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Old 07-03-2017, 10:10 PM
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pterodactyl pterodactyl is offline
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Join Date: May 2007
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Default Patriotic Rockets: Old Glory's Flight

The Fourth of July might be the best rocket holiday anywhere. First off the United States national anthem has a direct reference to “rocket” in its lyrics. Then of course there is the tradition of massive pyrotechnic displays; the field where our friend Vern honed his craft.

As America’s most patriotic holiday dawns it might be appropriate to ask the question:

When did Old Glory first fly on a model rocket? The answer is we don’t know!

The answer isn’t easy to find when it comes to America’s big rockets and spacecraft either, which took years to adopt the American flag insignia. In fact according to Robert Pearlman of collectspace.com (http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-070410a.html) the first American flag did not ride on a rocket until 1962 on the side of John Glenn’s Friendship 7 spacecraft. Every American spacecraft would carry the flag from that time on.

Could it be possible that the first American flag to leave Mother Earth might have ridden on a model rocket? There was ample time for our hobby to win this undeclared “space race” and blast Old Glory skyward before the big guys. Did anybody pull it off?

Was it an Orville Carlisle model built for one of his brother's aviation demonstrations? Was it an early G. Harry Stine model lost to time, perhaps one built by one of the early cadre of MMI model rocketeers in Denver, or somebody else entirely. Was it a member of this forum?

Lacking documentation it remains an open question.

For many years commercial rocket kits have carried US markings. However, early rocket kits lacked decals, so flags and other national insignia needed to be "borrowed" from plastic kits, cut out and glued to models, or done by hand as seen on many models in the National Collection.

The first sighting of the USAF "Stars and Bars" appear in the 1964 editions of the Estes and Centuri catalogs adorning their rear engine boost-gliders. However neither of those kits included decals so a bit of artistic license was in play there and neither featured a flag.

The first edition of Stine's Handbook includes a photo of the "Eaglerock" B/G with USAF markings. The model was developed between 1961 and 1963 but the image in the book could be a photo model built for the book published in 1965. Still no flag.


Sometime in the mid-late 1960’s the first American flags appeared on specialty decal sheets featured in rocketry catalogs and in kits. Now they are everywhere.

MPC gets the nod for one of the first uses of the term "patriot" in their Flare Patriot kit along with the Estes Patriot model.



The Estes Columbia (a very patriotic name) carries an American flag like the real shuttle did.



Not to be outdone the Centuri USS America Superkit featured a red, white, and blue livery.



Have a Happy and Safe Fourth of July!
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National Collection Images: G. Harry Stine Collection/The Museum of Flight.
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