How did Estes distribute catalogs in the early days?

[yousah]

I was initially into rocketry during the 1970's. I recall getting a new catalog whenever I placed an order. But did they otherwise just mail out the newest catalog to customers each year?

I placed my share of orders with them but also bought directly from hobby shops. I don't recall if I ever got new catalogs in the mail every year??

It's certainly not like today where they can be picked up at Hobby Lobby. Just wondering because there are some neat older catalogs and I was wondering how well they were distributed in their day.

Pat

[Initiator001]

I used to receive Estes (And Centuri) catalogs in the mail until 1979.

I don't know if that's when Estes stopped mass-mailing catalogs or I just started buying all my Estes products in hobby stores.

Bob

[Doug Sams]

I was initially into rocketry during the 1970's. I recall getting a new catalog whenever I placed an order. But did they otherwise just mail out the newest catalog to customers each year?My experience, IIRC, was that they sent out a new catalog, upon rollout, to customers who had purchased from them recently, probably within the past year or so. If you went for a while without activity, they would drop you from their mailing list (as I recall).

That said, I'd give my left youknowwhat to go back to 1974, when I had a paper route and some serious pocket money, and send in a huge order :) Alas, by that time, I had already moved on to other things.

Doug

.

[dwmzmm]

Alas, by that time, I had already moved on to other things.

Doug

.

Like what?! :D

[shockwaveriderz]

like ..life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? thats what got me. :confused:

terry dean
nar 16158

[A Fish Named Wallyum]

like ..life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? thats what got me. :confused:

terry dean
nar 16158

Was Liberty a blonde or a beer? I can never remember. :rolleyes:

[Royatl]

I was initially into rocketry during the 1970's. I recall getting a new catalog whenever I placed an order. But did they otherwise just mail out the newest catalog to customers each year?

I placed my share of orders with them but also bought directly from hobby shops. I don't recall if I ever got new catalogs in the mail every year??

It's certainly not like today where they can be picked up at Hobby Lobby. Just wondering because there are some neat older catalogs and I was wondering how well they were distributed in their day.

Pat

In the early days, Estes' main way of attracting new customers was through small ads in Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Mechanics Illustrated, Boys' Life, and the model airplane magazines. Sometimes in comic books. You can see some of these ads over on Ninfinger or on YORS.

I'm sure I saw those ads occasionally but I pretty much ignored them. I became aware of them in the classifieds of Popular Science when I was looking for ways to build jet engines (at 10!), but I didn't bite from those ads. Instead I saw a classmate's science fair display of his rockets the day the first Saturn V flew. He loaned me his catalog, and I wrote off for one immediately.

After that, I think if you made an order anytime in the previous year, Estes would send a catalog to you when it came out. I think Gleda stated as much in either the Launch or Sport Rocketry interviews.

After Damon took over and the emphasis was turned to trying to get rockets into the retail channels, catalogs and mail order started to wane but it took a long time to do so. I don't think they completely let go of retail mail order until after 1991 (as there were still a lot of mail orders for the Patriot missile kit).

[Doug Sams]

Like what?! :DNothing so grown up as blonds and beer. More like 10-speed bicycles and plastic model cars, along with baseball, football, water skiing and youth theater. The blonds and beer were still a few years away.

I never really quit rocketry - it was just on the back burner during those years :)

Doug

.

[Rocket Doctor]

After Estes stopped selling through mail order, the catalogs stopped being sent through the mail. basically, their mailing list stopped because they didn't have the feedback from orders to keep a mailing list.

Emphasis was swithched oveer to the mass merchandisers, and the hobby shops were put on the back burner. Now, that certain mass merchandisers don't stocke that much of the estes products,the emphasis has now swithced back over to hobby shop. But, unfortunately, hobby shops are few and far between, except like Hobby Lobby and Michaels.

As we all can remember, at one time estes stopped sending out catalogs at all, their thinking was that it would be easier to have the catalog online , also, print catalogs are expensive to produce, Customer complaints brought back the catalog.

This years 2008 is scheduled to come out at the end of April, and, possibly into May.

