Jun-hyuk’s Very Reasonable Experiment

Dear Jae-kyu,

You remember that rocket I told you about—the one with the wings?
Well… I built it. For real. It’s standing in the field right now, tall and proud and slightly leaning to the left (that’s part of the design, I think).

I used a juice bottle for the body—orange, the fizzy kind with the cartoon tiger. For the wings, I cut cardboard into bird shapes and painted them silver with my sister’s nail polish (don’t tell her). The fins are made from broom straw I “borrowed” from the cleaning closet at school. I even wrote some numbers on the side to make it look scientific.

When I showed it to Mr. Kang, he just blinked at me like I’d committed a crime against physics.
He said, “Rockets don’t have wings, Joon-ho.”
And I said, “Not yet.”

He told me to focus on “realistic propulsion concepts.” But honestly, what’s more realistic than wanting something to fly beautifully?

Anyway, I think it just needs the right fuel now. The vinegar and baking soda combo was fun, but it mostly sprayed foam all over my pants and scared a chicken.
I’m thinking bigger. Maybe something with actual thrust.

Do you know where we could get something, I don’t know… explosive-ish?
Not dangerous! Just… you know. Impressive. Glorious.

Let’s meet on Saturday, behind the tractor shed. Bring anything that looks like it could make a rocket really take off. Also, maybe a fire extinguisher. Just in case.

Your not-yet-burned, soon-to-be-launched friend,
Jun-hyuk