What was the first rocket you ever launched?
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Super Flea, 1974... 2 for 1 kit with Javelin. Not sure if the Javelin every flew. As I recall it was a build fail.
RayGNJ
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My first rocket was a class project in 8th grade back in 1973. We were learning about mass production and we made rockets from scratch........No premade parts.
Body tubes were hand rolled using 1 inch dowels, Nose cones made from corks, Fins cut from fiber board, Motor mounts made from 1 inch dowels with holes in them for thrust blocks and motor tube made from rolled up paper and popsicle sticks.
As I remember, my rocket was last seen coming in ballistic on the Libraries roof . Defective motor mount was the cause I think.
My first kit was a Century Astro 1 on I think an A8-3 which was my first successful flight.
Body tubes were hand rolled using 1 inch dowels, Nose cones made from corks, Fins cut from fiber board, Motor mounts made from 1 inch dowels with holes in them for thrust blocks and motor tube made from rolled up paper and popsicle sticks.
As I remember, my rocket was last seen coming in ballistic on the Libraries roof . Defective motor mount was the cause I think.
My first kit was a Century Astro 1 on I think an A8-3 which was my first successful flight.
TopRamen
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Mt first rocket was one of these, when I was about 6:
I forgot about those! If you consider those Rockets, then my first was actually in 1983ish. I remember mine was Green, and the Pump Trigger Assembly was White and Red. Man, that thing was a Blast!
Found an Image online. Mine was like the PTA on the Left, and the Tall Rocket in the Middle Right, but my Rocket I remember being translucent Green, not Red.:
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paul.nortness
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Estes Mosquito 1981
Landed about a foot from the pad. Looked everywhere for it, gave up and went to pack up the pad and the little guy was sitting there not 12 inches away from the launch pad....so I tempted fate and launched it again.....still looking for it!
Landed about a foot from the pad. Looked everywhere for it, gave up and went to pack up the pad and the little guy was sitting there not 12 inches away from the launch pad....so I tempted fate and launched it again.....still looking for it!
Odo
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I forgot about those! If you consider those Rockets, then my first was actually in 1983ish. I remember mine was Green, and the Pump Trigger Assembly was White and Red. Man, that thing was a Blast!
Found an Image online. Mine was like the PTA on the Left, and the Tall Rocket in the Middle Right, but my Rocket I remember being translucent Green, not Red.:
Must. Convert. To A engines.
Initiator001
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Estes Astron Falcon glider - 1972
Powered by a 1/2A6-2 motor.
It worked!
The Falcon was not the first rocket I built. That would have been an Estes Astron Scout, September 1970.
At that time California had very restrictive laws concerning model rockets. No local hobby shop carried rocket motors.
By 1972 the laws had changed a little and a hobby shop 25 miles away had rocket motors.
It was worth the 50 mile 'round trip.
Powered by a 1/2A6-2 motor.
It worked!
The Falcon was not the first rocket I built. That would have been an Estes Astron Scout, September 1970.
At that time California had very restrictive laws concerning model rockets. No local hobby shop carried rocket motors.
By 1972 the laws had changed a little and a hobby shop 25 miles away had rocket motors.
It was worth the 50 mile 'round trip.
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Estes Citation Patriot.
I still remember that launch well.
I still remember that launch well.
As a kid my first rocket built and flown by me was an Estes Sky Hook. (circa 1977-78)
As a BAR it was an Estes Solar Sailor II,which still flies once and a while. (circa 1993-94)
As a BABAR a Custom Rockets Raven and a Custom Rockets Ion Pulsar. (built at the same time) (circa 2010)
Last rocket built, Fliskits Bulls Eye.
As a BAR it was an Estes Solar Sailor II,which still flies once and a while. (circa 1993-94)
As a BABAR a Custom Rockets Raven and a Custom Rockets Ion Pulsar. (built at the same time) (circa 2010)
Last rocket built, Fliskits Bulls Eye.
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My first rocket launched... Some kind of water rocket in the 70's
My first BP rocket launched... Estes Spin Fin (I got a long straw in my science class and was one of the last to get to pick from the assortment)
My first BP rocket launched... Estes Spin Fin (I got a long straw in my science class and was one of the last to get to pick from the assortment)
hcmbanjo
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First was an Estes Streak with an MRI A3-2 engine, probably 1970.
Bob (Initiator001) is right, the California fireworks laws were strict.
We could get Estes and Centuri kits by mail but no engines.
The engines were mailed illegally through the Johnson Smith catalog (remember "Ventrillo" on the comic book inside covers?)
That first night launch was with a few friends at the nearby school field.
The bare nichrome igniter took forever to light the engine. We had the old Electro Launch with photo flash batteries.
All we saw was a flash. We ran for cover under the school awning.
We didn't see it after that. It was found the next morning on the field.
