They're Still in Business

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by Erik Tracy

Remember how the wings would split, and the canopy piece would break, but you would still slide the remains into the top slot?

And watch that hand winding the propeller! WHACK! Ouch!

Oh Yes..

[djwhog]

Did you build Centuri as well guys?

I made some big time e and f engine and a saturn 5 with 5 f engines in it too.

[jameslrock]

My twin brother and I built and sent up the Mercury multi stage. Never saw it again.

I am certain I have a few old rocket kits in the attic.

[Erik Tracy]

Originally Posted by djwhog

Did you build Centuri as well guys?

I made some big time e and f engine and a saturn 5 with 5 f engines in it too.

Absolutely! I had a Groove Tube that lasted quite a few launches.

One time though, the chute did not deploy and the tubes were no longer perfectly round. The next launch it went into a tight up & down arc - nose into the dirt never to recover.

[GaryProtein]

WOW! I never saw this thread. I used to use a lot of Estes rockets starting at an early age with my father. They were a blast.

It reminds me of a rocket a friend of mine and I built in high school from directions in a "Scholastic Books" series I got while in sixth grade. (I still have that book!) I don't think the writers ever thought anyone would built what we built, but it was a lot of work and great fun. The most incredible part was the support we got from out parents. I don't think they had any idea we were building an instrument of destruction.

This rocket was built out of a 2 1/2" diameter steel pipe 48 inches long. The nose cone was the difficult part to make and we made that, the tail fins and flame orifice and welded all the parts together in the metal shop in school since we had taken driver's ed with the metal shop teacher. Since he liked us, he allowed us to use the shop for our unusual project. We used a remote igniter for the launch. The plans in the book said it would fly to 20,000 feet!

The propellent was a mixture of several pounds of sulfur powder and zinc dust very carefully and slowly sifted together. I don't remember the proportions. One spring morning in our senior year, my partner in crime and I went to Jones Beach very early in the morning when they had just opened the parking fields, we set up the rocket on the launching pad at the shore, and off it went. We aimed it slightly over the ocean so it wouldn't go over land. I am positive we would have been arrested and put away for many years if anybody ever saw us. If we had done this in recent years we would have been called terrorists put away for life. I can't say how high and or far the rocket went, but we never recovered it and didn't read of any explosions, plane crashes or boats sinking in the Atlantic ocean after the launch, so I guess there were no injuries or fatalities!

Those were the days!

[Masterlu]

Gary... just got off the phone with these guys; apparently they have been looking for you!

[GaryProtein]

Look closely at the lower center part of the screen. It's a small rocket, similar to what we made. You hardly see it unless you back up the video to see the launch pad.

It was a little like this:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAeLgtJbJpc&NR=1&feature=fvwp]Zinc sulfur rocket - YouTube[/ame]

[sleepysurf]

Wow! Really brings back memories! I must've built about 20 Estes or Centauri (?? sp) rockets in my high school days. Half the time those battery powered electric wire igniters didn't work, so we moved on to ignitable fuses. My friends and I quickly graduated to manufacturing our own solid state propellant engines (and other combustibles <g>), and blew up a few basement labs and garages while perfecting our recipe! Sure wish I had taken some pics in those days! The 1999 movie October Sky is a "must see"... [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxJQgYPXjN4]October Sky Official Trailer #1 - (1999) HD - YouTube[/ame]

[Masterlu]

Saturn V 1:10 scale, weights 1600 lbs. I'm surprised he didn't need NASA clearance to launch this.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bj4lj6YSwzg&sns=em]Steve Eves' Saturn V Launch - YouTube[/ame]

[GaryProtein]

Originally Posted by Masterlu

Saturn V 1:10 scale, weights 1600 lbs. I'm surprised he didn't need NASA clearance to launch this.

Steve Eves' Saturn V Launch - YouTube

MAGNIFICENT execution!

GORGEOUS

I remember on the LDRS program. Kari Byron asked one of the rocket builders, "Are you concerned about the launch of your rocket?" and the guy's reply was "What could go wrong? It's a rocket!!!!!"