Rockets over 30 years old Estes,Quest

[Sterk03]

After being away form the hobby for many years I have many rockets 30-45 years old. At the younger age saving plans for all these rockets did not appeal to me. Most are
Estes and maybe Quest?, but no longer made or in any catalog I can find. I found one list of estes rocket,s but not names I can remember and no pictures. Is there any online reference that would help me on locating directions or info? Not critical I can wing most of the repairs or changes but would be interesting to read.

Thanks Sterk03

 

[jazzviper1]

Estes has all of their back catalogs on line on their website.
Ninfinger has a lot of of pubs and catalogs. https://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/rockets.html
That ought to you started.

 

[tsmith1315]

I'm sure I'm not the only one here that would enjoy any pictures you have to share.

Also check out JimZ's pages for vintage rocket plans:
https://spacemodeling.org/jimz/index.htm

 

[BEC]

Also, just about all Estes catalogs are on the Estes site at https://estesrockets.com/catalogs/ (as jazzviper1 noted). Many, though not all, instruction sets are also on the Estes site at https://estesrockets.com/instructions/ so if you can get the name and/or catalog number of the kit, you can try to look there for instructions.

And there is https://plans.rocketshoppe.com/

 

[Sterk03]

Thanks for the info, and thats tjust the problem I don't have names for the rockets. I found names on a list for Estes but it does no good without a photo and I could not find old outdated catalogs. Your info should get me started and like they say a picture is worth a thousand words so if I can view old time catelogs I should be able to track them down, and also maybe an instruction sheet. Thanks again for all the info, it will be a project to start when the nice weather ends.

Thanks Sterk03

 

[Sterk03]

I just looked at one of the links that has all the old catalogs I missed that somehow. It's amazing I just clicked on the 1982 catalog cause I have the Space shuttle but did not know it came out in 1982 I thought later plus some of my other rockets are in there, if only you could find kits for some of these?

Neat Thanks a million!

Sterk03

 

[jazzviper1]

I just looked at one of the links that has all the old catalogs I missed that somehow. It's amazing I just clicked on the 1982 catalog cause I have the Space shuttle but did not know it came out in 1982 I thought later plus some of my other rockets are in there, if only you could find kits for some of these?

Neat Thanks a million!

Sterk03

Watch Ebay, many old kits come up for sale on there.
Also try https://www.erockets.biz/ their SEMROC line has many retro kits.

 

[arconhi]

After being away form the hobby for many years I have many rockets 30-45 years old. At the younger age saving plans for all these rockets did not appeal to me. Most are
Estes and maybe Quest?, but no longer made or in any catalog I can find. I found one list of estes rocket,s but not names I can remember and no pictures. Is there any online reference that would help me on locating directions or info? Not critical I can wing most of the repairs or changes but would be interesting to read.

Thanks Sterk03

I have 30+ old Rockets too. Don't have instructions either. I have found many vintage instructions via internet. Type in name of kit and manufacturer and it will come up. Try this , rocketreviews.com-rocketry-plans-and-instructions... I found the Clipper. They also show the decal sheet in color.

 

[blackjack2564]

I have a few 55 yrs old!
bought from adds in Popular Science in the early 1960's

.85 for my Alpha. .99 for tube of 3 motors...you would actually send cash in an envelope!

 

[prfesser]

I recognize the Arcas, Drifter, V2, Alpha, and (I think) Sky Hook, but am unsure of the littleuns. Were those kits, or were they built from Estes DOM or newsletter plans?

 

[arconhi]

I have a few 55 yrs old!
bought from adds in Popular Science in the early 1960's

.85 for my Alpha. .99 for tube of 3 motors...you would actually send cash in an envelope!View attachment 440323View attachment 440324

These are great to see. I do remember sending cash back then. Thanks for posting these photos.

 

[blackjack2564]

Alpha And Drifter have original shock cord ...actually square rubber cords..still supple after all these years..
back then u could buy same rubber at hobby shop, it was for .25 cent balsa gliders with prop and u wind up the giant rubber line...

remember those...lol U could buy 3-4-5 ft of it....make 1 loop like rubber band or turbo charge by doing 2 or 3 loops for prop powered glider. u tied knot yourself to make the giant rubber bands.

the little ones..from the builders pack which came with all the plans. Our cub scout leader bought one of those and the older u were...the bigger rocket u were allowed to build!
enough tubes and parts to build dozen or more.

I flew the Alpha and the tiny one about ten years ago .....my eyes not up to it again..lol
the mosquito looking thing is tumble recovery, I flew it on C-6-7 figuring it would be
'gone in 6 seconds' & it landed only 100ft or so from pad...lol

I was high on the hog...had the Cam R oc something like that. put a frame of 110 film in it...in your closet. then hope for the best at launch...lol then send it in for develop and hope for best again.

