What was your first model rocket ever built

My dad bought me an Estes Banshee many years ago. After quite a few flights, it is now sitting in tree.
Reed

Fall of 1965 - Centuri Javelin - paid $6.95 for the starter set with rocket ,launch pad, 'lectra - line and 2 motors. Painted it flourecent orange and it flew out of sight on a B.8-6.

Fall of 2004 built the Javilin 40 4X clone from 3" mailing tube. Nice demo rocket that barely gets out of it's own way on a G35 Econojet.

My first rocket was an Estes No. 2 Skywriter, in early June of last year.

And just look at my signature now!

The original Estes Alpha in 1968 folowed by a Centuri Javelin. I built my own pad from a 6" piece of 2X4, a coffee can lid and a 1/8" welding rod. My dad helped me build a launch system from 20 ft of lamp cord, 2 battery clips, 2 micro clips and a knife switch.

Joe W

:kill:

Originally posted by revkeith
Estes Beta (13mm two-stage, mini-brute). Only flew it single stage but it would go out-of-site on an A10-3T. That was 1970? Not sure where it went but next was an Alpha.

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I eventually cloned a Beta and flew it as a two stage in 2002. Lawn-darted the first time up. Guess we were smarter than we knew, eh?

I forgot somehting...
Reed

It was a plastic Alpha. Then it was a ninja then we went big to a scratch red rocket (1.5", 24mm mmt)

Our first scratch rocket we still have. It took a hard descent on a CHAD (D-D) and broke the coupler right at the bottom we were using to replace the airframe after a few (5) zippers. Since then it has been rebuilt with a 29mm mmt but that had a CATO on first flight (F27 I think). It still flies though!

Estes Alpha III starter set, ordered from an ad in a comic book in '71. It actually had the Quasar greyish-silver plastic nose and clipped fins. That was when you had to assemble the launch controller yourself, which almost made me throw in the towel right then, but my dad took pity on me. We lost it on its first flight at the high school field. I was hooked, and my dad bought me another Alpha III a few days later. My first mail order to Estes was for an Avenger.
It was easy to buy rockets in the early 70s; there were two stationery stores and two local variety stores that had them close to me. I bought my original Estes Gemini Titan and Little Joe II at what was basically a greeting card store!
Drew Tomko

Originally posted by Fishhead
Estes Beta. (The 13mm version, not the shortie version. I'm not that ancient. ) My brother also had one, but I painted mine in like the catalog while he did his in white, metallic lime and metallic burgundy. PIMPIN'!

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My first was the Sky Hook (1963), but I also had the Beta (the shortie version, not the 13mm version. I *am* that ancient... )

Astron Sky Hook, June 1964.

Kept and flew it for years. Learned early on the C motors were too much for it. It was still intact when I gave it to my kids 15 years later.

Originally posted by Rob Fisher
Awwww dang it, I should of known this topic had been brought up before.

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That's O.K. It's always fun to remember back to the first!
Mine was a balsa nosed Alpha too. The one with the yellow/gold facecard and header.

Originally posted by eugenefl

Somehow I wish I could relive some of the memories when I first started. Time to go buy a bicycle!

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We made a launch pad out of a 12x12x1" board with a welding rod that was not removeable and a launch controller built into a big wooden box made from the same boards, using two of those big 6v screw top batteries, and a big knife switch and brass strip push button. We striped down an aluminum boyscout backpack frame and mounted the control box to it and strapped the launchpad to the top with the rod sticking up above our heads. We used to ride our bikes to the launch field with that big ol thing on our backs, looking like we had a big whip antenna coming out of our head. This was all at the beginning of the CB radio craze, so we thought we were pretty cool.

I wish I could still ride my bike to a launch field!!

Originally posted by Rob Fisher
Astron Sprite!-That's a Fliskits Tumbleweed -just kidding
-now I know where Jim got his inspiration from.

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shhhhh, be vwary, vwary qwuiet...

Kill the waabit...KILL THE WAABIT

For me it was a Roc-a-Chute Aerobee

1st to fly was a Mosquito, one of many that I launched once and never found again (built and flown at the Circut City HQ, in my dad's cubicle, and flown in the back)... I got a Missile Command starter set, and still have some of the parts from one of them, I think... No, I ripped out the motor tube (it was non-flightworthy, anyways) and used it on another rocket. Now, 4-6 yrs later, I'm planning my Jr L1 and just placed (along with my dad) a $260 order of rockets and motors, and joined the NAR...

Astron Alpha with an Electro Launch system from 1967. I still have parts from the Alpha left (nose cone and tube--fins broken off long ago). I also still have the Electro Launch system. (I have one of the wooden Tilt-a-Pads too.)

