What was the first rocket you ever launched?

My first was an Estes Skyhook back in 1968 - followed by an Arcas and a Gyroc.

Estes Alpha with my Dad 1980 used the battery on a Farmall as the ignition source.

For me it was an Estes Meanie in the late '80s. At this point, I have no idea what happened to it...

1971 Estes Orbital Transport
My brother and I pooled our money to get it.
Didn't angle the elevons right and the glider came straight down.
Fixed it and it flew several times after that with good results.

Estes Alpha on a C motor in 1967 or 68 was flown off a Estes Electro-Launch pad. First flight ever and I lost it ! But was so hooked on rocketry from then on!

heh, my 1st rocket was a scratch build about 8" long, on a C6-5. didn't go very high...it was kinda heavy .
Rex

Estes Sabre, when I was 6 years old.
14 years later and it's still flying, although my younger self was not very kind - it now has a (hand carved poorly by me) wooden nose cone, and the fin can is almost entirely hot glue by this point. It's not something I show off, but it still flies surprisingly straight as an arrow, and I try to launch it every time I have a launch, for old times' sake.

Estes Wac Corporal 1968

What motor? Also, was it a good flight?

dwinings said:

Estes Wac Corporal 1968

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rocketed said:

What motor? Also, was it a good flight?

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that was 47 years ago how am I supposed to remember that? https://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/nostalgia/68estp20.html probably an A8-3. I did get it back though

Estes Screamer.Around 1974 My Brother And I And Afew Kids In The Neiborhood Flew Rockets In The Churchyard Across The Street.We Used A Homemade Launcher And Waterproof Fuse For Ignitting.Fun Times.

The Estes "Star Wars Proton Torpedo kit" was my first rocket. Yes, the movie got me into rocketry, apparently Estes made a great call in getting rights to license the rocket kits. Years later I made a clone of it for old times sake.
https://www.alphacompany.com/rocket/ptorpedo/

I'm thinking it was the mosquito. Less than a buck if I remember. 1972?

Estes Wac Corporal, then a Big Bertha, which lived until last year (still have both) I started in 1970.

Some additional thoughts on my early rocketry experiences: I remember using cotton balls as recovery wadding in my Beta. They'd eject and fall to earth trailing smoke, which we thought was cool. We were flying from an asphalt parking lot, so all we had to do was stomp them out.
Our first launch was handled using Black Cat firecrackers as an ignition source. We'd unwrap then, place the wick into the motor, then pour in the powder and tamp it down with an Ohio Blue Tip matchstick, which was then used to light the fuse.
Our launch rod was a straightened coathanger, at first just placed in a crack in the asphalt. Then our fearless leader got creative with some scrap wood and built a plywood base with a wooden dowel that he drilled a hole in. Worked great and was easy to break down for transport. We never bothered with a blast plate, and the dowel was looking pretty ragged at the end of the first day.
We eventually handled ignition with a big lantern battery and a set of clips that I made out of Cincinnati Bell wire and some of my Mom's hair clips. Sounds odd, but it worked like a charm and I've still got them in my old range box.
I was lucky to find a can of white spray paint in the garage. Most of what my Mom had for her projects was olive green, pastel pink, and gloss clear. I never found the need to use either the olive green or the pastel pink, but I'm pretty sure I clearcoated my Estes Condor.

cussler08 said:

Estes Wac Corporal, then a Big Bertha, which lived until last year (still have both) I started in 1970.

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Pics! Have any pics of the Wac and Bertha?

First rocket I ever launched was an Estes Wizard in the early 1980's. I walked inside of a Carl's Toys and Hobbies and saw a whole isle of model rockets and a small Estes catalog. With only a pocket of change, I was only able to afford the smallest of rockets with nothing left over for engines. The Wizard looked appealing, so I bought it and flew the heck out of it. I retired it after the elastic band got brown and brittle, the fin tips wore down from so many landings and the white paint tinted yellow from either getting hot or from age.

Estes Black Brant II. Went way high, landed in the trees. Man I wish Estes would bring it back so I could take another crack at it.

Flyfalcons said:

Estes Black Brant II. Went way high, landed in the trees. Man I wish Estes would bring it back so I could take another crack at it.

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Here's the plans .https://www.oldrocketplans.com/estes/est1958/est1958.htm Why wait for Estes?

Not sure where to source the plastic nose cone and nozzle section and don't have a lathe to turn a balsa nozzle. After all that sourcing it would be twice as expensive as Estes would charge for a production kit.

Flyfalcons said:

Not sure where to source the plastic nose cone and nozzle section and don't have a lathe to turn a balsa nozzle. After all that sourcing it would be twice as expensive as Estes would charge for a production kit.

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Um... this man here, he needs another dose of the good stuff, 'cause he's not NEARLY as addicted as the rest of us.

... twice as expensive ... like that would stop most of us ...

I know that it was about 1975, too long ago to remember the model name. I can tell you that we used to toss the electronic "solar" igniters and use cannon fuse instead. Light and run.

Flyfalcons said:

Not sure where to source the plastic nose cone and nozzle section and don't have a lathe to turn a balsa nozzle. After all that sourcing it would be twice as expensive as Estes would charge for a production kit.

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Try this site https://www.balsamachining.com/

Shoot, you could make the nose and tail cones for that rocket out of paper. Wouldn't even be hard.

My first was the all plastic Estes Ready to Fly X-15. I got the X-15 starter set for Christmas 1977. I remember the flights being fairly low. The little thing was built like a plastic brick, which was a good thing, since parachute deployment was iffy. Next was an Alpha, followed by a Mosquito, which disappeared off the pad, never to be seen again.

Mine was an Estes Alpha around '86. My son's first was an Estes Crossfire in 2010.

I wasn't smart enough to keep mine safe after a few flights. I pushed it and flew it to the point where I lost it (burned the elastic parachute cord) and watched it sail to the heavens.

My son's is proudly displayed hanging from his ceiling after about 6 or 7 flights. Smart kid.

A Baby Bertha.

Estes SR-71 Blackbird. My father built it and we flew it in a neighbors corn field some time in the 80's I believe. Actually just bought one of the last re-releases that was again discontinued. Payed way too much for it, but now i have a version of my first!

Estes Silver Arrow

I was 8 years old and was building 1/72 scale WWII artillery models because Pic n Save used to have tons of this cool stuff in the late 70's to early 80's. After watching the first Star Wars in theater, I happen to notice an Estes Star Wars X-Wing Fighter on the shelf at Pic n Save and had to have it. I thought it was just another model kit, but thought it was weird that it contained plastic, wood and cardboard.

After building it, I just treated it like my other models and just displayed it on my shelf and occasionally walked it around the house, held it in the air, pretending it was flying and shooting the enemy action figures. It was never flown with a motor because I never new what they were at the time.

A year later I discovered rocketry and realized what My X-Wing Fighter really was (A real flying rocket..Wow!), but was not built with flight stability in mind, too much or not enough glue, wrong glue, and broken and re-glued fins from play. That's when I bought, built and flown the Estes Wizard as my first rocket.