Rocket Propelled Bike... I need one of these!!

The Rocket-Propelled Bicycle
One rocket scientist’s idea of a father-daughter project.
PM Reader Project Award: Sarah Pickens and Tim Pickens


It’s only natural for a guy who builds rocket engines for a living to want to feel the thrust of one of his own creations. “For years we test these things--but it’ll be a long time before any of us go into space,” says POPULAR MECHANICS subscriber Tim Pickens, president of Orion Propulsion, an aerospace company in Madison, Ala. “So I do things that are earthbound to have some fun.” Such as? Building rocket-powered bicycles with his 13-year-old daughter, Sarah.
Pickens outfits the two-wheelers with hybrid rocket motors, which keep the solid fuel and liquid oxidizer separate until the last moment. His bike, whose front brake control has been turned into a throttle, burns roofing tar with a boost from nitrous oxide (yes, laughing gas). It spews a yellow-white flame and hits 60 mph in 6 seconds. Sarah’s pink chopper releases cold carbon dioxide and can go 30 mph. Says Dad: “She can’t have fire until she’s 18.”

It's interesting that he used a tar nitrous hybrid. I think the winner of the ansari-x prize, Scaled Composites' Spaceship One, used a similar fuel combination. It seems like a good "enthusiast" rocket fuel, because alone neither the oxidizer nor fuel is particularly dangerous. Nitrous, AKA laughing gas, is non-toxic and non-flammable (by itself). And tar is organic and not pretty innocent as far as fuel goes. That being said, I would do a few things before taking a ride on it. Namely reinforce the anchoring of the rocket to the bike. From the photos I've seen, the connection looks pretty weak and if it were to come loose it would surely hit the passenger.