Astron X-Ray, fall 1968.

I got the bright idea to sand all four fins into lifting airfoils, and had all four fins "lifting" in the same direction. (Don't ask me how or why, I was 10. )

Liftoff, the rocket gets maybe 20-30 feet in the air, and immediately enters into a swooping loop. Power prang.

OK, last resort. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS.

OHHhhhhhh-KAAYYYYYY. Sand airfoils on BOTH sides of the fins. All righty.

Let's just say subsequent efforts have been somewhat improved.

Next, I built an Alpha, like everyone else, and this time, it came out OK. Then a Streak, of course. (The requisite 'Beavis' rocket. ) First launch, with a 1/2A6-4, then, a C6-7 Hasta la vista.

Astron Farside X, Electro-launch, 9 motors, all for under $10. Built it with my dad in 1967. After about 20 tries with the bare nichrome igniter, it finally went, all 3 stages working. C.8-0 to C.8-0 to B.8-6.

4th grade 1987 alpha III red plastic fin can and nose cone white tube

estes helicat. pretty sure atleast, wayyyyy back in the day (maybe 7 years ago?)

i remember building it on the sun porch with my dad, launching it once and getting it back, maybe luanching it a second time, but either on the 2nd or 3rd time i remember the rod being just alittle slanted, but i didn't do anything about it, and it landed in somones backyard (never found it)

one day i wanna figure out how to make an upscale of it, including the helicopter nosecone

Estes Bullpup. Parts of it still survive nose cone mated with a Cosmic cobra whose nose helicopterred off into another dimension. Got the Bullpup four years ago..
Cheers
fred

Alpha....1965....paid 98.cents if I remember right.....3 years ago found it in a box in the back of the attic.......responsible for getting me back into rocketry again....now you can't buy anything for 98cents anymore!

First rocket: Estes Alpha III
First scratch build: MkI
https://www.geocities.com/darrenlonghorn/MkI.jpg

First rocket I ever built was the Estes Mach 12 and the Super Shot start set with the Super Shot rocket and Twister. That was back in seond grade so about 9 years ago. To bad I don't have those original rockets. I lost the Super Shot on its first launch. After a few flight of the Mach 12 I decide to glue the fins on and not make them interchangeble but I forgot to remove the engine retaining system and it got glued in place too after that I basicly wasn't thinking and destroied the rocket. The Twister was suppose have helicopter recovery but instead it just lawn dart into a basketball court and was destroied. But sence I rebought the Super shot start set and the Estes Mach 12. I still have both the second Super Shoot and Mach 12 the Twister was again destoried when it again lawned darted a basket ball court.

richalex2010,

So your planning your Jr Level 1 flight I read. Have you flown with any RMS motors like E,F, or G motors before. What I suggest you do is get farmiliar with your rocket before trying your Level 1 flight. The last thing you is to have your Level 1 flight fail. Well any ways good luck with your cert flight when you flight. If you do cert remember high power rocketry is not cheap.

And to add to this my first mid power rocket was an Aerotech Initiator. My first high power rocket was and is still in my PML Phobos.

First rocket: Estes Patriot Starter Set. At that time I did my launching in public parks and fields, and left off the "US Army" stickers so as not to upset any passing pacifists. Now I do most of my launching at rocketry events, I've considered putting the stickers on, but decided against - that's my first ever rocket and I want to keep it the way it was first built.

First scratch-build: Firedart - simple 13mm minimum diameter design built from the Estes Designer's Special set.

First scale scratch-build: Thunderbird 3.

All these are still operational, although I've crashed or lost several other rockets since!

I think the name of my first rocket was the Estes Super Shot. It was part of a starter kit.

Sprite... During the summer of 69'. Lost it in a corn field on the first flight. Later that summer I built a V-2 and Constellation.

My first rocket ... an Estes Arcas kit K-26 in 1969 with a bals nose cone. Bought it for $2.00 and still have it. My launch pad was a piece of wood with a coffee can deflector. The 1/8" rod was piano wire and the launch controller was built by my older brother with leftover materials (door bell switch, etc...).

I then followed with a Gyroc, Astron Ranger, Astron Farside, Estes Honest John K-27, a Thor-Agena B and the Astron Nighthawk.

Originally posted by rabidsheeep
estes helicat. pretty sure atleast, wayyyyy back in the day (maybe 7 years ago?)

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Dude, we've met... ...You're too young to have *ever* seen "wayyyy back in the day"...

these young pups... ...man...

Centuri Javlin followed by an Estes Sky Hook Catalog mail ordered both at the same time.... Centuri shipped quicker