CAÑON CITY, Colorado USA — To many he was a friend, to others he was a mentor, but most people within the rocketry community don't know the man as much as they do his lifetime of contributions to the hobby of model rocketry, a man taken before his time by an aggressive form of pancreatic cancer. Mike Dorffler, a visionary who brought ideas, concepts and unique products to life while working at Estes Industries, is often referred to as the Father of the Cineroc, a video camera model rocket product that launched his career within the model rocketry industry at the young age of 21. Dorffler's idea was to mount a Super 8 format movie camera in the nose of a model rocket and film the rocket's flight and recovery, so he submitted his idea to Estes Industries for consideration, an event that led to a job interview.

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