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!