G. Harry Stine Memorial Launch--1997
 

Greetings:

It has been almost 20 years since I did what was probably the first G. Harry Stine Memorial Launch in Nov. of 1997. I just happen to be planning on touring the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. At the time, I was looking to apply to the school to start my Ph.D. program there.

Early that month, just days before I was about to leave, I received word that Stine had passed.

I did something impulsive at that time. I scratch build a 1:125 scale model of the Roc-A-Chute Mark 2 rocket that Stine launched back in 1957 and packed it into my luggage. I sent a message to the local New Mexico section of NAR telling what I was going to do as asked if I could launch the rocket at the same location Stine did back in 1957. When Jeff Bezzler ? of the New Mexico NAR section said yes, the launch was a go !

Although I had built the rocket, I did not have time to paint it. Since rocket motors are not allowed on the Southwest Airlines, I bought a pack of B6-4s and some light blue paint at a K-Mart in Albuquerque. I then drove south to Las Cruces. Somewhere around a place called Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, I took a driving break and painted the rocket. I still had to drive another 2 hours to get to Las Cruces.

I arrived at a site not far from a stadium for the Univ. of New Mexico in Las Cruces. The area used to be a cotton field. The New Mexico NAR section had two members greet me and we set up the launch pad. The sky was blue and the winds were under 10 MPH. Some 5 days after G. Harry's passing, I was able to get the Roc-A Chute rocket replica launched a little after noon. Success.

While I was there, I toured the aerospace museum at Alamogordo and the White Sands Range. I later launched that same rocket at NARAM 41 in PA.

I never did pursue that Ph.D. and went on to be a public school educator in Florida.

My original report is in the old R.M.R. archives. I did buy an NSL-2017 to mark the 20th anniversary of an event that was loaded with a fortunate set of circumstances and timing.

Manuel Mejia, Jr.
NAR 34611 (ret)

Great story. Was the launch site where you launched close to the exact spot where GHS launched the Mark 2 or just in the general vicinity?

Thanks for the story!!

The New Mexico Section put me as close to the old cotton field as they could. The field had been dug up and made into a pit. The soil from the pit was needed to build the sport stadium I had mentioned in my report.

The rocket did land in the pit and one of the section members went in and got it for me. :)

Astrosaint

Manny!
 

Hey, nice to see you're still kicking!!


Really miss the old THOR days for sure.....especially at McKinley in Tampa, and of course, the 'old' TTRA in Zephyrhills. Hope to see you sometime again in the future!

AstronMike
Tripoli 1961

Good to see your still flying. The Florida drought this spring grounded everyone but the recent rains have ended that. I had to do another memorial launch for a friend who was with me at NARAM-50 but that is another tale (a sad one a that).

Thanks for responding.

Astrosaint