Must have been fun, Baron. I had a friend who used to fly model rockets from the beach, here in Southport. He had to get permission from the airport authorities when he was planning to do it. I only ever had the elastic powered Quercetti rockets, which I generally launched from the back garden. They allegedly flew over 200 feet in the air, only to safely land in someone's nearby roof gutter! :D
Rockets and kids, what could possibly go wrong! I'd have loved to have had a go, they sound great.Zigg. Although it sounds like you lost one or two. Were they expensive?
As with other hobbies at the time, I kept to the budget models of the Estes line, mainly straightforward rockets and missiles. Never had anything iconic like the Saturn V or the Star Trek ones.
A friend and I shared some of our launch equipment. I remember even in the mid-1960s, they were edging away from using an actual fuse to light the rockets, and were going over to a small electrical charge which of course you could launch from a “launch base” some distance away via wires. When possible, though, we liked to use the old method - light a long rocket fuse with a match and run like hell!
Although the rockets we built were quite simple, using cardboard tubes and plastic and wooden parts, you could really goose them up With a nice paint job if you wanted to, and as plastic modelers, we tried to add that touch of “Art” to our rockets. “Custom” decals from other models too in some cases!
As for recovery, maybe 7 out of 10 came back and were retrievable. Once in awhile, we used a too-powerful rocket engine, and the thing really blasted off into the cosmos! More often, the rocket landed in a high tree, and was considered a write-off.
I used to fly model rockets, but never had the Trek ones. You were supposed to launch in a field to avoid landing on roofs...
ReplyDeleteMust have been fun, Baron. I had a friend who used to fly model rockets from the beach, here in Southport. He had to get permission from the airport authorities when he was planning to do it.
DeleteI only ever had the elastic powered Quercetti rockets, which I generally launched from the back garden. They allegedly flew over 200 feet in the air, only to safely land in someone's nearby roof gutter! :D
Estes rockets were “the thing” in the late 60s, I built and launched several. Sometimes, they even came back! SFZ
ReplyDeleteRockets and kids, what could possibly go wrong!
DeleteI'd have loved to have had a go, they sound great.Zigg. Although it sounds like you lost one or two. Were they expensive?
As with other hobbies at the time, I kept to the budget models of the Estes line, mainly straightforward rockets and missiles. Never had anything iconic like the Saturn V or the Star Trek ones.
DeleteA friend and I shared some of our launch equipment. I remember even in the mid-1960s, they were edging away from using an actual fuse to light the rockets, and were going over to a small electrical charge which of course you could launch from a “launch base” some distance away via wires. When possible, though, we liked to use the old method - light a long rocket fuse with a match and run like hell!
Although the rockets we built were quite simple, using cardboard tubes and plastic and wooden parts, you could really goose them up
With a nice paint job if you wanted to, and as plastic modelers, we tried to add that touch of “Art” to our rockets. “Custom” decals from other models too in some cases!
As for recovery, maybe 7 out of 10 came back and were retrievable. Once in awhile, we used a too-powerful rocket engine, and the thing really blasted off into the cosmos! More often, the rocket landed in a high tree, and was considered a write-off.
It was glorious fun, though. SFZ