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!