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  #1  
Old 11-27-2013, 12:24 AM
Fireman Fireman is offline
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Default Finding Old Rocketeers?

I just joined the forum tonight and have spent the last couple of hours going through and reading some of the earlier posts. This has sure brought back a lot of wonderful memories...

I want to be sure I am not violating any of the written or unwritten rules of posting here. Would it be acceptable for me to post the name of my old NAR section and to ask if any of the members of that section might be members of this forum? I would love to know if any of them are still around, and if possible, to get in touch with them. Since this goes back quite a few years, it seemed that this might be the appropriate forum for such a post. Please let me know if this would be alright.

Now I am going to go read some more of the posts about the early days of model rocketry...

Thank you,

Fireman
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  #2  
Old 11-27-2013, 12:26 AM
A Fish Named Wallyum A Fish Named Wallyum is offline
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I don't think anyone here is in hiding. I'd say go ahead and post your list. I think you might be surprised.
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  #3  
Old 11-27-2013, 08:12 AM
Ltvscout Ltvscout is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fireman
I just joined the forum tonight and have spent the last couple of hours going through and reading some of the earlier posts. This has sure brought back a lot of wonderful memories...

I want to be sure I am not violating any of the written or unwritten rules of posting here. Would it be acceptable for me to post the name of my old NAR section and to ask if any of the members of that section might be members of this forum? I would love to know if any of them are still around, and if possible, to get in touch with them. Since this goes back quite a few years, it seemed that this might be the appropriate forum for such a post. Please let me know if this would be alright.

Welcome to YORF, Fireman! Feel free to post away to help locate members of your old section.
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  #4  
Old 11-27-2013, 05:21 PM
Fireman Fireman is offline
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Default Looking for members of Peak City Section

OK, thanks.

Are there any old time rocketeers here that were members of the Peak City Section back about 1959-1965? (Colorado Springs Colorado) If so, I would dearly love to hear from or about them. Maybe share some stories and possibly photos from those days.

My name is Mitchell C. Meigs and I was NAR nr. 2217. I was in the second wave of members, so some of the old timers might not know me by name, but would remember me as "the young kid with the yellow helmet who was always asking questions."

I can't remember all of the names off-hand, but members I used to pester constantly with questions included Doug Hylton, Tom and Jim Rhue, Steve Kushner and senior member David Barr. I would love to hear from any of them if they are still around. Would also love to hear from Helen Roe, whom I lost touch with many years ago. (To this day I remember her and that confounded spotted rocket of hers named "Measles." It seemed to beat me every time, no matter what the contest was...)

Anyway, reading the posts here has really brought back memories, and I would love to know if anyone from those days might hang around the forum here. Would also love to hear from anyone from neighboring sections that we would have flown with/compeated with in those same years, Mile High section in Denver or Vern Estes' Astron Section in Penrose.

It may have been more than half a century since I was a little kid, but I still have the yellow helmet, and I still love to pester fellow rocketeers with questions... I'm sure you will be hearing more from me.

Thanks,

the Fireman
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  #5  
Old 11-27-2013, 06:13 PM
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Earl Earl is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fireman
OK, thanks.

Are there any old time rocketeers here that were members of the Peak City Section back about 1959-1965? (Colorado Springs Colorado) If so, I would dearly love to hear from or about them. Maybe share some stories and possibly photos from those days.

My name is Mitchell C. Meigs and I was NAR nr. 2217. I was in the second wave of members, so some of the old timers might not know me by name, but would remember me as "the young kid with the yellow helmet who was always asking questions."

I can't remember all of the names off-hand, but members I used to pester constantly with questions included Doug Hylton, Tom and Jim Rhue, Steve Kushner and senior member David Barr. I would love to hear from any of them if they are still around. Would also love to hear from Helen Roe, whom I lost touch with many years ago. (To this day I remember her and that confounded spotted rocket of hers named "Measles." It seemed to beat me every time, no matter what the contest was...)

Anyway, reading the posts here has really brought back memories, and I would love to know if anyone from those days might hang around the forum here. Would also love to hear from anyone from neighboring sections that we would have flown with/compeated with in those same years, Mile High section in Denver or Vern Estes' Astron Section in Penrose.

It may have been more than half a century since I was a little kid, but I still have the yellow helmet, and I still love to pester fellow rocketeers with questions... I'm sure you will be hearing more from me.