Unless you go to a retailer that carries the catalogs, then, I guess everyone will have to do what they did last year, send in an email (email only-don't call) to the estes customer service department requesting a catalog.

Now is the time to email your requests, I'm sure they are compiling a list right now for the mailing of the catalogs.
But, remember Don't Call, email only.

I think that we will all be surprised as to what and is available and not available.

[dwmzmm]

Just e-mailed Estes Customer Service to put me on their mailing list for the 2008 Estes
Catalog..... :)

[Rocket Doctor]

Just e-mailed Estes Customer Service to put me on their mailing list for the 2008 Estes
Catalog..... :)

Dave

That's a start, now, let's see if the end of the month is a reality or not, I would say, more like in May than the end of the month.

RD

[gpoehlein]

I got mine from my local hobby shop - That's where I bought all my rockets and motors. I never got into mail order at all.

As far as why I got out of rocketry the first time around, it was a combination of lack of time (I was entering college and had little time to build rockets) and a lack of a good place to fly (I did most of my high school flying with my high school's rocketry club - and we flew either in the track infield or the parking lot of the high school).

Greg

[Rocket Doctor]

In the beginning (50 years ago) the hobby was just too new to have hobby shops on board. It was mainly through as in many magazines that got the word out about model rocketry.

Mail order was about the only way to get your rocketry supplies, then, more and more hobby shops carried rocketry products.

Also, there were many areas where you could not find any hobby shop nearby, so, mail order was the answer.

Like I had mentioned previously, the emphasis changed over to mass merchndisers and mail order stopped.

Now, that mass merchndisers are stearing away, the emphasis is once again of hobby shops.

The good old days are ong gone, unfortunately.

[Rocketflyer]

[QUOTE=Rocket Doctor]After Estes stopped selling through mail order, the catalogs stopped being sent through the mail. basically, their mailing list stopped because they didn't have the feedback from orders to keep a mailing list.

Emphasis was swithched oveer to the mass merchandisers, and the hobby shops were put on the back burner. Now, that certain mass merchandisers don't stocke that much of the estes products,the emphasis has now swithced back over to hobby shop. But, unfortunately, hobby shops are few and far between, except like Hobby Lobby and Michaels.

As we all can remember, at one time estes stopped sending out catalogs at all, their thinking was that it would be easier to have the catalog online , also, print catalogs are expensive to produce, Customer complaints brought back the catalog.

This years 2008 is scheduled to come out at the end of April, and, possibly into May.

Unless you go to a retailer that carries the catalogs, then, I guess everyone will have to do what they did last year, send in an email (email only-don't call) to the estes customer service department requesting a catalolog.<[QUOTE]>



RD, you can't really call a Hobby Lobby or Micheals a "hobby shop". They aren't, not in the real sense. They have a small isle for model rockets and cars, etc, but not like a hobby shop. They are "crafts" stores.

[kurtschachner]

I remember getting a new catalog and bringing it to jr. high for at lest a few weeks after it came out. I'd memorize the parts numbers and sit in class and design rockets all day.

I am revealing just how much of a geek I was back then, but my mother (on more than one occasion) caught me with a flashlight, under my sheets reading the Estes catalog (not that other "catalog"). I too had part numbers memorized.

There weren't any decent hobby stores in my area that carried all the parts I needed, so 99% of what I bought was through the mail. I *always* specified USPS delivery instead of UPS since that gave me one additional day in the week that the distinctive Estes box might appear. Unfortunately our house was at the end of the mailman's route and we wouldn't normally get delivery until late in the afternoon. This just would not do, so I made friends with the mailman and rode my bike up to his first stop of the day to look into the truck for my box. I can remember him saying "hey, I have a box of rocket supplies for you, do you want them now or wait for me to deliver them later?"

"Uh, just wait until later". Surrre.

[Rocket Doctor]

[QUOTE=Rocket Doctor]After Estes stopped selling through mail order, the catalogs stopped being sent through the mail. basically, their mailing list stopped because they didn't have the feedback from orders to keep a mailing list.