As a BAR, the Centuri Groove Tube clone with an A8-3 probably eight years back.
That was followed with many more LPR flights at the schoolyard and Orlando R.O.C.K. monthly launches.
Bob (Initiator001) is right, the California fireworks laws were strict.
We could get Estes and Centuri kits by mail but no engines.
The engines were mailed illegally through the Johnson Smith catalog (remember "Ventrillo" on the comic book inside covers?)
That first night launch was with a few friends at the nearby school field.
The bare nichrome igniter took forever to light the engine. We had the old Electro Launch with photo flash batteries.
All we saw was a flash. We ran for cover under the school awning.
We didn't see it after that. It was found the next morning on the field.
As a BAR, the Centuri Groove Tube clone with an A8-3 probably eight years back.
That was followed with many more LPR flights at the schoolyard and Orlando R.O.C.K. monthly launches.
Area66
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TopRamen
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Green Jello
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Mine was also this:
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jjr4KUVf8Ak/UFnS8CHoJfI/AAAAAAAAATI/88m37cw8rds/s1600/*WaterRocket.JPG
My first real rocket was the Estes plastic X-15 starter set that flew on 13mm engines.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jjr4KUVf8Ak/UFnS8CHoJfI/AAAAAAAAATI/88m37cw8rds/s1600/*WaterRocket.JPG
My first real rocket was the Estes plastic X-15 starter set that flew on 13mm engines.
JPVegh
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I had a Cox X-15 when I was a kid. As I recall it didn't fly too well and it kept coming apart at the seams.
Green Jello
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Flew an Astron Alpha from a neighborhood baseball diamond, summer of '68. My Dad bought one of those Estes deluxe starter deals with the Electro-Launch and all the fixin's from an elementary school science teacher who worked for him during summer break. It came packed in a rectangular cardboard box with a handle that became my first field box. I remember a Streak being in there as well, maybe something the teacher added ?
Initiator001
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I have seen that picture before... :wink:
RocketRohde
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1968, MRI Lambda 8, Cub Yellow with Red trim. Flew great on Estes B6-4's.
GregGleason
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MPC Moon-Go. About '70-'71 time frame.
Very cool experience, and it was cool to have the Apollo program as a backdrop to the whole thing. After all, we were in the midst of exploring the moon, and our future in space looked bright. Well, at least for a kid my age.
It's too bad all kids didn't experience rocketry like those of us who grew up during the era of the "Space Race". I look back on it as a very magical time.
Greg
Very cool experience, and it was cool to have the Apollo program as a backdrop to the whole thing. After all, we were in the midst of exploring the moon, and our future in space looked bright. Well, at least for a kid my age.
It's too bad all kids didn't experience rocketry like those of us who grew up during the era of the "Space Race". I look back on it as a very magical time.
Greg
Area66
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I get it from Google, for sure I don't have this rocket anymore , I rember it come with a square plastic base NASA style
Larry Curcio
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OK. Heres the ugly truth:
The first rocket I ever launched was a Jetex in the early 6o's if not earlier.
The second was a micrograin CO2 cartridge stuck inside a wax-filled cigar tube. This rocket, described by Bertrand R Brinley, tumbled up about 50 feet. (Brinley had advertised 500 feet in his book, _Rocket Manual For Amateurs_)
There were several more rockets you don't want me to describe mostly involving sugar, which was also described by Brinley and also Parkin. (Parkins book, _Rocket Handbook For Amateurs_, had a forward by Werner Von Braun)
After all that, there was a model rocket powered by a Roc-A-Chute motor. It had plastic fins, a paper body, and a rubber nose. It had two stages. I believe I bought it from The Central Rocket Company. (Whatever it was, it was from Wapaca, Wisc.) CRC also sold paper motor tubes, clay nozzle making tools, propellant chemicals and instructions that didnt work very well.
Things got involved, but I lived to become far less interesting.
-Larry (Expecting to have this post canned) C.
The first rocket I ever launched was a Jetex in the early 6o's if not earlier.
The second was a micrograin CO2 cartridge stuck inside a wax-filled cigar tube. This rocket, described by Bertrand R Brinley, tumbled up about 50 feet. (Brinley had advertised 500 feet in his book, _Rocket Manual For Amateurs_)
There were several more rockets you don't want me to describe mostly involving sugar, which was also described by Brinley and also Parkin. (Parkins book, _Rocket Handbook For Amateurs_, had a forward by Werner Von Braun)
After all that, there was a model rocket powered by a Roc-A-Chute motor. It had plastic fins, a paper body, and a rubber nose. It had two stages. I believe I bought it from The Central Rocket Company. (Whatever it was, it was from Wapaca, Wisc.) CRC also sold paper motor tubes, clay nozzle making tools, propellant chemicals and instructions that didnt work very well.
Things got involved, but I lived to become far less interesting.
-Larry (Expecting to have this post canned) C.
