The Death of the Zonker...

Some of you may remember a few years ago when I did an article about my one and only attempt at using a wrapping paper tube for a rocket. Never in my life had I put so much work (not to mention F&F) into a body tube. Finally after what seemed like days and days, I created The Screaming Yellow Zonker!

The Zonker was a simple rocket. Body tube, plastic nose cone, and a plastic fin can were really all there was to it. I slapped on some yellow and black paint and a home-printed decal and she was done.

She flew great, however. Her 24mm motor mount let me use Estes D's and E's. She really did scream!

Alas, all good things must come to an end, and so it is with The Zonker. Did she crash gloriously in flight? Did she cato into bits in front of hundreds of awed spectatators?

No....I stepped on her. Right on that blasted tube. Now, I could probably fix her, but I can't bear to think about that much work...So I'm retiring her. Maybe someday...

Until next time fly 'em fast and high!

The MIGHTY (tiny) SATURN V!

One of the nice features of most Saturn V models is that they tend to be fairly large. However, a few years ago Quest decided to go in another direction. They went TINY!

The Quest Micro-Maxx Saturn V is powered by the also-tiny Micro-Maxx 1/8 A engine. The whole pre-built model is slightly less than six inches tall. Here are a couple of examples...

These are a little under six inches tall. That's a penny in between them.

Here we have taken the engine mount out of the model on the left. You simply insert the 1/8 A and stick it back in and twist! The streamer is also shown deployed. The nose doesn't come off, it just slides up to release the streamer. In all honesty, it doesn't work well...

So, how do these mighty midgets perform? Not great, actually. They are so heavy that you could probably throw them higher than the motor can get it. The recovery system doesn't work well, but it doesn't really matter because it's pretty much a hunk of indestructable plastic anyway.

So, rather than fly them, I just stick them on a shelf to look at. They are kind of cool, in a weird way. And I know I won't lose them in the weeds!

Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!

Model Rocketry....50 Years Ago.

Hello rocketeers! This week we're going to take a trip back 50 years to 1966! Let's look at one of my coolest Estes catalogs (I think Royce Frankum gave it to me a few years ago...Thanks, Royce!) and the coolness therein!

The cover of the catalog features great artwork. Mine has a scuff, but it still looks cool!

Two true scale classics! I've built and flown both of them and they scream! I'd like to build the Aerobee again...

The Spaceman was a weird idea that actually ended up being pretty cool. The Streak was well named. It was a total hot rod. It looks like this version of the Phantom didn't have fins...but it probably did.

Classic gliders! These were tough to trim out, but really looked cool when you got them right!

I'm not sure that The Invader could be trimmed out well, but the concept was pretty cool. The Sprite was another hot rod. The Delta was best known as the launch vehicle for the Camroc!

The back of the catalog features this great full color picture of just about every rocket in the book. Note the paint schemes were pretty different than later versions.

So there you have it! There are lots of ideas for classic rockets that are easy to clone here. That may come in handy soon....

Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!

Everything's Better in Pictures

Today I have an image to show you that isn't exactly as it seems. Here you go...

It's the cover of the July,  1987 issue of American Spacemodeling! On this cover we see a fine example of a Saturn V blasting into the sky for a beautiful flight!...well, sort of...

You see, I happened to take this picture and I know the truth behind it. And I'm ready to spill the beans!

The year was 1987. The contest was Tex Regional. The event was Plastic Model Conversion.

John Dyer built this beautiful Saturn V and decided to make a makeshift tower for it using three rods pushed into the ground. I caught the bird just as it was lifting off...which was good, because an instant later it all went wrong!

Maybe it was the tower. Maybe it was not enough nose weight. Maybe the PMC gods were just angry that day. Whatever the reason, as soon as this bird got about two feet in the air, there were loops-a-plenty! Still, I don't think it was damaged and (if memory serves me) it flew again (albeit MUCH better!)

What is the point to all of this? Just that you can have a bad flight and still make the cover of the national magazine with no one the wiser! ...until now...Sorry, John.

Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!