Emphasis was swithched oveer to the mass merchandisers, and the hobby shops were put on the back burner. Now, that certain mass merchandisers don't stocke that much of the estes products,the emphasis has now swithced back over to hobby shop. But, unfortunately, hobby shops are few and far between, except like Hobby Lobby and Michaels.

As we all can remember, at one time estes stopped sending out catalogs at all, their thinking was that it would be easier to have the catalog online , also, print catalogs are expensive to produce, Customer complaints brought back the catalog.

This years 2008 is scheduled to come out at the end of April, and, possibly into May.

Unless you go to a retailer that carries the catalogs, then, I guess everyone will have to do what they did last year, send in an email (email only-don't call) to the estes customer service department requesting a catalolog.<[QUOTE]>



RD, you can't really call a Hobby Lobby or Micheals a "hobby shop". They aren't, not in the real sense. They have a small isle for model rockets and cars, etc, but not like a hobby shop. They are "crafts" stores.

Mom and Pop hobby shops are few and far between today , you must admit. Hobby Lobby has a good selection compated to some hobby shops that I have been to.
The hobby shop that I use to go to was in business for 43 years, until the big box stores came along.

More and more hobby shops are going out of business each and every year. Times have definately changed.

The hobby shops that are left don't always carry a lot of rocketry items either, they must carry all types of products just to stay afloat.

It's like plastic models, I can't see where Revell/Monograms stays in business.

Kids today don't want to sit down and build anything, it's coimputers, computers, and more computers. Cell phones, video games etc. It certainly isn't like it was even 25 years ago.

I give credit to the families who still believe in getting together and doing something constructive together as a family, which, is quite rare.
I applaud those families who share their hobbies.

Compare Hobby Lobby and Michaels to any WM, no camparison at all, and, like I sadi, hobby shops have gone away.

Just as the catalog had gone away for a couple of years, but, due to customer demands, it came back, but, still no mail order.

[barone]

Kinda reminds me of the new version of Little Shop Around the Corner......You Got Mail.

Come on, I know you saw it. My wife made me watch it three times :o . But, instead of a old shop book store being pushed out of business, it's the hobby shops....

[dwmzmm]

Dave

That's a start, now, let's see if the end of the month is a reality or not, I would say, more like in May than the end of the month.

RD

Sent the e-mail and already got a response, saying the catalog will be mailed to me as soon
as they come out (no specifics)....

[sandman]

Man, I can't remember how many early Estes catalogs I threw away 'cause I had two or three already. (now worth hundreds on ebay).

I know for a fact that Gleda Estes did all of the mail orders.

I was ordering stuff in the early sixties when I was in high school.

Now, I first met Gleda Estes at NARAM 43 in Geneseo, NY. I had gone there with JimZ.

Vern and Gleda came over to our EZ-up and Vern was talking to JimZ so Gleda started asking me questions.

Gleda, "Have you been in model rocketry long?"

Me, "Yes, since the early sixties but I never joined NAR 'cause I lived out in the country and didn't know anyone else that flew rockets. I ordered everything from you guys by mail."

Gleda, "Where did you live back then?"

Me, "A little town in rural Michigan ...Lexington. You probably never heard of it."

Gleda, " Oh say, did you live on Roach Road?

Me, "Yes....(with a quivver) why, yes, I did!"

Gleda, "OK, then I remember your orders."


MY GAWD!!! :eek: That was 40 years ago and she remembered my orders! :eek:

[Rocket Doctor]

Who would know, back in the early days, we had our rockets for the fun of it, not to be collected and sold like today.

I wish that I still had all of the rockets from my childhood, and all of the rockets that were lost and broken, quite a few.

I wish that I still had my original K-1 Scout, now, I do have an early Scout, with a red package insert, payed $200 for it, I have all of the Scouts that were produced by Estes.

And, remember back then, the early catalog were hand stitched by Gleds and the body tubes of the K-1 Scout were hand rolled.

A lot of dedication from a new company.

That's why we are celebration Vern and Gleda's 50th Anniveersary in the hobby.

