Strapping Rockets on an Ercoupe

AVweb posted an interesting retrospective about strapping a bunch of rockets onto an Ercoupe. Don’t try this at home.

The propeller of the Ercoupe was removed and 12 rockets installed. The Ercoupe was pulled by a truck to a speed of about 25 mph. Capt. Homer Boushey released the tether, fired the rockets, and climbed to about 10 or 20 feet, then landed straight ahead on the runway. An Ercoupe was also used prior to that in a successful test of rocket-assisted takeoff, with three rockets strapped beneath each wing. The airplane took off in only 300 feet and 7.5 seconds instead of its usual 581 feet and 13.1 seconds.

landed on avweb.