Thanks,

the Fireman



Wow, that really goes back a ways. Would that David Barr be THE David Barr who first proposed eggs as a payload substitute for live biological payloads such as mice and frogs?

Also, was Helen Roe a relative of Bill Roe I suppose? I don't know any of these folks myself, but those are names I know G. Harry Stine spoke of in his books and articles. I remember his obituary column for Bill Roe in the NAR magazine way back in about 1980.

I hope you are able to connect with some of those folks. Harry Stine's son Bill runs Quest rocketry company (recently merged with Aerotech I believe) and he might know the whereabouts of some of those folks.

Welcome to YORF!


Earl
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  #6  
Old 11-27-2013, 08:49 PM
Fireman Fireman is offline
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That would be he... THE David Barr of egg lofting fame.

I remember some of those early egg launches, including a demonstration of the art at NARAM 4 at the Airforce Academy. In the very early days of Model rocketry, say, 1957-1959, launching "live payloads" was pretty common. Everybody was still talking about Sputnik II and the unfortunate space dog Laika. Flying a mouse, hamster or whatever, was a sure way for teenage rocketeers to get in the newspaper or on the local news. ("Teenage rocket scientist launches mouse into orbit, film at eleven...")

Lord only knows how many rodents, wild and domestic, and other small animals were abused and slaughtered in such ill-advised "experiments." By about 1961, the tide was turning, and this was seen as animal abuse rather than science. It was really beginning to give already struggling rocket clubs a bad name. Barr came up with his non-abusive alternative just in time. It gave rocketeers a goal and a challenge, probably helped them learn a bit about designing payload capsuls and launch vehicles, and helped rid model rocketry of what was becoming a real public relations liability. Thank you, David, wherever you are!

Yes, Helen Roe was William Roe's daughter, and she was one heck of a rocketeer. A glance at some of those early contest results would show her name often in the winners place. That confounded "Measels" rocket of hers was, if my memory isn't too rusty, a polka-dot Dirty Bird III, and could it ever fly... In those days, model rocketry was an almost exclusively male preserve. Helen showed us that that might be the way things WERE, but that it didn't HAVE to be that way. She was a pioneer, and another ground-breaking young rocketeer who should be remembered from those early days.

For those of you who are new to model rocketry (say, those of you who have only been around the last thirty or forty years...) William Roe was the third member of the triumverate that really created model rocketry as we know it. (Along with Orville Carlisle and "Old Rocketeer" G. Harry Stein. ) He was a tireless worker in the early days of the NAR, and was instrumental in getting the NAR recognised and accepted in communities across the country. GHS did write about him in the Handbook and many of his articles, but his contributions to model rocketry have largely been forgotten. Despite the demands made on his time as a leader of the community, he was never too busy to talk to a young rocketeer , or to make yet another presentation to a firemarshal or a city council about "The answer to the youth rocketry problem." He was a good man, and a good role model. I wish more of the younger rocketeers were more famaliar with his name and his contributions to our hobby.

Thanks for the tip about Quest Rocketry! I will go check that out. I saw that picture of Bill Stein with the model rocketry exibit. Except for the beard, he looks so much like his Dad at the time I knew him, it is almost spooky. I'm glad to know that he is still involved in rocketry, and in keeping "The Old Rocketeer's" name alive...

Thanks for your reply!

the Fireman
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  #7  
Old 11-27-2013, 09:58 PM
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Earl Earl is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fireman
That would be he... THE David Barr of egg lofting fame.

I remember some of those early egg launches, including a demonstration of the art at NARAM 4 at the Airforce Academy. In the very early days of Model rocketry, say, 1957-1959, launching "live payloads" was pretty common. Everybody was still talking about Sputnik II and the unfortunate space dog Laika. Flying a mouse, hamster or whatever, was a sure way for teenage rocketeers to get in the newspaper or on the local news. ("Teenage rocket scientist launches mouse into orbit, film at eleven...")

Lord only knows how many rodents, wild and domestic, and other small animals were abused and slaughtered in such ill-advised "experiments." By about 1961, the tide was turning, and this was seen as animal abuse rather than science. It was really beginning to give already struggling rocket clubs a bad name. Barr came up with his non-abusive alternative just in time. It gave rocketeers a goal and a challenge, probably helped them learn a bit about designing payload capsuls and launch vehicles, and helped rid model rocketry of what was becoming a real public relations liability. Thank you, David, wherever you are!

