As a kid, did you ever play with model Rockets ?

I did , Estes rockets, I had three different models. One was a Saturn Five, it took three engines. And it had a pop out parachute.
If you did, please tell your story.
 
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Mar 29, 2021
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In my youth, I came across a very good book
Capt. B R. Brinley's "Rocket Manual for Amateurs"
The engines being expensive, I used to make my own solid fuel rockets.
Aluminum cigar tubes made the most amazing aerobatic displays.

Full details from range safety, tracking to basic engine and nozzle design.

 
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Catastrophe

"Science begets knowledge, opinion ignorance.
As a kid, did you ever play with model Rockets ?

Yes. I tried to make models of the spaceships illustrated in Dan Dare - Pilot of the Future in 'The Eagle'.

I believe that I stall have all the compendia of Dan Dare originals collected in books with all the original art work. I think these are still available quite inexpensively.

Cat :)
 
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My buddy and I used to fire off an early version of the Mosquito. Anything bigger than that was too expensive for us. Heck we could only afford a four pack of engines every other month.
Yeah, as a kid we had not have rocket bucks either. Our neighbor's happen to smoke cigars that came in an aluminum container. With a little work and by breaking off match heads, we could reach several hundred feet... horizontally. :)

We did have a water-pressured rocket where the 60 psi of the hose charged the rocket that had both water and air. It worked very well and got people wet, too. :)

[Warning. "Don't play with matches." Match-head fuel can be dangerous! Any rocket fuel is dangerous, for that matter.]
 
Jul 4, 2021
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Absolutely, especially, during the Apollo lunar landings. I had the revel and, the monogram plastic models. As an 11 year old when Apollo 11 landed on the moon, I remember how challenging putting those models together correctly! I also remember Mcdonald's having a (assembly required), cardboard lunar rover to celebrate Apollo 15 landing in apenine highlands, specifically the Hadley Rille area. They brought along the first lunar rover. The beginning of the J missions. Which signaled the transition from one of pure exploration, to one that focused mainly on science.
 
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Absolutely, especially, the Apollo lunar landings. I had the revel and, the monogram plastic models. As an 11 year old when Apollo 11 landed on the moon, I remember how challenging putting those models together correctly! I also remember Mcdonald s having a cardboard (assembly required), lunar rover to celebrate Apollo 15 landing in appenine highlands, specifically the Hadley Rielle area. They brought along
Many a GI Joe doll were taped to an Estes rocket lol. Amoung other things, like lizards or some other small critter.
Unfortunately for me, I had a kite, with 2 large spindles of string. One spindle was used to get the kite as high as possible. The second spindle was used as a release mechanism to ensure that a parachute was released the moment the shoebox separated from the kite. Inside the shoebox was the worlds first "hamsternaut" he didn't make it. He was buried with full military honors.
 
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Feb 13, 2020
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Yep, the Estes models, and they were fun. I still have one in the package here, just got it years ago. I want to find an area where I can fire it off, and start doing that again in these retirement years. Would love to have some of those big ones like they do at events but time might be hard to find for that, or the licensing for it.
 
Yep, the Estes models, and they were fun. I still have one in the package here, just got it years ago. I want to find an area where I can fire it off, and start doing that again in these retirement years. Would love to have some of those big ones like they do at events but time might be hard to find for that, or the licensing for it.
Yeah, Estes rockets are great.

The fastest thing I ever saw was an Estes 2-stage rocket. The first stage is supposed to have a 0-sec. delay engine to get the 2nd-stage ignited quickly. But this rocket was my little brother's video film camera model and I had to load the film in the dark. I got the engines reversed. :rolleyes:

So, it launched fine, but there was this sickening pause we felt as we waited, and waited for that 2nd stage to fire. The delay caused the rocket to turn downward and it began to point towards us. It finally ignited and it traveled a couple hundred feet in almost zero-time -- too fast for us to duck and cover. It missed us but it was easy to find with all that film spewed over it. :eek:
 
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TBH I had no interest in them. Always liked Sci-Fi, spaceships, and whatever, but never was into rocket models. however recently I introduced myself to this hobby and now I am waiting for a model. Should be fun, I guess :D
 

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