The Rokit. Past, Present & Future
Hinterland was the first company to bring a precision water rocket to market. A British, family owned, company passionate about bringing science alive for children and schools throughout the world.
The inventors, Roger Wilkins and Max Jackson, both engineers that designed and built machines to automate manufacturing and assembly lines, conceived the idea of the Water Rokit in the late 1970s.
It took around 3 years to develop the Water Rokit, ensuring the components worked together properly and were capable of withstanding the impact of landing after every launch!
Roger Wilkins & Max Jackson meet in the pub to throw around ideas for fun. The water rocket idea is the only one left viable on the table at closing time. We have lift off!
Testing is underway with experiments on the release pressure, the nozzle, the bottle size and the amount of water. The name Rokit is born from the combination of the rocket and the kit - Max Jackson the inventor announced.
Hinterland Limited is established. Meet the Water Rokit. It's ready for a test launch.
The prototype Water Rokit is launched in the local park with Roger Wilkins & Max Jackson (the inventors), all the children (two sets of twins) and the dog.
Final adjustments have to be made on the fins and the cap as a result of the experimental flights.
Roger "the Rokit" Wilkins and his son Jonathan set off, in a car packed with Water Rokit kits, to Basel to the Worlddidac exhibition in Basel. 500 Water Rokit kits flew off the stand at G force velocity.
Roger Wilkins' wife, Bernice, and twin daughters, Nicole and Michelle, start packaging Water Rokits in the family dining room!
Water Rokit is now the preferred scientific item in the UK core Science Curriculum.
Japan orders 1000 kits - out of this world! The Water Rokit experiment book is published and takes off immediately - packed with activities and tasks for all ages.
Water Rokits are orbiting around the world in schools & colleges as well as individual households. Children, teenagers, teachers and science geeks are all revelling in the re-usable Water Rokit that teaches the Laws of Motion.
100,000s of Water Rokits are sold worldwide - the trajectory of the Water Rokit now reaching schools and colleges in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Nepal, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and USA.
Teaming up with NASA and UCLAN, Roger Wilkins and his two sets of twins, attend the Guinness World Records' 24 hour rocket challenge armed with Water Rokits.
Daniel & Jonathan (twin sons of Roger “The Rokit” Wilkins) decide the Water Rokit needs to be shared with rocket lovers all over the world.
Daniel Wilkins (son of inventor Roger Wilkins) establishes a partnership deal for Water Rokit that's out of this world.
Inventor of the Water Rokit, Roger Wilkins retires to pursue his other passions in France with a small-holding farm.
Hinterland Limited prepares to launch the NASA Water Rokit worldwide.