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!
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