[sandman]

I published a newsletter many years ago and had about 5,000 subscribers. After manually typing everyone's name in and processing their labels every month, I started to memorize people's zip codes. You could tell me someone's street address and town and the zip code would pop up in my head.

However, I dealt with the same addresses for years. It's incredible that Gleda would have that sort of memory for customers who surely weren't placing monthly orders.

Gleda did say the reason she remembered was the street name, "Roach Road" , it's kind of unusual and it stuck in her head.

It was named after a local historical figure in my area Billy Roach who started the first pickle factory around here.

That's how I get my company name "Roachwerks Custom Machining".

It has nothing to do with bugs! :D

[Vanel]

That's how I get my company name "Roachwerks Custom Machining".

It has nothing to do with bugs! :D

That explains your avatar :D

[dwmzmm]

That explains your avatar :D


Very fitting! :rolleyes:

[tbzep]

Gleda, "Have you been in model rocketry long?"

Me, "Yes, since the early sixties but I never joined NAR 'cause I lived out in the country and didn't know anyone else that flew rockets. I ordered everything from you guys by mail."

Gleda, "Where did you live back then?"

Me, "A little town in rural Michigan ...Lexington. You probably never heard of it."

Gleda, " Oh say, did you live on Roach Road?

Me, "Yes....(with a quivver) why, yes, I did!"

Gleda, "OK, then I remember your orders."


MY GAWD!!! :eek: That was 40 years ago and she remembered my orders! :eek:

Unique address or not, considering the thousands of orders, that's amazing. Especially when she connected you with it out of the blue. It's easy to see that she was a big part of the hobby's success.

[Royatl]

(theremin sound="background") oooooowwwwweeeee ooooooooooooooooo(/theremin)

Whoaaaaaaa! Radical dude!

[al_packer]

Seems to me you can still have the old mail order Estes experience -- Just order from Semroc and specify priority mail delivery. OK, that sounds like a commercial plug, but there's plenty going on in the hobby today that offers the best of what made the hobby great in the 60's.

Been there, done that.

PS, the real reason Gleda remembered things like Roach Road was that the customers were REAL people to her and Vern, not just names and numbers. I remember a time a fellow employee made a disparaging comment about our customers. Vern proceeded to pin his ears back like you wouldn't believe.

[Mark II]

The greatest thing that I remember about those Estes catalogs from the 1960's (well, besides the kits and motors :D) was that you could get a pretty good intro to model rocketry by reading them - they were just packed with information. Even before the 1969 catalog, which had the whole handbook bound in it, there were plenty of great, informative articles included (as in, for example, the 1967 and '68 catalogs). The thing that attracted me to Estes Industries in those days was that Vern and company did not want to just sell you model rocket supplies, they wanted very much to teach you about rocketry. I remember that as even being a theme in their early advertisements. I was a kid who was really hungry for that kind of information, and when I saw one of those ads for the first time, well, they pretty much had me from there. My first catalog, in '67, and all of my mail orders during that period all delivered on that promise.

PS, the real reason Gleda remembered things like Roach Road was that the customers were REAL people to her and Vern, not just names and numbers. I remember a time a fellow employee made a disparaging comment about our customers. Vern proceeded to pin his ears back like you wouldn't believe.
I had a real sense of that in all of my contacts with the company. There is a well-known picture of Vern showing a couple of boys (in a classroom, perhaps) something on a model rocket. It was printed in many of their catalogs at the time, and was in at least one of their magazine ads, as I recall. I cannot even begin to tell you what kind of impact that one photo had on me. It was things like that picture, and those catalogs, and the Model Rocket News, and the way that the company related to its customers, that really caused this man to become both a teacher and a hero to a certain young teenaged boy in Grand Rapids, Michigan in the late '60's. And you know, he still is. Stories like the one you just mentioned keep cementing that relationship, even after all these years.

