Brian Walker
Encyclopedia
Brian Walker is a toy
Toy
A toy is any object that can be used for play. Toys are associated commonly with children and pets. Playing with toys is often thought to be an enjoyable means of training the young for life in human society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable and cuddly to both young and old...

 inventor from Bend, Oregon
Bend, Oregon
Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States, and the principal city of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, and, despite its modest size, is the de facto metropolis of the region, owing to the low population...

  who is known for attempting to build his own rocket
Rocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...

 and as the inventor of several toys, namely the air bazooka
Air bazooka
The air vortex cannon, sold commercially as the air bazooka or airzooka is a short, wide plastic tube with a slight taper and a plastic diaphragm at the larger end. The diaphragm is attached to elastic strips which allow it to be extended and released with a sudden rush forcing a quantity of air...

.

His rocket is known as Project R.U.S.H., which stands for Rapid Up Super High. It was intended to be fueled by hydrogen peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide is the simplest peroxide and an oxidizer. Hydrogen peroxide is a clear liquid, slightly more viscous than water. In dilute solution, it appears colorless. With its oxidizing properties, hydrogen peroxide is often used as a bleach or cleaning agent...

 and equipped with parachute
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...

s for use when landing. The goal of the project is to launch Walker 50 miles into the sky. He currently is waiting for approval to launch 20 miles in a rocket-propelled aircraft from the world's largest crossbow
Crossbow
A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts or quarrels. The medieval crossbow was called by many names, most of which derived from the word ballista, a torsion engine resembling a crossbow in appearance.Historically, crossbows played a...

. The crossbow project is now years behind its announced schedule (Fall, 2006).

Walker has been interviewed by several media personalities, including novelist Chuck Palahniuk
Chuck Palahniuk
Charles Michael "Chuck" Palahniuk is an American transgressional fiction novelist and freelance journalist. He is best known for the award-winning novel Fight Club, which was later made into a film directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter...

, who included his interview with Walker in his book Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories
Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories
Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories is a non-fiction book by Chuck Palahniuk, published in 2004. It is a collection of essays, stories, and interviews written for various magazines and newspapers. Some of the pieces had also been previously published on the internet...

.

Mr. Walker's own website http://www.rocketguy.com/ has gone off-line (this link is to an archived copy of his page).
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK