Rocketman

A rocket-propelled ‘postman’ flew from the New Forest to the Isle of Wight to recreate a delivery of letters that got lost in the mail during a madcap enterprise nearly 85 years ago.

The cross-Solent stunt, which was organised by the BBC, from Hurst Castle in Lymington on the mainland to Fort Albert in Freshwater, Isle of Wight, was a modern take on ‘Rocket Post’ - a bizarre idea by German entrepreneur Gerhard Zucker to send letters and packages by rocket.

In 1934, in an attempt to convince the General Post Office that a rocket mail postal service was feasible, he tried to launch a delivery of around 600 items to Yarmouth from the then Lymington Golf Course. But, fortunately for Islanders, the package was blown backward and crash landed into the Pennington Marshes in Hampshire.

This disastrous effort followed previous experiments on the South Downs in Sussex and again in Scotland, where postal officials and dignitaries watched as a 4ft aluminium rocket carrying more than 1,200 letters exploded over the Outer Hebrides between the islands of Scarp and Harris.

Mr Zucker’s original idea was to sell stamps – but the likelihood of his post-rockets landing safely sparked concerns at the time about whether he was a genuine businessman or a ‘scallywag’ aiming to get rich quick.

At the time, Royal Mail refused to have anything to do with Mr Zucker’s Rocket Post, which was judged to be a danger to the public, as well as posing a potential threat to its monopoly. He was later deported from the UK on security grounds after being arrested for leaving gunpowder in a railway station cloakroom.

To recreate the German’s vision, the BBC arranged for a letter, addressed to the Lord-Lieutenant of the Isle of Wight, Susie Sheldon, to be carried across the Solent by jetpack-wearing British inventor Richard Browning, of aeronautical innovation company, Gravity Industries Ltd.

Powered by five micro gas turbine jet engines, Mr Browning took on the role of an ‘aerial postman’ and covered the 1.3km distance across the Solent in just 75 seconds.

According to The Times, the former commando, who lives in Salisbury, is working with the British military on a potential partnership. He said that special forces had shown an interest. His present model is selling at Selfridges department store in London for £340,000.

The Rocket Post story was featured in a recent episode of the BBC1 programme, Inside Out South.

Photo by BBC.