Mark

[Rocket Doctor]

The greatest thing that I remember about those Estes catalogs from the 1960's (well, besides the kits and motors :D) was that you could get a pretty good intro to model rocketry by reading them - they were just packed with information. Even before the 1969 catalog, which had the whole handbook bound in it, there were plenty of great, informative articles included (as in, for example, the 1967 and '68 catalogs). The thing that attracted me to Estes Industries in those days was that Vern and company did not want to just sell you model rocket supplies, they wanted very much to teach you about rocketry. I remember that as even being a theme in their early advertisements. I was a kid who was really hungry for that kind of information, and when I saw one of those ads for the first time, well, they pretty much had me from there. My first catalog, in '67, and all of my mail orders during that period all delivered on that promise.


I had a real sense of that in all of my contacts with the company. There is a well-known picture of Vern showing a couple of boys (in a classroom, perhaps) something on a model rocket. It was printed in many of their catalogs at the time, and was in at least one of their magazine ads, as I recall. I cannot even begin to tell you what kind of impact that one photo had on me. It was things like that picture, and those catalogs, and the Model Rocket News, and the way that the company related to its customers, that really caused this man to become both a teacher and a hero to a certain young teenaged boy in Grand Rapids, Michigan in the late '60's. And you know, he still is. Stories like the one you just mentioned keep cementing that relationship, even after all these years.

Mark

Back then 1958 - 1959, you had those who were dedicated to the hobby, who designed rockets and wrote about rockets and through their efforts, inqpired youth's to have fun while learning with something that was worthwhile.

Today, the only thign that "they" are concerned about is PROFIT, not the customer.

[dwmzmm]

The greatest thing that I remember about those Estes catalogs from the 1960's (well, besides the kits and motors :D) was that you could get a pretty good intro to model rocketry by reading them - they were just packed with information. Even before the 1969 catalog, which had the whole handbook bound in it, there were plenty of great, informative articles included (as in, for example, the 1967 and '68 catalogs). The thing that attracted me to Estes Industries in those days was that Vern and company did not want to just sell you model rocket supplies, they wanted very much to teach you about rocketry. I remember that as even being a theme in their early advertisements. I was a kid who was really hungry for that kind of information, and when I saw one of those ads for the first time, well, they pretty much had me from there. My first catalog, in '67, and all of my mail orders during that period all delivered on that promise.


I had a real sense of that in all of my contacts with the company. There is a well-known picture of Vern showing a couple of boys (in a classroom, perhaps) something on a model rocket. It was printed in many of their catalogs at the time, and was in at least one of their magazine ads, as I recall. I cannot even begin to tell you what kind of impact that one photo had on me. It was things like that picture, and those catalogs, and the Model Rocket News, and the way that the company related to its customers, that really caused this man to become both a teacher and a hero to a certain young teenaged boy in Grand Rapids, Michigan in the late '60's. And you know, he still is. Stories like the one you just mentioned keep cementing that relationship, even after all these years.

Mark

Well said, Mark! These are the same sentiments I had back in those days; my first exposure
was when I saw the 1967 Estes catalog on a friends bed (had the 1/70 Saturn 1-B on the
cover). Took it home to look over, with my mouth drooling, and my parents and I decided to
order the Estes Deluxe Starter Set. Never looked back since.....

[Mark II]

I remember getting a new catalog and bringing it to jr. high for at lest a few weeks after it came out. I'd memorize the parts numbers and sit in class and design rockets all day.
You too, huh? :D I did the same thing! I always had the catalogs with me - first I had the 1967 catalog, then I added the '68 catalog when I got it, and then the '69 catalog. In 1969 I was carrying around 3 years worth of Estes catalogs with me to all of my classes! ;) At one time I did have that '67 catalog memorized from cover to cover. The thing that I loved most about that catalog was all the color liftoff photos. Seeing those shots of the rockets standing on their little clouds of smoke and their needle-thin exhaust flames just did it for me like nothing else. To think that I could build rockets and launch them like that just sent my imagination soaring. And you know something? It's 41 years later, and I still feel the same way! :) :) :)

For all these years I have been such a sucker for model rocket liftoff photos (and I'm sure that I will always remain one) - you have no idea! :D

Mark

[Mark II]

In the beginning (50 years ago) the hobby was just too new to have hobby shops on board. It was mainly through as in many magazines that got the word out about model rocketry.

