2014...A Cloned Odyssey

Today I'm not going to write about a project that I've done. Instead, I'm going to write about a project that I'm planning to do! It all started 36 years ago.....(cue wavy lines over the screen)

It was September 13, 1978. I can remember the date because it happened to be my 16th birthday! I had a surprise party at my house and lots of my rocket buddies showed up. What do rocket buddies give for gifts? Rockets! I don't remember who gave me the Odyssey, but it was a winner! It had premiered in 1977, and had even made the cover of the Estes catalog.

The Odyssey was a deceptively simple model. About half of it was a complex plastic nose. It went together like a breeze and after applying the paint and decals looked like a champ! It quickly became one of my favorites.

I wish I could tell you what happened to it, but I simply don't remember. I grew up. It went away. End of story.... Until now!

You see, I never cloned this model because of that huge, weird, wonderful nose. There just isn't a good way to duplicate it. And then a wonderful thing happened....a wonderful thing called "Dark Energy."

Estes released this wonderful model of my dreams. Now, I don't mean that the model itself is wonderful (although it may be) I mean the nose cone is wonderful! Yep, the Odyssey cone is back! Well, almost. Its not exactly the same, but its pretty darn close!

Looking on Ebay (for the model) and at Excelsior Rocketry (for the decals) I can have my Odyssey back for about 20 bucks. Whatadeal!

So there you have it! Its not often you can get back a memory for so little coin, so I'll probably spring for it... So look for it at a meeting or launch coming soon!

So until next time, fly 'em fast and high!

My Non-PC Interceptor E

This week I am featuring what is probably my least politically correct rocket; the Confederate Space Navy Interceptor "JEB Stuart." It has raised a few eyebrows at launches, so I figured I might as well tell the story as to how it came to be. So settle back, light yer corncob pipe, and let me spin ya a yarn....

The whole thing started when Estes released the Interceptor E. At almost 40 inches long, it was an incredible follow up to their original Interceptor. It was supposed to take Estes E9 motors, but was actually under powered with them, so pretty much everyone used composite E's (such as the E24) instead. Maybe it was the lack of the Estes motor to properly power the model that caused them to discontinue it, but maybe not. At any rate, if you can find one I suggest you snatch it up, as they are great rockets.... but I digress...

Anyway, when I purchased mine I decided that I wanted it to stand out and really look sharp. The first thing I did was to laminate the fins with 1/32 aircraft ply so that I could omit the ribs that Estes had engineered to reinforce the largish fin area. That having been done, the rest of the build was pretty much by the instructions...until I got to the decals.

As you can see with even a quick glance, the Interceptor has a TON of decals. Strangely enough, the decals that came with the model were not great. They were very thin and very difficult to work with. Estes usually has good decals, so I'm not sure what went wrong. I originally was going to use the stock decals until I shredded too many of them. Well, crud!

I actually was able to find some replacements on YORF from a very nice guy named Bob Wheet (Thanks again, Bob!)  While I was waiting for them to arrive from Oklahoma, I happened to check out Excelsior Rocketry's selection of decals. They had German, Confederate, British, and Canadian versions of the Interceptor!

Now I had some deciding to do. I almost went with the German version ( to tie in with my Screamin' Max) but I decided on the Confederate version; providing Gordon (the ever- helpful owner of Excelsior) could make one little change.  You see, I had come up with a way to get my name on the model and still make it appropriate to the theme. Instead of the General Lee, I asked if he could print them with JEB Stuart. He said "no problem" and the rest is history! As it turns out, I used the YORF decals and Gordon's decals together. If I messed up, I had a backup! By the way, if anyone needs some I still have some... but not a full set.

So there you have it! My most un-politically correct rocket actually has nothing to do with politics. I just liked the design and wanted my name on it. So there. Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!

Moon Madness

Today marks a rather interesting coincidence. It is Friday the 13th AND a full moon. Now I could do some research to find out how rare that is, but it might take effort and it really doesn't have anything to do with this post. I mention it simply to point out that it reminded me that Moon Day is coming soon!

Moon Day is an event that DARS participates in every year at the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Love Field. This year it is on July 19, and several club members have already volunteered to man (and woman) the booth. The event gets bigger each year, with many space and technological organizations participating. It is a great networking opportunity for DARS, and great PR as well. It's really worth your time if you can come out and participate.

So, for this week's blog, I am sharing some pictures from the Moon Day that took place two years ago. I would share last year's, but I didn't take any. Oops! So here ya go!

An overall look at the DARS booth

People really like displays like this!

John helps young modelers at the build session.

Of course there are great displays of other craft as well!

Until next time; fly 'em fast and high!

Two Random Pictures

Well the title about sums it up. I was scrolling through my phone and these two pictures caught my eye. First, we have this one...

Now there are several interesting things about this photo. First, I'm not sure who took it. I think it may have been Suzy Sprague, but I'm not sure (we were at their house, after all). We were building about a zillion Saturn 1B's for the Apollo 7 celebration, and silliness had set in a while back. Second, I'm not sure what the heck I'm doing (which is often the case). I seem to be attempting to glue eight fins to one spot on that poor rocket. A time saver for sure, but not exactly scale! Note the "tub 'o fins" sitting on the table in front of me. We had LOTS of parts laying about! Actually this pic brings back lots of great memories about building sessions that were tough, but fun as all get out!

Next we have this:

It's my dog, Alex. She has nothing to do with this blog, but I thought it was a cute picture. So sue me.

Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!

<<<UPDATE>>>

The mystery photographer had been identified! It was Chas Russell! He kindly sent in these additional shots from the same day!:

Ok, that other picture WASN'T the silliest!

John Dyer on the assembly line!

James Gartrell added his many skills to the project!