My Fleet, Past Models

Estes Scout

Back in '66 or '67 I found an ad in the back pages of Boys Life magazine. (Sound familiar, anyone?) I sent my 70 cents off to a company in Colorado and received a real ROCKET. It never got painted - just raw balsa and cardboard - but it FLEW! I couldn't afford an electronic launch control at the time, so I used Jetex wick to start the motor. I probably only launched this a couple times before it was lost/misplaced.
Estes Astron Space Plane

This was my second model - and first failure. :-(
I left off two *little* pieces on the elevons. They turned out to be the parts that hold the elevons down during boost and my model arced right back down to earth when I launched. I had forgotten how this one flew, but my Mom remembered - probably the only launch she ever went to.
Estes Sprite

I think this was about my third model. It didn't turn out all that well, but this is the first one I painted. I think I used some brush-on Testors enamel - a candy red or purple as I recall. I don't think I ever launched this. I never got any of the S series motors and the model was damaged during the move to California.
Estes Arcas

I had two of these - one in Virginia and a replacement when we moved to California, but I don't remember ever launching it...
Estes Mark II

I remember this as the first model I ever tried using sanding sealer on. It came out great - smooth as silk and painted yellow (Pactra or Sig dope) and with the black decals it looked really sharp.
Estes Gyroc

I'm sure I built this one, but I don't remember flying it.
At least I've got the plans and templates so I can clone it again.
Estes Thor-Agena B

I never built this and the tubes, transition and nose cone disappeared, but when JimZ was looking for the decals to scan for his web site I was able to provide them.
Estes Nighthawk

I built this one back in '72 or '73 while I was attending U.C. Berkeley. On the first launch, from the soccer field below Bowle's (sp?) Hall, the glider flew away into the hills east of the campus. I think that flight hooked me on boost gliders - wanting to relive that moment. I *did* recover the power pod and stashed it away for when I built a replacement glider. The replacement glider was rebuilt in '83 or '84 in Wisconsin, but I didn't get around to launching it then. When I finally became 'active' (rather than an armchair rocketeer), I found the power pod had disappeared - although I did find one of the fins that had broken off during the intervening years. I rebuilt the power pod in July 1997.

Past
models

Last Updated:	19 February 1998
Author:	Alan Rognlie
Email:	arrognli@execpc.com
© Copyright 1997, 1998 unless otherwise noted, all images are copyright © 1997, 1998 by Jeanne Rognlie - all rights reserved