Mail order was about the only way to get your rocketry supplies, then, more and more hobby shops carried rocketry products.

Also, there were many areas where you could not find any hobby shop nearby, so, mail order was the answer.

Like I had mentioned previously, the emphasis changed over to mass merchndisers and mail order stopped.

Now, that mass merchndisers are stearing away, the emphasis is once again of hobby shops.

The good old days are ong gone, unfortunately.
I remember recently reading somewhere that Harry Stine's strategy for MMI was to sell the kits through hobby shops, and that was what ultimately led to the company's failure. One of Vern Estes' first innovations when he set up Estes Industries was to sell via mail order, which turned out to be a wildly successful way to sell model rocketry in the 1960's. (The many extra touches and value additions that Vern provided for his customers certainly helped too, of course! And then there was the sheer quality of the products from EI, too!)

It seemed to me at the time that the retail hobby channel was undergoing tremendous growth in the 1960's and '70's, and I think now that it was due in part to the arrival of at least two runaway hits: model rocketry and slot car racing. By the mid-'70's, you could find any number of hobby shops in just about any small- to medium-sized city in America, as I recall. (My involvement in model rocketry was on "temporary" hold by then, but I do recall seeing all the hobby shops.) I suspect that there were never so many hobby shops in business prior to the 1960's; I have never seen any figures, but I would speculate that the state of the retail hobby channel in the early '50's was probably rather similar to what it is today, but without the large chain hobby stores. The fact that a huge new market of pre-teen and teenaged Boomers had arrived on the scene probably helped spur that subsequent growth, too.

(By the way, slot-cars (Aurora HO) were my other passion back then, but my interest in them faded a bit when I discovered model rocketry. :D )

Mark

[Royatl]

I remember recently reading somewhere that Harry Stine's strategy for MMI was to sell the kits through hobby shops, and that was what ultimately led to the company's failure. One of Vern Estes' first innovations when he set up Estes Industries was to sell via mail order, which turned out to be a wildly successful way to sell model rocketry in the 1960's. (The many extra touches and value additions that Vern provided for his customers certainly helped too, of course! And then there was the sheer quality of the products from EI, too!)

Mark

Actually it was Harry's brother-in-law that wanted to go mail-order (and Harry supported him). Harry's college roomie was the one that wanted to stay with the hobby shops. The contention over that was the reason Harry got booted from MMI.

See "G. Harry Stine Personal Memoirs – The formative years of model rocketry, 1957-1962" over at www.questaerospace.com/museum.asp for the story.

[Mark II]

Well said, Mark! These are the same sentiments I had back in those days; my first exposure
was when I saw the 1967 Estes catalog on a friends bed (had the 1/70 Saturn 1-B on the
cover). Took it home to look over, with my mouth drooling, and my parents and I decided to
order the Estes Deluxe Starter Set. Never looked back since.....
The odd thing for me was that my parents were NOT supportive of my interest in model rocketry at first. They had this feeling that there was something vaguely criminal about it. Oh, sure, maybe kids in places like Colorado or Texas could buy rocket motors and launch model rockets, but those places were more wide open and the laws about product safety and about selling dangerous products to minors were less stringent (or less "developed") out there, they thought. I bought my first starter set and my first rocket motors with lawn mowing money, and had built and launched my Alpha once before I ever told them. My folks were both, in all other respects, pretty open-minded and tolerant people from Detroit. But my mother was sure that I was going to blow off my hand, and my Dad lectured me about how kids that develop an interest in building their own rockets pretty soon move on to more dangerous pursuits, usually with bad results (either injury or arrest and prison, or both).

At first my folks tried to forbid me from launching any more rockets (I was 13 at the time), but after I showed them the literature I had from Estes Industries and the motors and equipment that I had bought, and also told them that my comrade-in-arms, so to speak (comrade-in-thrust?), a schoolmate and neighbor, was the Scoutmaster's son (and an Eagle Scout, no less), they relented. My older brother also told them that he didn't see much potential there for me to hurt myself no matter what I did, which also helped to sway them.

