Neil Armstrong at Estes Rocket Launch
 

Sometimes we open up our email box and find an unexpected and pleasant surprise. The recent email I received from Herman Henie in part read, “Please go to my YouTube page and you will find my video of Neil Armstrong and myself, Herman Heine, launching off Estes rockets in our neighborhood”. Herman, now a brick mason, indicated he first began flying Estes model rockets in 1968.

A couple of emails later, Herman provided a more detailed description:

“This video was taken in October 1997 at Cleves park in Cleves Ohio. I was working on Mr. Armstrong’s home at the time, and my son Adam wrote him a letter to come to our rocket launch, and he gladly accepted the invitation. On the day of the event the boys brought their rockets to school and told their teachers that they were going to launch off rockets after school at the park with Neil Armstrong. The teachers did not believe them but came to the park anyway. Mr. Armstrong and I arrived at the park about one hour before the boys came. We were setting up the area and were able to talk about how he got interested in flight. He told me he would build control line planes with the money he made from odd jobs. And then got his pilot’s license before he could drive. I told him that I delivered newspapers after school and all the money I earned, I bought Estes rocket kits from my local hobby shop. I built many rockets from the Scout to Big Bertha to the Saturn V.”

“We had a great time that day. It was a dream come true for me, but for the boys, they were just glad to be launching off rockets. The Apollo days were history to them and being with Neil Armstrong was something that just did not sink in at the time. Many of my scouts became Eagle Scouts and they look back at the event now and realize how special it was.”

In the attached video, Neil Armstrong is wearing a yellow hat. The guy in the black hat is Herman Heine.

I wish I could have been there! -- Vern

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzY...bBcWz6A&index=2

What a cool story! Thanks, Vern!

Thanks for sharing that story! And thanks Mr. Henie for paying it forward to those boys!

edit: I love how Mr. Armstrong kicks into "perfesser" mode and presents a lecture on propulsion...after I found out he became an Aerospace Engineering professor, I always wondered what it would be like to show up the first day of class and find out you had Neil Armstrong for your professor :)

They got to hang out with first of only 12 people to ever set foot on the moon. I can only imagine how I would have felt being a kid and launching rockets with him.

Vern, did you ever get to meet Mr. Armstrong? I know you've met a few astronauts, and you've inspired many to become astronauts, do you have a list of the ones you've met?

Awesome!!

Nice find! Thanks for sharing, Vern!

Cheers, Bunny

Great video!!! Thank you for sharing it with us Vern.

Fantastic!

What a great experience that day would have been! Truly one of my biggest desires growing up during the Apollo Program was to meet Neil Armstrong.

Vern, I happened to meet you during a tour of Estes Industries in 1966. Bill Simon was our tour guide. That was an incredible experience for a 13 year old kid!

Hope to see you at NARAM-60 --its been awhile!

David -- Yes, I've had the privilege of meeting some of the original astronauts who inspired all of us to get involved, and many of the young people they inspired to to become astronauts, then follow the original's into space. I never had the opportunity to meet Neil Armstrong. The New York Times article below tell about how he enjoyed a private life on his farm in Ohio.

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/20/u...-side-moon.html

Here is a further quote from Mr. Heine that fills in some detail on the story.

" Mr. Armstrong was living in my hometown area at the time of our rocket launch. He met Carol and they were married in 1994. Carol had a house in Indian Hill a town just east of Cincinnati Ohio. She was living in a big house there. Her husband died in a plane crash in Florida in 1989. Mr. Armstrong sill kept his farm in Lebanon Ohio. In 1996 they started construction of their new home in the back yard of the old one. I was able to speak to him often. He even told me about his mission on Gemini 8.
There is a book out called First Man, it is an autobiography on Neil written by James R Hansen. A good read for sure."

Sorry, I have not kept a list of astronauts I've met. -- Vern

Wow !
What an amazing story and video.

Thanks for sharing!

Great story! Thank's Vern!

Steve

How cool is it when an old bricklayer sends an email to an old construction contractor about the first man to walk on the moon launching model rockets with a bunch of kids who are now in their thirties? You can't make stuff like this up! Thank you Mr. Estes.

Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful story!

My associate in UK met Neil at our test site a year or two before his death. When the photos were taken, Neil admonished him that his images are property of his college alumni association and to talk to them about photo rights. Interesting way to pay forward for a historical figure. The pictures were private memorabilia.

Nicest guy ever.

Jerry

It may sound trite, but Vern, you *were* there!

Vern, thanks for sharing!

I'm looking forward to (re-)meeting you in Houston this weekend.

