Intro and Help remembering a rocket

Hi all,

I'm about[/U] to become a BAR (you know, 'for the children' :wink. Seriously, though my nephews and nieces are of the age now that I want to introduce them to all the fun I had when I was a kid building and flying rockets.

I'm going back through my memory (with the immense help of this forum) remembering all the rockets I built 30 or so years ago - none are left - house fire took care of them (not rocketry related!). There's one, though, that I remember having, but I can't remember the name and I haven't located on here, yet.

It was a low power kit with a piggy backed glider. I'm pretty sure it was Estes, but I built plenty of Centuri models, too. The booster rocket was pretty standard, maybe around 2' tall, and the glider was fairly small with approx. an 8-10" wingspan. If I recall, the glider's tail fins nestled in between two of the rockets fins. My paint job was white with green fins and I think that was the stock paint scheme.

Any help with my fading memory would be appreciated!

-Mark

It sounds like the Estes Orbital Transport.

Yep sounds like the Orbital Transport ...

No, it was much simpler. The glider was all balsa and the booster rocket was pretty much a standard 3 or 4 (I think it was 4) finned rocket.

The name, I think, was something "Roc" - maybe Multiroc?

69murray said:

No, it was much simpler. The glider was all balsa and the booster rocket was pretty much a standard 3 or 4 (I think it was 4) finned rocket.

The name, I think, was something "Roc" - maybe Multiroc?

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What time frame are we talking about, 69murray ?

Have you tried going back through the Estes catalogs? There are PDF's of them on the Estes site. Of course that won't help if it was a Centuri design but you may luck up and find it. I'm trying to do the same thing myself to remember an early rocket I had. Haven't found it yet and still looking. If I see anything that looks remotely like what you describe, I'll let you know.

Don't waste the time on Estes' site, go to Ninfingers:

https://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/rockets.html

He has classic catalogs from Estes AND Centuri (and several others).

This would have been early to mid '80s. Thanks!

Solomoriah said:

Don't waste the time on Estes' site, go to Ninfingers:

https://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/rockets.html

He has classic catalogs from Estes AND Centuri (and several others).

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Awesome link, Solomoria, Thanks! That really takes me back.

IIRC, the Estes Multiroc was from the early 80s. I could be flown in multiple configurations: single or two-staged, with or without the glider, and with or without the payload section.

I still have mine. If you want to clone one, and need a copy of the instructions and patterns, let me know. I did not do mine with the stock colors, so, knowing me, I probably still have the original decals.


https://www.rocketreviews.com/estes-multi-roc-chan-stevens.html

Ha! Found it thanks to the Ninfinger link!


It was "Multi Roc". I'd forgotten that it was also two stage. It was from the 1981 Estes Catalog.

Thanks for holding my hand!

That's a cool bird!

Cool that you found it. I think I may have found the rocket I was looking for too which coincidentally is a glider. I don't remember it as that though. It's called a Bomarc and was the first rocket I remember ever launching successfully which is amazing because the thing was definitely above my skills at the time. It wasn't until a couple of year later when I had learned a little more patience in my model building that I really hit my stride with an Alpha.

LW Bercini said:

IIRC, the Estes Multiroc was from the early 80s. I could be flown in multiple configurations: single or two-staged, with or without the glider, and with or without the payload section.

I still have mine. If you want to clone one, and need a copy of the instructions and patterns, let me know. I did not do mine with the stock colors, so, knowing me, I probably still have the original decals.


https://www.rocketreviews.com/estes-multi-roc-chan-stevens.html

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Thanks for the Rocketry reviews link, LW! You must have posted simultaneously with me, so I didn't see your's right away.

I haven't really even gotten 'back' to building kits yet, but I think I would like to clone that one sometime. I figure I'll start with something 'easier', like maybe an Alpha or a Red Max before I try something like multi stage or gliders again. I think that was one of the last models I built before other interests (girls, maybe?) started infringing on my hobby time.

If you have a Hobby Lobby in your area, it's a great place to get some of the basic Estes kits with the 40% off coupon. That's how I got started back. My daughter talked me into buying a Mini Max.

If you are at Hobby Lobby, check out the store's Clearance section. Many times, they will have some rockets on clearance. Sometimes, they are discounted alot more than the 40% coupon savings as well.

Re-Bar Ricky said:

If you are at Hobby Lobby, check out the store's Clearance section. Many times, they will have some rockets on clearance. Sometimes, they are discounted alot more than the 40% coupon savings as well.

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Around here the clearance prices have been a uniform 40% off... until yesterday, when I scored a Vagabond for $6.47 and a Mini Honest John for $3.23. If they'd had more, I'd have more... probably good they didn't.

We do have a Hobby Lobby (a brand new one) here and y'all have just convinced me to stop by there tomorrow!