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I'm partial to the Centuri angled deflectors from the mid 70's
 
I still remember one faithful afternoon back in 72' when my older brother was trying to launch his first rocket. He had tried several times in the past and never could get it to work. Shaking the Estes controller in frustration - failed again. He walked into the garage speaking choice words, came out on the tractor with some wire cutters. Cut the controller off, stripped the wires, and hit the tractor's battery. Whoosh! Wow!! We both yelled. And... I was hooked...

Wait... Was that a safety violation. Oh, well - he did it...

Those battery powered thins, if you started at 10 with your count down, you had to press and hold the button when you 7 or 6. He probably didn't know that.
But I always loved the instananeous "whoosh" of the 12v battery!
 
My first rocket is described on page 161 of Bertand R. Brinley's _Rocket Manual For Amateurs_, available here:

https://cdn.preterhuman.net/texts/t...R. Brinley (Ballantine Books - 1960) 385s.pdf

I received this book for my 7th birthday, I can't even tell you how many times I read it before it fell apart.

I remember sending an actual letter to Vern (school project, we had to write a letter to request something) to get the latest catalog, then sending the order form with cash to Vern and waiting by the mail box everyday to see if the postman had my rocket (an Alpha, the first one took forever from a 7 year old's point of view). Working with my dad to build the Alpha, then my dad built a homemade launch controller and we used a long welding rod with a tin can lid for the deflector. Rocket motors came in tubes that could be used to make scratch build rockets, one new rocket for every three rockets launched. Feeding the farmers combine way to many rockets.

Needless to say I was hooked on rockets the first time my dad mention it was possible to make our own.
 
I always thought that curved deflector was a Model Missiles item acquired by Estes when they bought up MM inventory.

I think you could be on to something John. You can see this type of deflector in pictures of the MM launch tower. I'll bet Estes had a box or 3 sittin' in a closet. The possiblity that these could be original Model Missiles stock adds to the historical value IMO.
 
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Definitely have never seen those before.

Well,
Were you building an Alpha and a Wizard in the late sixties / early seventies..........

Hey,,,
That Wizard had the bestest paint job EVERRRRRRRRRR....................

From the little Testors bottles............. lol...

Teddy
 
Well, at least the Ebay linky's are working now. Definitely a disturbance in the Force yesterday.

Built my first rocket, Alpha of course, in 1967. Flew it off a red plastic Electro-Launch with 4 EverReady D cells: 5...4...3...2...1... .... ... ... ... ... LAUNCH !
 
The link is back up as others have noted. That blast deflector is in the '68 catalog on page 58 - in the parts section (see the scan on the Ninfinger site). But the ones in the auction have Damon packaging...so they must have been around as parts for several years.

I don't recall ever seeing an Estes launch pad with a deflector like that. Almost all the Estes deflectors, from the plastic-cased Electro-Launch (1966 catalog) onwards were circular flat plates. However, this does not account for anything that they did between the mid 1970s and about 5 years ago - during my rocketry hiatus.

I had an Electro-Launch but it, sadly, is long lost. I still have one of my two original Tilt-A-Pads which I have used occasionally in my BAR-dom. I also have one of the original Solar Launch Controllers (the first one in Gary's post #23) and it is still functional. It was still pretty new when I dropped out of rocketry in college.

I've replaced the incandescent lamp in that controller with an LED-based one so it is now Q2G2 safe. And yes, I still have the key. Mine had leaky cells in it when I rediscovered it getting back into rockets but a brass wire brush on a Dremel tool can do wonders cleaning things up.

The first Estes catalog I really remember having is the 1967 version. I also remember getting motors in those blue tubes mailed to our post office box in Shiprock, NM.

I think I started with a Streak and a Sprite, but did have an Alpha (and have quite a few variants of the Alpha now) a little later. I also remember having a Cobra and a Farside-X as well as some originals from back then.
 
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I don't recall ever seeing an Estes launch pad with a deflector like that.

Mine had leaky cells in it when I rediscovered it getting back into rockets but a brass wire brush on a Dremel tool can do wonders cleaning things up.

The first Estes catalog I really remember having is the 1967 version. I also remember getting motors in those blue tubes mailed to our post office box in Shiprock, NM.

I think those deflector plates were an optional investment, because I don't remember ever seeing one on any given launch pad they sold.

The Dremel?.....You just about can't be without one of those anymore. Hope you bought the flex snake attachment with the pencil type grip on it. I never take it off.

Do you remember when Estes sold a special NC for those blue tubes? I prolly used a dozen of them.
 
Do you remember when Estes sold a special NC for those blue tubes? I prolly used a dozen of them.

Yes, I remember those nose cones, my dad was an accomplished machinist so he made a lot of nose cone on the lathe. I spent hours watching him make them.
 
Yes, I remember those nose cones, my dad was an accomplished machinist so he made a lot of nose cone on the lathe. I spent hours watching him make them.