From then on they mantained a rather bemused, but never quite supportive, attitude toward my rocketry activities. (I was smart enough not to bring up the subject in dinner conversations, too.) And I am sure that they must have breathed a big sigh of relief when they saw that I had left my model rocket stuff at home when I went off to college. (All of it eventually wound up in the trash, without my knowledge.)

THe ironic thing about all that was that I, too, had been somewhat skeptical when I first began seeing ads from a few model rocketry companies (Centuri's ads are the ones that I remember) in the back of Boy's Life magazine, too. I wasn't sure if I should trust them when they said that it was safe and legal. But then I saw the ads from Estes Industries, with the picture of Vern Estes and those two boys, and I decided right away that this was a man who I could trust.

And the rest, as they say, is history...

Mark

[Mark II]

Actually it was Harry's brother-in-law that wanted to go mail-order (and Harry supported him). Harry's college roomie was the one that wanted to stay with the hobby shops. The contention over that was the reason Harry got booted from MMI.

See "G. Harry Stine Personal Memoirs – The formative years of model rocketry, 1957-1962" over at www.questaerospace.com/museum.asp (http://www.questaerospace.com/museum.asp) for the story.
I stand corrected. It is just another instance of G. Harry Stine's foresight that was ultimately vindicated.

Mark

[Royatl]

"Bemused, but never supportive," could be said of my parents as well, as least my mom. My dad may have been a little more supportive; he did take me to see the farmers he thought might have enough land for rockets (of course none of them wanted me flying on their land, but my dad would have a good time talking with them for an hour or so while I sat disappointed and bored over all the farming talk).

Then again, they did drive me 60 miles to Atlanta every month or two to fly rockets with John Langford and the MASER section. And I did convince them to take me to NARAM-13, but that was only because I showed how we could visit relatives in DC on the way up, and NC on the way back.

But still, my mom was praying for the day I'd stop wasting my time with those silly little rockets.

[dwmzmm]

The odd thing for me was that my parents were NOT supportive of my interest in model rocketry at first. They had this feeling that there was something vaguely criminal about it. Oh, sure, maybe kids in places like Colorado or Texas could buy rocket motors and launch model rockets, but those places were more wide open and the laws about product safety and about selling dangerous products to minors were less stringent (or less "developed") out there, they thought. I bought my first starter set and my first rocket motors with lawn mowing money, and had built and launched my Alpha once before I ever told them. My folks were both, in all other respects, pretty open-minded and tolerant people from Detroit. But my mother was sure that I was going to blow off my hand, and my Dad lectured me about how kids that develop an interest in building their own rockets pretty soon move on to more dangerous pursuits, usually with bad results (either injury or arrest and prison, or both).

At first my folks tried to forbid me from launching any more rockets (I was 13 at the time), but after I showed them the literature I had from Estes Industries and the motors and equipment that I had bought, and also told them that my comrade-in-arms, so to speak (comrade-in-thrust?), a schoolmate and neighbor, was the Scoutmaster's son (and an Eagle Scout, no less), they relented. My older brother also told them that he didn't see much potential there for me to hurt myself no matter what I did, which also helped to sway them.

From then on they mantained a rather bemused, but never quite supportive, attitude toward my rocketry activities. (I was smart enough not to bring up the subject in dinner conversations, too.) And I am sure that they must have breathed a big sigh of relief when they saw that I had left my model rocket stuff at home when I went off to college. (All of it eventually wound up in the trash, without my knowledge.)

THe ironic thing about all that was that I, too, had been somewhat skeptical when I first began seeing ads from a few model rocketry companies (Centuri's ads are the ones that I remember) in the back of Boy's Life magazine, too. I wasn't sure if I should trust them when they said that it was safe and legal. But then I saw the ads from Estes Industries, with the picture of Vern Estes and those two boys, and I decided right away that this was a man who I could trust.

And the rest, as they say, is history...

