Gold in the Sky

Well, I was sick last weekend, so that threw my days all off and.....I almost missed the blog post!!! However, I'm on the mend and so I can now share this with you...

In 2008, Semroc teamed up with Vern and Gleda Estes to produce The Golden Scout program! The idea was simple; build and fly a Scout rocket (painted gold, of course) to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Estes' entry into the hobby! Once you flew your rocket, you sent your information to Semroc and got a certificate that looked a lot like this:

This is now proudly displayed on the wall of my rocket room. Its a great reminder of the tremendous contributions made by the Estes' to our hobby.

Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!

Moon Day 2015!!!

The 2015 edition of Moon Day turned out to be the highest attended so far! The Frontiers of Flight Museum was awash with tons of space enthusiests of all ages. The DARS booth was manned by Jack, Suzie, John, George, Dan, and myself. We needed all the folks due to two build sessions and (in a first for Moon Day) a launch! Some pictures have already been emailed and Facebooked (is that a word?) but here are mine!

The DARS booth! It was pretty big this year...

A ton of models on display...

More models...

...and more models....

The Moonliner had to be there, since it was also the 60th anniversary of Disneyland opening to the public!

My wife's crayon rocket is always a kid favorite!

The big star, though, was a big rocket! George's level 3 qualifier, The Silver Beast!

He had a nice info display on it....

John and Dan help kids prep models at the launch!

...while Jack got them on the pad! I helped with the controller, but I didn't get a picture of it...

I didn't really think about last week's post having anything to do with Moon Day until I met Ms. Ansari herself! She was demonstrating some new software her company is developing. She also graciously agreed to a group picture with us!

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

Roaring Rubicon!

I was going through a few pictures I had on my computer while putting together a DVD slide show for Moon Day (THIS Saturday, campers!) and out of the 580 or so, I found documentation of one of my crazier ideas.

 Years ago, Estes released a series of Ansari X Prize rockets, based on actual ideas for entries into that contest. I found a heavily discounted Rubicon at Hobby Lobby and I snatched it up with no clear idea what I was going to do with it. I let it sit around for a while, until I decided to build it. I figured going mainly stock on it was a good idea, except for one little detail.

You see, the original rocket was designed for five engines. It seemed a shame to let the model fly with just one little D12, so I came up with this...

Pretty normal, huh?

But, here's the trick! Triple the fun!

The secret to adding weight to the tail...Weight to the nose! Yes, that's lead...

Sitting on the pad about 10 years ago...

And in the air!!! It's a bit blurry because I didn't use three D12's...I used three E15's. I told you it was a little crazy!

So there you have it! The most stupidly over the top black powder-powered Rubicon ever. I think I only flew it that one time. It now sits, kind of forgotten, in my rocket room. I guess there are advantages to looking at old pictures!

Speaking of which, if you want to see all 580+ pictures, plus about 40 minutes of launch video, plus lots of cool rockets on display, plus lots of other moon and space related stuff, come on out to the Frontiers of Flight Museum for Moon Day this Saturday, July 18 from 10 to 5! It will be a blast! We hope to see you there!

Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!

The Mighty Saturn V

There are some rockets that are just flat-out classics. Some, because of styling; some, because of historic significance; some because of both. Today I thought I'd share some pictures from around 1990 of a rocket that fits in the third catagory.

The Estes Saturn V is one of the most impressive flying models ever made. Sporting a BT-101 body tube, this rocket has just enough heft to make it truly impressive. Sure, the fins are a little over sized for true scale, but I can easily forgive that safety concession.

In around 1990 I decided to go ahead and fly mine. I was snapping pictures with a Yashica-Mat mid format camera, and my friend, Wayland, was shooting black and white. Here are the pictures from that day:

Prior to launch. I don't know who that guy is...

Lift off!

Another angle in color!

It was sometimes difficult for the single D-12 to pressurize the large BT-101 tube....Oops.

The horizontal fall helped soften the blow.

No damage! (Special guest appearance by Jack Sprague!)

Now, the main reason I shared these pictures is that I think they are kind of cool. The other reason is to remind everyone that Moon Day is coming up again at the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Love Field! If anyone wants to help out on July 18, they are more than welcome! Or if you just want to come and see all of the festivities, that's good too! Hours are from 10 to 5. We hope to see you there!

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