The Ups and Downs of the Rocket Life

In rocketry, as in life, there are distinct ups and downs. For example, a day of spectacular flights can be overshadowed by a devistating crash. Sometimes it can even be in the exact same flight. For example:

 This is the "up" part. A beautiful launch of my Aerotech Arcas on a G80 in about 1990... I also managed to get a pretty crisp picture of it! Yes, all was right with the world! ....until....

The ejection charge completely failed. Talk about a "down" time, this was "down with a vengence!" My friend Richard Christian holds up the few remains. Actually, it almost looks like a cartoon explosion, the way the tube shredded. Total destruction.

That being said, there is another "up" to the story. Aerotech replaced both the rocket and the single use motor, so it all worked out! It just goes to show you that even when things look grim, it can all work out in the end!

Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!

Christmas in the Park

Hello! A quick one this week. This year we we went to Walt Disney World for Christmas. So here is my space related picture:

That's me in the middle on Space Mountain. That's my son-in-law behind me. I don't know the girl.

So, there you have it! Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!

Out of This World Cereal

I have oft times talked about how during my childhood in the 1960's, the concept of space exploration was pretty much everywhere. There were toys, games, tv shows, movies, advertisement and more. Pretty much if a tie-in could be made with space, it happened. It was truly a wonderful time to grow up!

One of the more unlikely areas of space exploitation (see what I did there?) was breakfast. It was long understood that kids loved cereal, and the more sugar it contained, the better. Cereal can, of course, be formed into pretty much any shape and in the '60s it became flying saucers! Ladies and gentlemen, may I present Quisp!

Quisp was created in 1965 by Quaker Oats Company. It had several things going for it. First, the commercials were done by Jay Ward, who was nore famous for Rocky and Bullwinkle. Second, it was shaped like flying saucers. Finally, it was actually pretty darn good! Now, granted, it was chock full of sugar, but that only made it better!

I can remember many mornings chowing down on those little saucers. It was wonderful! Now, some negative-types will tell you that it was really just Capn' Crunch in a different form, but they are wrong. I can tell. Really.

Unfortunately, although Quisp is officially still around, it is harder to find than the Loch Ness Monster in your bathtub. It has, therefore, been several years since I've had any. If anybody knows where I can find a stash, please let me know!

Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!

The Enterprise Picks Up a Hitchhiker

I found a couple of pictures I took of my old Estes Enterprise in the late 80's. This is the same Enterprise that suffered a massive cato, however the Federation was up to the task and she was rebuilt!

Unfortunately, her misadventures were not over.... look closely at these pictures:

Liftoff!!!

After recovery...

Ok, did you spot it? If you look closely, you will see an unexpected passenger made the flight. The launch rod. It seems if you want to use a clothespin to support the model on the rod, you might want to take into account the engine pylons.

Oops.

The weird thing is, it was a fantastic flight! Apparently adding a little weight to the ship makes little difference in overall stability. Pretty cool! And if you spotted a Klingon in the field, you could spear him! Ok, maybe not so cool...

Anyway, the main point is that even though the Estes Enterprise had that huge "pod" on it, it actually looked pretty good and was a solid flyer. Unfortunately, later she was damaged beyond repair while in storage. Maybe I'll have to build another one some day...

Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!

A Patch From the Past

While digging through a bunch of stuff on my book shelf, I came across an item I picked up at a NARAM long ago. It looks something like this:

Ok, actually it looks exactly like that. I remember having a great time down in Houston, but not really doing very well in the competition. I think my team placed in one event, but I can't remember what it was. Our scale entry was a non-starter due to the fact that we could never find a photo of it. In the pre-Google world, that was a big problem! The model never flew.

I like the design of the patch, and the slogan. In fact, I like it so much that I also have a coffee cup with it on it.

That's about it for now! Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!

How to Kill a Concept

In 1986 Testors came out with their vision for a stealth fighter. Pulling from the wealth of design cues provided by the stealthy SR-71, they came up with their own concept model, the F-19 Stealth Fighter.

As she appeared at Michaels MJ Design...

So when it came out, I did the only logical thing; I tried to fly it! Now, never mind the fact that it was just about the least "rocket-like" model I had tried, I was going to go for it! So, after adding a lot of nose weight, a recovery system and a C engine, I loaded it into my custom made tower and...

Lift off!!!

Splat down!!! I wasn't fast enough with my camera to catch the 2 seconds of looping "flight."

Well, there you have it! She never did fly. Still, you don't know until you try....I guess....

Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!

Why I Don't Design Ships For the Empire

Every now and then I get a great idea that just flat doesn't work. Case in point; this late 1980's plastic model conversion of an Star Destroyer. On paper, it worked great! In flight.....well, not so much. Let's just say that the Empire probably had to hire more stormtroopers....and that Rey has probably scavenged all the best parts out of it...

Awaiting launch....Note that I didn't detail it out yet. The only wise choice I made...

Moments before disaster....

Well, you can't win them all, and that's what keeps this hobby interesting!

Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!

History According to Sears

I have found in my collecting that not all history comes from text books or documentaries. In fact, if one wants to get a real idea of the impact of a subject on everyday Americans, there is really no better place to look than pop culture. And in pop culture, there is really no better place to look than at toys. And for toys there is really no better place to look than...The Big Toy Box at Sears!

In the 1950's and 1960's Sears had a near monopoly on kids' imaginations with the Christmas catalog. I can remember pouring through the pages and dreaming of the wonderful things Santa might bring. Fortunately, due to the folks at Classic Toy Sodiers, Inc, I can do it again! A few years back they published all of the Sears Christmas catalogs (1951-1969) in one book!