Neil was an enthusiastic aeromodeler in his younger years all the way up to and including his time in Houston. In high school and college he competed in AMA sponsored national and international competitions. His favored event was control line speed, and some of his models are preserved in the AMA and Ohio Historical Society collections. Neil even brought some of his models to his new job with NASA but the models were lost in a house fire they had in the mid 60's. Neil was also an early member of the American Rocket Society which later became the AIAA. We should have sent him a NAR card!

On July 25, 2011 when NARAM-53 was being held near Cincinnati, he had the opportunity to examine a Team USA Junior B/G model built by Katherine Humphrey. He must have spent ten minutes looking at that very nicely constructed model and he had a ton of questions about it. Most memorably he asked "is this a kit or a scratch built model"? I think for him this was a measure of how "serious" the competition was as well as a good indicator of the modeler's workmanship. I believe he gave Katherine good marks in that department!

Katherine's model was a Bob Park's design which featured a variable camber system which was spring actuated at pod separation. Neil spent a good bit of time looking at that mechanism and was also quite interested in Bob's resume which included time with John Langford's Aurora Flight Sciences. Neil mentioned that Langford's name and Aurora were both familiar to him.

Many people on the forum might think that they are world's removed from a guy like Neil Armstrong. The reality is that since we are a community of people who love to built and watch things that fly we are much more similar than unlike him. He would have fit in well at any of our NAR launches as one of the guys.

In July, 2011 during NARAM-53 some people may have noticed an elderly gentleman in a nearby parking lot quietly watching the rockets fly. That was probably Neil Armstrong. One year and one month later he was gone and the world lost an icon.

AAARRRGGHH!!! Why did I not know this until now???!!! I was within 1000 ft of Neil Armstrong and I didn't know it. I know, I know. He was famously private, unlike his flight mate Buzz, who I've met on three separate occasions (and talked model rockets with). Oh well.

Jerry,

Neil Armstrong developed a defensive posture toward exploitation of his image and name due to a few unfortunate events perpetuated by unscrupulous actors. He would happily grant photo-ops to well wishers, but if he sniffed commercialism his shields would go up.

Consider the following partial list of scams foisted on him:

- a school teacher in Florida had his class write letters to Armstrong and included photos and autograph requests. Armstrong signed all the photos and returned them to the teacher who then used a solvent to wash the inscriptions ("To Johnny") and sold the autographed photos on the open market. The kids just thought Armstrong never responded. The teacher should be in jail, but nothing happened.

-Armstrong's barber from Lebanon, Ohio was caught selling his hair clippings to a celebrity dealer (the barbershop is now out of business)

-Hallmark produced a Christmas ornament using Armstrong's voice recordings without seeking permission. The Purdue band got a nice donation from that faux pas by Hallmark.

When he saw the unfortunate lawsuit between Chuck Yeager and his new wife and Yeager's children take place he passed the rights to his name and image to Purdue University.

I note that the video Vern linked to had the title "Famous Astronaut" and no other mention of his real name other than what came up in the video

Pat,

Thanks for providing some very interesting facts to add to the story. To my regret I failed to connect with him at NARAM-53. We probably all look back at missed opportunities and wish for do-overs.

Neil and I had a few things in common. We were both born in 1930. We both took our turn at building model air planes. His worked while my first and only had a love affair with the ground. We both participated the space race. He got to liftoff aboard the big Saturn rocket while I stood and watched from the ground. He stepped out on the surface of the moon while I sat with eyes glued to the TV as the Eagle landed. I'm not sure I would have been brave enough to trade places, but it's hypothetical so I don't have to answer that question.

Vern

Vern, I can say pretty much for a fact that you met Buzz Aldrin and Gene Cernan in 2012 because I was there. The fund raising Gala at the Seattle Museum of Flight - I was the guy that built the Saturn V models (and Space Ship One models) that were signed by various astronauts and other space dignitaries then auctioned off. Buzz and Gene were there and signed the Saturns (along with you :D ).
My understanding was that Neil Armstrong was also going to attend but unfortunately passed away a couple months earlier.

You are correct on all counts. BTW, that was a really beautiful Saturn V model you built, and I was privileged to add my name to it. -- Vern

Maybe, but you brought his dream to the masses AND OVER TIME AND WELL PAST YOUR FUTURE PASSING. I call it a near tie with him a bit ahead.

Thank You. I've built a lot of Saturn V models over the years but those came out best of all.
Did anyone bother to tell you that the Museum auctioned off the Estes (1/100th scale) Saturn V last may for $17,000! Probably the most valuable Estes Saturn V ever :D
The big Sirius (1/64th scale) Saturn I still have - it was on display at the Sun River Observatory outside Bend, OR for a while but is currently back home with me.