We didn't have that advantage back in the day. Now I own a lathe, but I have no blue tubes........:cry:
 
I remember when D motors were introduced. I watched Gemini flights on TV. And I have photos, but no memories of the Mercury capsule "on parade" in front of my home in Toledo Ohio (I'm in the photos).
 
The "D" motor! O-M-G....that was the day I took a C6-5 in my hand and said, "Catch ya later ole friend, the big dawg is movin in."
 
We didn't have that advantage back in the day. Now I own a lathe, but I have no blue tubes........:cry:
I got a couple of blue tubes with B14's in them and a couple of the green ones with D13's in them.

Want one? Empty one that is.
 
I'm looking over the old catelogs on the Estes site, putting stuff together for my chat this weekend.
Estes only offered this shield as an accessory. But, here...

https://www.estesrockets.com/media//catalogs/Centuri_1974_Catalog.pdf

on page 7 of the pdf, you'll find it stock on the Centuri 10 in 1 Starter Kit. As you can see, the launch pad is quite differently constructed.
Since Estes and Centuri catelogs are listed here, I assume Estes Consumed Centuri at some point.
If you try to email Estes from their webpage, the address is centurims.com
You can judje for yourself by how far back the catelogs go. If we only had a resoarce for more centuri catelogs!
 
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The Dremel?.....You just about can't be without one of those anymore. Hope you bought the flex snake attachment with the pencil type grip on it. I never take it off.

Do you remember when Estes sold a special NC for those blue tubes? I prolly used a dozen of them.

I don't think I ever saw the nose cones for the mailing tubes, though I do remember hearing of them.

I actually favor the inexpensive two-speed Dremel tools that are sold for cleaning golf clubs or trimming dog's claws as they use ordinary AA cells. I now have one in my rocket field kit - great for cleaning clips on the club system at the launch.

I do have an older variable speed plug-in model which I use for heavier work than cleaning clips and contacts - had it for 30+ years now. No flex shaft, though.

BTW, the safety key for my Solar Launch controller is made of 5/64 inch diameter steel wire. The straight section is 1 inch long. It should be fairly easy to make something to replace the lost one that will work.
 
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BTW, the safety key for my Solar Launch controller is made of 5/64 inch diameter steel wire. The straight section is 1 inch long. It should be fairly easy to make something to replace the lost one that will work.

The One Gary is talking about is quite different. It actually looks like a cheap key to a really cheap padlock or suitcase.
I'm sure something could be jambed in there to make it work, or modifide with a toggle switch.
But hey, his a part of his life, and he wants to remember every launch he made with that when he turns that key.
Sorry Gary, stepped on your toes again. :bangpan:
 
Actually, I have no real attachment to that solar control. I can't even remember buying it. I've just had it for a very long time. I know I could use a makeshift key, but I don't plan to use it. I thought, if I could find an original key, someone else might be interested in owning it.
 
I've seen that happen before,,
I don't understand that at all..
I just clicked the link and it worked fine..
Maybe Matt knows why that happens..

66 huh..
You've got me beat..
I wasn't flying rockets that young... lol

What year did Estes come out with the Alpha ???

That's the one rocket each and everyone I know had,,
put it up on A-8-3's many times,,,
then for high flights put it up on the occasional B-6-4...
Then put a C-6-5 in it and never saw it again... lol...

Teddy

'71 for me. Alpha and a Big Bertha for Christmas from my Uncle Bill who got me in the hobby


Launching rockets (or missiles in my case) is so easy a chimp could do it. Read a step, do a step, eat a banana.

Sent from my iPad Air using Rocketry Forum.
 
Placed my first order from an ad in Popular Mechanics Magazine 61. The Scout was delivered in a red shipping tube. That little rocket found the top of a tree and the shipping tube became first scratch build.

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Placed my first order from an ad in Popular Mechanics Magazine 61. The Scout was delivered in a red shipping tube. The Scout found the top of a tree and the shipping tube became first scratch build.

I can't remember what publication I saw my first Estes ad in but it had to be around 1961-62.
I still have my original Astron Scout and several other rockets I built including an original twin engine Gemini Titan.
We didn't have a lot of money so I think my first launch pad was a section of 2X6 lumber with a launch rod stuck in the middle. Launch controller was home made too, probably a 6 volt lantern battery, zip cord, Estes igniter clips and some type of switch.
I launched LP until fall of '68. My last flight was a two stage rocket, scratch built with Centuri parts and those "Huge" E and F motors. :smile:
 
I can't remember what publication I saw my first Estes ad in but it had to be around 1961-62.
I still have my original Astron Scout and several other rockets I built including an original twin engine Gemini Titan.
We didn't have a lot of money so I think my first launch pad was a section of 2X6 lumber with a launch rod stuck in the middle. Launch controller was home made too, probably a 6 volt lantern battery, zip cord, Estes igniter clips and some type of switch.
I launched LP until fall of '68. My last flight was a two stage rocket, scratch built with Centuri parts and those "Huge" E and F motors. :smile:

Sounds about the same as my first launch set up. I went through a 'few' of my Dad's lantern batteries.
 
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