I took at least 10-12 pics before one finally came out. pic was only size of silver dollar and we looked like ants near tiny rows of corn...lol

 

[arconhi]

Alpha And Drifter have original shock cord ...actually square rubber cords..still supple after all these years..
back then u could buy same rubber at hobby shop, it was for .25 cent balsa gliders with prop and u wind up the giant rubber line...

remember those...lol U could buy 3-4-5 ft of it....make 1 loop like rubber band or turbo charge by doing 2 or 3 loops for prop powered glider. u tied knot yourself to make the giant rubber bands.

the little ones..from the builders pack which came with all the plans. Our cub scout leader bought one of those and the older u were...the bigger rocket u were allowed to build!
enough tubes and parts to build dozen or more.

I flew the Alpha and the tiny one about ten years ago .....my eyes not up to it again..lol
the mosquito looking thing is tumble recovery, I flew it on C-6-7 figuring it would be
'gone in 6 seconds' & it landed only 100ft or so from pad...lol

I was high on the hog...had the Cam R oc something like that. put a frame of 110 film in it...in your closet. then hope for the best at launch...lol then send it in for develop and hope for best again.

I took at least 10-12 pics before one finally came out. pic was only size of silver dollar and we looked like ants near tiny rows of corn...lol

Nice events you had. Having a tiny rocket land 100 feet from the pad on a C6-7 is very good. We put a C6-7 in a tiny Astrobee any never saw it again.LOL. It was calm and clear blue sky day. The Astrocam I did good with and yes, tiny ants we did seem.That was cool. Yes ,I do remember having the Gliders with the prop. A lot of fun they were. Im going to have to dig out some old Astrocam photos and upload them. I remember this one glider pictured here.

 

[tsmith1315]

Loved those wind-up Sleek Streeks!

 

[prfesser]

Loved those wind-up Sleek Streeks!

The Sleek Streek was the lower-end model with wheels. There was a bigger one with wheels, don't recall the name. You had to wind them up really tight and set them on a smooth surface for them to take off on their own. And they didn't go nearly as far or as high as when you gave 'em a good toss.

The smaller one had no wheels, had to be hand-launched...Skeeter, I think. The hardware store a block from when I grew up always kept a stock of these planes, because he knew kids would break or lose them.

Best -- Terry

 

[tsmith1315]

Terry, the corner store behind us kept them, too. I can't remember the name of the bigger one either, but the Sleek Streek was the sweet spot in the lineup for me. I liked the wheels, which were more useful for appearance or as occasional landing gear than for takeoff. The smaller one had a canopy... seems like it was printed only on one side.

Good memories, aren't they? I'm going to have to call my brother and see if he can remember the name of the bigger one.

 

[BEC]

The Sleek Streek was the lower-end model with wheels. There was a bigger one with wheels, don't recall the name. You had to wind them up really tight and set them on a smooth surface for them to take off on their own. And they didn't go nearly as far or as high as when you gave 'em a good toss.

The larger one was the Star Flyer. "Back in the day" it was 49 cents, vs. 25 cents for the Sleek Streek.

The smaller one had no wheels, had to be hand-launched...Skeeter, I think. The hardware store a block from when I grew up always kept a stock of these planes, because he knew kids would break or lose them.

Best -- Terry

Yes, Skeeter. Fifteen cents. North Pacific Products (in Bend, Oregon) also had two actual gliders (I can't call something with a prop on it a "glider"), the ten cent Stunt Flyer and the five cent Strato.

I went through a BUNCH of Stratos as a kid, and Sleek Streeks were fun when I could get one. I still have one or two.

As balsa prices increased, North Pacific for some time simply scaled the models down to keep the price the same, but after awhile that wasn't possible.

The smaller one had a canopy... seems like it was printed only on one side.

Good memories, aren't they? I'm going to have to call my brother and see if he can remember the name of the bigger one.

That would have been the Guillows model (I can't recall the name). The Jet Stream, which was/is the Guillow equivalent of the Sleek Streek, is still available. You can even get 'em from AC Supply.

 

[kuririn]

the little ones..from the builders pack which came with all the plans. Our cub scout leader bought one of those and the older u were...the bigger rocket u were allowed to build!
enough tubes and parts to build dozen or more.

The blue and orange one might be the Orange Bullet. The ribs are a give away.
The red one without the nose cone looks like it uses the same fins but with a wider diameter tube.
eirp_03.pdf (spacemodeling.org)