I was glancing through my copy the other day, and an idea came to me; could I tell when America got serious about the space program by looking at the toys offered in these catalogs? Sure, why not? I've writen college papers on worse premises...So let's take a look, shall we?

1958

1959

1960

1962

1962

1964

1966

1967

1968

1969

So there you have it. In the interest of full disclosure, I admit that I left out some duplicates and even some toys that weren't quite as interesting. That being said, it looks like the huge uptick I expected in 1958 due to Sputnik didn't really happen, but by 1961 to 1962, the space race was in full swing! I guess things took longer to ramp up back then. Another observation is that our toys ROCKED. Give me these over video games any day!

Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!

A PMC Instruction Manual.....Sort Of....

Well, the voting for the DARS contests for 2016 has finished, and once again Plastic Model Conversion is to be featured at DARSTAR. This is, of course, no surprise, since it is featured every year. Therefore, this week's blog will focus on a resource that I have had laying about since the early 80's that actually is useful for the event.

The book is "The ETV Model Book," by Robert Schleicher. I picked it up at Half Price Books in the early 80's. It was published in 1979 by Chilton books.

Robert Scheicher wrote quite a few books for Chilton, mainly focusing on miniatures and hobbies. His subjects range from doll houses to Lionel trains to slot cars. In this particular book, he focuses on "ETV models," that is, models of Extraterrestrial Vehicles.

The book is a wonderful stroll down memory lane for modelers who were active in the 1970's. Both Estes and Centuri provided information and illustrations for it. That, however, isn't its main value.

You see, this book is a step by step instruction manual in building plastic models too! It shows all aspects of models from construction to finishing. It doesn't actually show how to convert a static plastic model to fly, but the modeling tips are still quite valuable!

Here are a few pages from my copy...

The good news is that although this title has been out of print for quite some time, it can still be found for very reasonable prices on Amazon! So, if you want a good read, a trip down memory lane, or some solid modeling tips, here is the book for you!

Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!

Spaceflight- Educating a New Generation

First of all, let me apologize for being a bit late on this post.  A four day weekend with about eight days of stuff cramed into it meant I had little time to think...much less blog! However, I have mended my ways and here is the result...

Years ago, when I was first starting out in school counseling, I had an idea about teaching a new generation about the wonders of space in a fun, exciting way. I wanted to cover several subjects and also show how character development was involved. Therefore, I came up with the Spaceflight curriculum for 5th graders. The program focused on science and social studies, and ended with a modified spot landing competition. We actually did this for several years at two different schools that I worked at, and it was a huge success. However  losing 5th grade, and a large part of the field next to my current school put an end to the project.

But, for your enjoyment, here are some shots of the book I put together for teachers. It's 156 pages long, so I just included a couple...

The lessons in the book included all hand outs and TEKS covered.

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

Hot Wheels In Spaaaaaaaace!!!

Hello again from the World O' Blogs where I get to write about pretty much anything I want to! This week, we are going to focus on another one of my collections; Hot Wheels! Now, although I have tons of the little spectro-flame red lines fron the 60's and 70's, we are going to look at a more rocketry related item (aren't you glad I got around to rockets?)

In 1998, John Glenn returned to space on STS 95. The Mattel company saw fit to honor him in that same year with the "John Glenn, Great American Hero Action Pack." I, of course, just had to snag one as soon as they came out!

Now to those of you who thought Hot Wheels just did little cars, may I point out that they have done planes and even spacecraft before (which makes the whole "wheels" thing a little weird) so this pack really wasn't as strange as it may sound.

The Action Pack comes with not one, but three Glenn figures (Astronaut Glenn 1962, Senator Glenn, and Astonaut Glenn 1998), the Mercury Friendship 7 vehicle, and the Space Shuttle Discovery. It also comes with a "U.S. Spaceflight" booklet, but I have no idea what it says because I've never opened it.

So, here are the pictures of my unopened Action Pack:

If you want one, you can find them on Ebay for about ten bucks, including shipping.

Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!

To Collect, Or To Punch Holes in the Sky?

Hello campers!
This week, I'm going to discuss a problem that haunts all Plastic Model Conversion nuts (and, yes, I meant to use that term).  The all consuming question is....well, it's the name of this article.

On one hand, if you love plastic models, you don't want to risk destroying them....especially if they are even the least bit "collectable." On the other hand, the thrill of seeing that heavy hunk of plastic ripping off of the pad with tons of fire and smoke....well, it don't get much better than that! So, what to do?

Case in point: my Lindberg 1/48 scale MiG-31 Foxhound A. On the collector side of the argument is the fact that it came out in the 80's and hasn't been made in several years. You can still find them on eBay, but you will pay between 30 and 50 bucks for one.

On the "let 'er rip" side, you have the fact that 1/48 scale is perfect for PMC (this baby would eat two 24mm motors for breakfast!) and it's just an all-around cool model. Also, it's pretty simple, so conversion would be straight forward.

Here are some pics:

The box art is pretty cool...

The instructions are a single sheet. 

The parts are high quality, and pretty flash free.

Yes, that's a D12 sitting comfortably in the business end...

So, there you have it. It would make a killer PMC, but I just haven't been able to bring myself to it. Maybe this year? Maybe not? I guess we'll just have to wait and see....

Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!

Retro Rockets From Florida!

Welcome to my 100th post!

This week we are going to feature a model rocketry catalog so rare that ever Ninfinger doesn't have it! (Ninfinger has just about everything, check them out at http://www.ninfinger.org ) So for your enjoyment, here is my 1988 Pine Cap catalog!

I don't live here any more....

So, there you have it! There are a lot of ideas for things you could clone. Most of these probably look pretty cool built up. Sorry about the coffee stain in the pictures. Since I don't drink coffee, I'm not sure how that happened!

Well, thanks for celebrating number 100 with me! Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!