Who has their very 1st rocket?
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While I cannot attest to it being my very first rocket, I still have my Big Bertha from when I was a kid. Late '70's to mid '80's. So, 40+ years. And I have my Centuri SST Shuttle. Flew it once and set it down in the basement at my parents house. When I got back into rocketry, both were still safely tucked away in the basement... While I don't know for sure if dad stored them away carefully for me, I'd like to think so. He's still alive, but his memory is extremely MEH... Luckily he still recognizes us. 
Pics at a later date.
Pics at a later date.
Neutronium95
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I still have my second rocket. My Quest Falcon is around 18 years old, and is still in flyable condition. I should get some Q-jets and fly it some more.
mine got tossed moving from Ohio to NC back in 93, another dumb a$$ move for me
rbelknap
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I still have my Estes viking that I first built as a BAR about 10 years ago. I also have the partially built silver comet kit I bought in my pre BAR early 20s, and never finished. (Still on the build pile, way down near the bottom right now) The other two that I finished and flew were lost post flight, (Wizard and Gemini DC) which is why I never really got back into rocketry until I had kids.
I guess that makes me a BABAR
Incidentally, losing rockets to rocket eating trees and jr. high roof tops is a big part of why I initially lost interest as a kid, too. I’ve gotten much better at recovery it seems. (And when I occasionally lose / retire one of my flight models, I see it as an opportunity to build a new one.)
I guess that makes me a BABAR
Incidentally, losing rockets to rocket eating trees and jr. high roof tops is a big part of why I initially lost interest as a kid, too. I’ve gotten much better at recovery it seems. (And when I occasionally lose / retire one of my flight models, I see it as an opportunity to build a new one.)
![1228201419[1].jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/rocketryforum/data/attachments/361/361218-32eb0ab051fd066c220a355193292a55.jpg "1228201419[1].jpg")
Especially the latter. Don't ask how I know
I don’t remember what my first rocket was, but I know I don’t have it any more.
Initiator001
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That is a Centuri Buck Rogers Laser Torpedo model.
Initiator001
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My first model rocket was an Estes Scout (K-1).
I mail ordered it direct from Estes in January 1970. It took four weeks to get to me.
I decided not to follow the instructions completely which resulted in the rocket not being flyable.
I still have the model.
I mail ordered it direct from Estes in January 1970. It took four weeks to get to me.
I decided not to follow the instructions completely which resulted in the rocket not being flyable.
I still have the model.
Cool, I've never seen one in white. I still have mine, about the same age. It's here in a box, attempted to core sample the dirt drive about 25 years ago after a composite E flight. Sooner or later to be resurrected. I would say if there was anything left to work with, reincarnation counts.
It's nice to see and hear of these proud survivors. Original unbuilt kits are neat, but don't compare to the ones that came to life and are still around.
My first rocket was an Astron Sprite, '71-'72, I was 5 or 6. My oldest brother helped me build it, and we painted it an ugly dark green with a stripe of red tape around the body tube under the nose cone. I didn't like the color much then, and I still don't. It still survives at my parents' house with a balsa wound or two.
Other 70's survivors there are: an Astron Starlight, a Semi-Scale Sat V like the one in mikeyd's picture above, Goblin, Interceptor, a partially-built Saturn V ('72 or so), most of a Cox Honest John (also like the one in mikeyd's picture), and the wood cross "launch pad" from my Cold Power Valkyrie 2.
As much as I'd like to bring them here, their job right now is to remind my mother of her 3 young boys doing the things that made them happy.
I have the nose cone from my first rocket, an Estes Mark II, and at least one fin. It was all I could find at the bottom of the tree. The only thing I have from my childhood that is still flyable is my Centuri Moonraker. I also have my Centuri Vector V, but alas, that is not flyable.
berlinetta
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I still have the Estes Gnome that I built and flown when I was a boy scout. The shock cord snapped one day when I flew it on my own one day. I have since bought another, which I still love to fly.
This is a philosophical question.
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Well, that’s one way to make sure you don’t lose it in a tree or a field!
Same here, I still have the nosecone of my Estes America. It's a little less shiny than when I got it, but it flies on my son's rocket now:
Your son looks like I did when I sat on Santa Claus' lap for the first time.
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I have my very last rocket.
GlennW
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I still have what I think are my first 2 rockets. An Estes Alpha III that came with my launch kit and the Estes Javelin (from the combo pack with the Super Flea which I lost to a tree about 10 years ago). The Alpha III is pretty much destroyed and no longer flyable but the Javelin is still viable and last flew about a year or 2 ago. Both are from about 1980 or so.
MarkB.
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I have my second rocket, a Centuri Starfire from 1973 and a number of others from my childhood. My first, an Estes Alpha with the fins on incorrectly, exploded in an absolutely spectacular B14-7 CATO in 1978. The only recognizable part was the nose cone.
I think you should restore that Buck Rogers Laser Lance. I'm a big believer in returning old rockets to flight status. I'll bet eRockets has the parts you need, the nose cone is SEM-BC-1043. Maybe a length of BTH-50 (a slipfit inside an ST-10) or some ST-10 couplers to punch out the dented tubing from inside. A tough repair, but doable.
I think you should restore that Buck Rogers Laser Lance. I'm a big believer in returning old rockets to flight status. I'll bet eRockets has the parts you need, the nose cone is SEM-BC-1043. Maybe a length of BTH-50 (a slipfit inside an ST-10) or some ST-10 couplers to punch out the dented tubing from inside. A tough repair, but doable.
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rharshberger
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Still have 3 of my first 4 rockets and occasionally still fly them. The first was the Estes Space Shuttle Columbia (#1385, well beaten and repaired, flown many times, from the starter kit), the Estes 1911 Courier (beat up but flyable), Estes 1987 Sentinel (worse for wear but flyable) the fourth was the SR-71 long since destroyed in a move to the point of not rebuildable and parts lost since.
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Frankly I'm torn on this one.
I have my first scratch build that has gone through a BT change, at least 2 new fins, new parachute, but the nose and design has stayed almost totally the same and I consider it the same rocket.
On the other hand my Estes exoskell has retained its front tube and name and I don't consider it the same at all.
Family heirloom rocket parts? Awesome.
Fishhead
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I have a fin from a Goonybird Cloudhopper and two fins from a scratch build that hit a church under power. Gave everything else away to the younger brothers of one of my college buds. They had no memory of them when I asked years later.
