ship model that I built as a kid. I wish that Revell would re-release it. Thanks for sharing that! Cheers
 
Yes I built one of those too! Did not know it was the first Revell nuclear ship model! My dad was interviewed for the nuclear program by Hyman Rickover himself! He was quite a character and shortened the legs off the chair so that the interviewees would sit lower than Rickover and feel intimidated by him. At that time we had a boxer dog that my dad named Rick!
 
My uncle Joe served on the Long Beach when she made the round the world cruise with Enterprise and USS Bainbridge in 1964 (Operation was called "Sea Orbit"). He was a Talos missile tech. Being not quite one year old at the time, I was not aware of it then, but I do love hearing him tell about it. Has some great Super-8 movies as well!
 
Here are some items from the Long Beach on wall at my dad's house.
 

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My dad was in the same Naval Academy graduating class as Jim Lovell the Apollo 13 astronaunt. The Capt. Wilkinson signed on the Long Beach photo was also the Captain on the Nautilus!
 
Talos missiles on the USS Long Beach!
 

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I had one of these and had a lot of trouble getting it to work. As the video in post #11 stated the first stage would go up only a few feet, but the 2nd stage would go fairly high. That struck me as strange that this huge first stage would only go a few feet, but the second stage went far in comparison. The metal part holding the second stage to the first stage before launch always struck me as not right. At some point in my ownership the yellow launch pad cracked in the center part and produced a bad leak under pressure. I fussed a lot with acetone trying to seal the crack. I can't remember if that worked.
 
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