You may remember the hot rodder down the street or two blocks over who seemed to know so much about car engines. Who seemed to have a fan club of urchins like yourself who stood by in wide eyed amazement at the sound of Glass packs shaking the ground. He did seem to put a lot of engines into that old Mercury didn't he?
Boys, she was running real strong just before those pistons turned up in the oil pan.
Best power mixture.
I did not understand the power of an explosion until the day we were setting off our Carbide rockets in front of Billy Oakley's house on Waverly street. A Carbide rocket is a big juice can
with about 2” of water in it. Inverted into the first can is a second can that is just a bit taller than the first so that about 1/2” inch of the can sticks up out of the first can. This second can needs a touch hole
just even with its rolled lip, so the touch hole is available above the edge of the bottom can. The touch hole is made with just the right sized nail and a hammer. All this very scientific stuff for 10 year old's.
You drop a few crystals of carbide (for carbide miners lamps) into the bottom can with the water.The carbide water combination produces acetylene gas. You place the Rocket can into the launch can.You wait just the right length of time, and this is the key to success, it is a time vice gas production rate problem. Or too rich or too lean problem.
Looking for best power.
Too long before you light the mixture at the touch hole with a safety match, and you get a miners lamp. Just a plume of acetylene burning. The gas has displaced too much of the available oxygen and only burns outside of the can where there is adequate oxygen available. Too Rich.
Or.
Not long enough, and there is too little gas to sustain a burn and the touch hole pops and blows out the match, or you get the inner (rocket) can to hop out with just a fluffy sounding whump. Too Lean.
But if you become an advanced Merlin at NASA style rocketry, and wait just the correct length of time, then the mixture is just right, the rocket (inner can) leaves with an impressive (to 10 year old's) Kaboom and a cloud of water spray. Ideal best power mixture.
There may be competition among your followers to catch the rocket can when it returns from its mission, but a savvy Merlin just observes lest the rocket can land on a parked car or in somebody’s flower bed. One must be ready to recover the launch can and retreat on ones bicycle in a direction opposite the actual direction to ones home. No need to complicate the situation with lengthy conversations between the aggrieved home owners and your parents.
I am forever grateful to Billy Oakley's dad, Frank Oakley who apparently was some kind of genius, and for showing us how to do this kind of stuff.
Why yes I was an Ordnance man in the Navy. How did you know?
"Drawings are available"
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Lynn E. Hanover