Mark

LOL!! Reminds me of my very first launch, the Astron Alpha on the Electro Launch Pad, back
in the summer of 1969. My mom was so afraid that the Alpha would blow up that she locked
herself in the car while my dad took this pic of that very first launch....

Pic comes from a slide; place is at the C. W. Ruckel Jr. High School grounds at Niceville, FL.
BTW, I'm 13 years old then, too!

[Mark II]

"Bemused, but never supportive," could be said of my parents as well, as least my mom. My dad may have been a little more supportive; he did take me to see the farmers he thought might have enough land for rockets (of course none of them wanted me flying on their land, but my dad would have a good time talking with them for an hour or so while I sat disappointed and bored over all the farming talk).
Hah! Is it possible that that your Dad wasn't really trying to find a launch field for you? ;) :D

Then again, they did drive me 60 miles to Atlanta every month or two to fly rockets with John Langford and the MASER section.
That would have been totally out of the question in my case. But then, if there had been a club that put on organized launches in my area, perhaps my folks might have had a different attitude toward my hobby. (It may sound incredible, but I never attended an organized launch until 2006.)

And I did convince them to take me to NARAM-13, but that was only because I showed how we could visit relatives in DC on the way up, and NC on the way back.
Making sure that there is something in it for them - always a good negotiating technique! :D

But still, my mom was praying for the day I'd stop wasting my time with those silly little rockets.
I know what it is like to deal with that attitude. In fact, I still do, but it is no longer my Mom that is doing the praying... :rolleyes:

Mark

[Mark II]

I wish that my folks had actually seen my first launch of my Alpha; if they had, they might not have been so worried. The 1/2A motor (or was it a 1/4A?) that was included in the starter set didn't put it up very high, to say the least. My friend Danny was my witness as I pressed the launch button. The Alpha struggled its way to about 25-30 ft., and then fell, ejecting the chute after it had already hit the ground. :eek: Danny couldn't stop laughing; neither could my brother when I told him about it afterwards. My brother wisecracked that I could have thrown the rocket higher than that! That was when he assured my folks that no matter what stupid thing I did with my rockets, there was practically no chance that I could hurt myself or someone else. :rolleyes:

(After that experience, I immediately placed an order to Estes for some B6-4 engines. Those worked much better!)

Mark

[dwmzmm]

I wish that my folks had actually seen my first launch of my Alpha; if they had, they might not have been so worried. The 1/2A motor (or was it a 1/4A?) that was included in the starter set didn't put it up very high, to say the least. My friend Danny was my witness as I pressed the launch button. The Alpha struggled its way to about 25-30 ft., and then fell, ejecting the chute after it had already hit the ground. :eek: Danny couldn't stop laughing; neither could my brother when I told him about it afterwards. My brother wisecracked that I could have thrown the rocket higher than that! That was when he assured my folks that no matter what stupid thing I did with my rockets, there was practically no chance that I could hurt myself or someone else. :rolleyes:

(After that experience, I immediately placed an order to Estes for some B6-4 engines. Those worked much better!)

Mark

The two engines that came with the Deluxe Starter Set were the 1/2A6-2 & A8-3.

[Royatl]

The 1/2A motor (or was it a 1/4A?) that was included in the starter set didn't put it up very high, to say the least. My friend Danny was my witness as I pressed the launch button. The Alpha struggled its way to about 25-30 ft., and then fell, ejecting the chute after it had already hit the ground. :eek:

Mark


If you only got that from a 1/2A6-2, you must've painted that rocket with house paint!

I lost my first flight on an A8-3. Totally surprised us all how high it went (from an 11 year old's perspective!).

[dwmzmm]

If you only got that from a 1/2A6-2, you must've painted that rocket with house paint!

I lost my first flight on an A8-3. Totally surprised us all how high it went (from an 11 year old's perspective!).


The 1/2A6-2 used for my first flight also took the Alpha higher than I'd expected, plus the
speed at liftoff took me by surpise. Only problem is I didn't use enough wadding, and the
parachute became a thick wad of plastic! (Learned several things right off the bat here)