Ye Olde Rocket Forum

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-   -   Hello from an old spacemodeling snob (http://www.oldrocketforum.com/showthread.php?t=3483)

carbons4 06-26-2008 12:57 PM

Hello from an old spacemodeling snob
 
I just discovered this great website and more than happy to contribute. I started flying rockets in 1971 and was one of the founding members of the SSKC ,spacemodeling society of kansas city. The location of Naram-19. I also worked full and part time at Flight systems inc. from 1977 to 1986. I know I have seen several people ask questions about the history of FSI and I might be able to plug it in for them. I know that some peoples memorys get a bit fuzzy on subjects from back then. I saw a post where Doug Pratt had listed Dallas as the location of Naram-19 and that was the first place he saw Star wars. I know Doug remembers he was the CD of Naram-19 at Johnson county community college in Overland park, Ks. He had the other mixed up with the Dallas area rocket society meet in june of that yr. There were 4 or 5 of us that went to a 2am showing of Star wars at the Garland Cinema 2 because we had a guest speaker from LTV aerospace do a talk on the scout that did not finish till after midnight.

tbzep 06-26-2008 01:07 PM

Welcome to YORF. What did you do at FSI?

carbons4 06-26-2008 01:31 PM

Fsi
 
EVERYTHING! FSI was a small company and I was one of the few family outsiders that worked there. I was hired as a machinist and made about every part for rockets , pads, and launch equipment. I made motors later when we started producing our own motors. (When Lonnie and Larry bought the company from George Roos ,he kept making the motors in Burns Flat, OK. but his schedule was not very timely for a buisness. ) When I last worked there ,I was also working on couple new kits and redoing the catalog. That was first part of 1986.

carbons4 06-26-2008 01:37 PM

Fsi
 
I have to say I did not get rich working there but I will probably never work for better people than the Reeses. My father had worked with Harold many many many yrs ago and my brother had gone to high school with the Reese brothers. These were great down to earth people. I still miss Lonnie and Harold.

dwmzmm 06-26-2008 04:49 PM

3 Attachment(s)
Quote:
Originally Posted by carbons4
I have to say I did not get rich working there but I will probably never work for better people than the Reeses. My father had worked with Harold many many many yrs ago and my brother had gone to high school with the Reese brothers. These were great down to earth people. I still miss Lonnie and Harold.


I love some of the FSI kits. Still have a few in my active status fleet today.....

Below are pics of the original 1/8 scale Black Brant - II (only the upper portion is from
SEMROC, replacement from a near disastrous flight several years ago), OSO (also repaired
from a fiery F7-6 cato 1 1/2 years ago, but still with original FSI parts), and the Maverick.

Royatl 06-26-2008 04:53 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by carbons4
EVERYTHING! FSI was a small company and I was one of the few family outsiders that worked there. I was hired as a machinist and made about every part for rockets , pads, and launch equipment. I made motors later when we started producing our own motors. (When Lonnie and Larry bought the company from George Roos ,he kept making the motors in Burns Flat, OK. but his schedule was not very timely for a buisness. )


Now *there's* a tidbit I bet none of us knew!

Quote:
When I last worked there ,I was also working on couple new kits and redoing the catalog. That was first part of 1986.


So I guess you weren't there when they acquired the old MRI/MPC machines for making 18mm motors?

tbzep 06-26-2008 05:13 PM

Do you have any old photos of FSI?

dwmzmm 06-26-2008 05:27 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by tbzep
Do you have any old photos of FSI?


Or, maybe you could be a feature interview of a future issue of LAUNCH.....

snaquin 06-26-2008 05:28 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by carbons4
EVERYTHING! FSI was a small company and I was one of the few family outsiders that worked there. I was hired as a machinist and made about every part for rockets , pads, and launch equipment. I made motors later when we started producing our own motors. (When Lonnie and Larry bought the company from George Roos ,he kept making the motors in Burns Flat, OK. but his schedule was not very timely for a buisness. ) When I last worked there ,I was also working on couple new kits and redoing the catalog. That was first part of 1986.


Did the new kits you were working on at that time make it into production or were they prototypes?

Welcome to the forum and thanks so much for sharing your thoughts with us!

I never met Lonnie in person but back in the early 80's I called him several times with the phone number in the front of the catalog. He was always very kind and you could tell he enjoyed talking rockets with customers. He told me about a Nova kit he had converted to fly on F100's that he flew to some pretty respectable altitudes.

I was lucky to have a local hobby store {Model Car Raceways} that stocked the full line of FSI products - kits and motors.

.

shockwaveriderz 06-26-2008 06:17 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Royatl
Now *there's* a tidbit I bet none of us knew!
(When Lonnie and Larry bought the company from George Roos ,he kept making the motors in Burns Flat, OK. but his schedule was not very timely for a buisness. )


So I guess you weren't there when they acquired the old MRI/MPC machines for making 18mm motors?



I sorta knew it.

EDIT

well maybe I didn't know it. I could have sworn that I had read or heard that George Roos made motors Burns Flat,Ok; but I can't seemt o fidn my reference for it.



also FSI actually got the remains of 2 "partial" MRI/MPC/AVI motor making machines . At some later point in time Bill Stine was looking for FSI to supply his new Quest Aerospace with motors. FSI had never really gooten these 2 partial machines to work until Bill Stine got hold of the techncial plans for these motor making machines from Myke Bergenske; FSi was then able to make their own FSI branded 18mm motors for a while along with some initial Quest Aerospace motors.

Later as we all know this former MRI/MPC/AVI/FSI "Mabel" because the initial basis for Quest Aerospace motor making.




terry dean


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