FoxTrot by Bill Amend for July 02, 2023

Neighborhood? Try planet!

If it doesn’t just go BOOM first.

Well then maybe you should skip the grill this year, Roger.

I know, I know, it’s a cartoon but…

what do you think will happen to that “hot glue” when you light those?

I see that he’s “channeling” his inner ….. “Crankshaft!!!”

/SHMIRK/

Not as good an idea as most of Amend’s Sunday strips. The fuses are going to be a problem just fitting them… and then there’s the issue of timing.

I’d like to be there when they light that thing.

Today’s classic FoxTrot Sunday strip:

https://www.gocomics.com/foxtrot/2002/06/30

You gotta do it in stages.

This one always made me crack up!

https://www.gocomics.com/foxtrot/1997/10/13

Go big or go home. Well, hopefully you CAN go home after that thing goes off in the front yard….

If Roger (Mr. Fox) is really concerned about this, he could act like a parent and put a stop to it. (He could have even stopped it before it got this far.)

One day, my brother and I decided to send a plastic model of an F-15 fighter jet streaking across our backyard.

The only question was how do we control it? We were familiar with model rocketry and came up with a novel solution. Instead of using a 3-foot vertical guide rod, we would use 150 feet of wire stretched tightly across the yard, tied to the fence!

We made a harness that would cradle the model as it went down its journey. We then gave it TWO size-C model rocket engines. Just to be sure.

We fully expected to see the F-15 fly across the yard and coast to a stop by the time it reached the other side. We even dry-tested it to make sure. With great anticipation, we backed up, inserted the safety key on our hand-held controller, counted down, and pressed the launch button.

Now, this was in the days before YouTube, and I have always felt a (slight) pang of regret that we didn’t SOMEHOW capture what happened next for future generations to behold. Only one of the two rocket engines ignited, and yet the F-15 shot forward like a hornet. It rotated on the harness after twenty feet or so down the wire, broke free of it and flung itself skyward…where it exploded into a thousand pieces about thirty feet above the ground.

We stood speechless as the fluttering pieces of plastic made their way down. As amateur pyromaniacs, that was the crowning achievement of our childhood.

What? No calls from NORAD?

Sure the neighborhood dogs will appreciate it.

Many years ago my cousin suffered shrapnel wounds when a defective Estes rocket blew up on the launcher.

For as smart as he is about math, he sometimes shows a remarkable ignorance of physics.

You can buy the “mosquito” on Amazon for $7.73. Buy it today, get it wednesday.

Yet Andy never gets a call from the FDA.

This was addressed in an XKCD “What If” question https://what-if.xkcd.com/24/

This year, it may be the Fire Marshal or ATF!

I go for the best fireworks display.

This does help make the case for ending consumer fireworks.

Designed by Elon Musk?

The FAA? They’re wussies. Now getting two fighter jets scrambled is a different story. Trust me, I know.

Jason will provide the neighbors with a great story about UFOs

I’m no rocket scientist, but even I know that “rocket” will just burst ineffectively into flames at best.

Says the man who needs to notify NASA when he is doing a BBQ incase the ISS is passing over head.

Looks like Jason is not quite as smart as he’s presented.

There’s a difference between this and Roger’s cooking grill?

CAPCOM is Crankshaft.

I’m gonna need more beer. :)

“My name is Clark W. Griswold, and I heartily endorse this product!”

I think he has a Logitech controller for it

Awww. I loved making rockets in high school!

What does it say on their hats? I can’t make it out. Looks like “Jim” something

STEM project?

Or a trip to the ER.

And Andy would like to go one 4th without you setting yourself on fire. Some things you just can’t change.

Earth shattering KaBooM! in 3, 2, 1 ….

oh look who’s talking . . .

I’m wondering if Bill A. is a member of NAR. He gets many details just right. Really loved this one, and it was on my monthly rocket day.

I wanna know where these guys got the money. The rocket engines were expensive in my day. Late 60s

His grilling skills might be just as spectacular.

The Jason kid is suppose to be a super genius yet thinks that Tinkertoy will make it to mars. Way to go killing his boy genius image.

Doesn’t he cause an FAA call every time he lights the grill?

Or the fire department; or the police; or Homeland Security.

Let’s see, in amoment, that’s three less characters for this comic strip…