Yes, Helen Roe was William Roe's daughter, and she was one heck of a rocketeer. A glance at some of those early contest results would show her name often in the winners place. That confounded "Measels" rocket of hers was, if my memory isn't too rusty, a polka-dot Dirty Bird III, and could it ever fly... In those days, model rocketry was an almost exclusively male preserve. Helen showed us that that might be the way things WERE, but that it didn't HAVE to be that way. She was a pioneer, and another ground-breaking young rocketeer who should be remembered from those early days.

For those of you who are new to model rocketry (say, those of you who have only been around the last thirty or forty years...) William Roe was the third member of the triumverate that really created model rocketry as we know it. (Along with Orville Carlisle and "Old Rocketeer" G. Harry Stein. ) He was a tireless worker in the early days of the NAR, and was instrumental in getting the NAR recognised and accepted in communities across the country. GHS did write about him in the Handbook and many of his articles, but his contributions to model rocketry have largely been forgotten. Despite the demands made on his time as a leader of the community, he was never too busy to talk to a young rocketeer , or to make yet another presentation to a firemarshal or a city council about "The answer to the youth rocketry problem." He was a good man, and a good role model. I wish more of the younger rocketeers were more famaliar with his name and his contributions to our hobby.

Thanks for the tip about Quest Rocketry! I will go check that out. I saw that picture of Bill Stein with the model rocketry exibit. Except for the beard, he looks so much like his Dad at the time I knew him, it is almost spooky. I'm glad to know that he is still involved in rocketry, and in keeping "The Old Rocketeer's" name alive...

Thanks for your reply!

the Fireman


Well, thank YOU for your reply! Gosh, I think many of us would be all agog if you could share YOUR stories and anecdotes of those early days of rocketry. Most of us probably, on average, go back to the latter 60s to early 70s in rocketry as a starting point for our actual first-hand rocketry experiences. Not many here have those experiences date back to the latter 50s and certainly not in the 'cradle' of model rocketry back in those days.

What may seem like a minor memory to you may prove to be highly interesting and informative to the rest of us.

So, if you like, start a message thread recounting stories from those days. I suspect it would prove popular here. Just your comments above were highly interesting to me.

And yes, from what I have learned over the years, Bill Roe did seem to be one of those 'salt of the earth' kind of guys. I seem to recall that in just one of the past couple of NARAMS, his early efforts in the NAR were recognized and some of his family members (children?) were on hand to observe this recognition. I seem to recall some mention that his widow still survives, but I may be wrong on that count.

Earl
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  #8  
Old 11-29-2013, 07:00 AM
Fireman Fireman is offline
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Default Old stories, old pics...

Earl,

Thanks for your message. I will give some thought to posting some of my memories and stories here. I don't want to bore anyone, but I kind of see your point. I love reading other peoples stories and reminiscences from those days, so I suppose it is only fair to post some of my own. Let me give that some thought, and watch this space...

I also have a few pics from those days, including a few from the first NARAM I participated in , NARAM 4. The pics aren't great (I think they were taken with a box brownie) but they do sort of show how it was then. The Air Force Academy had a wonderful range that was just perfect for a NARAM. If I can find them, I might post a few of those old pictures as well, if anyone would be interested in seeing them, and I can figure out how to get them posted.

If anyone else has any pictures from the late 50's, early 60's, I would love to see them as well.

I heard that back about 2010(?) they had a special presentation about William S. Roe at the NARAM. Between work schedule and some health concerns, i wasn't able to attend that one, but it is wonderful that his work was recognized by a new generation of Rocketeers. Wish I could have been there...


the Fireman
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  #9  
Old 11-29-2013, 09:21 AM
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Jerry Irvine Jerry Irvine is offline
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It's really great to hear first hand history! I was a member of Polaris section 193 in Claremont and I only started in 66 but before that the club members were instrumental in getting model rocketry into California. Starting at Lucerne dry lake where there is nothing to burn or damage and expanding through City Recreation Department sponsorships to rocket clubs all over California. The club sponsored by West Covina was led by Dane Boles who went on to work for Estes and grow the sales, distribution, and unfortunately some too many regulations (he was opposed to HPR on (MR) religious grounds). Our club and his/theirs were two of the largest clubs in the nation due to a well established farm system of getting members from schools and recreation programs. Claremont Rocket Society pretty regularly had 500 active members and 50-60 participants at the WEEKLY Saturday launches in town at the field above the high school. Our club also had a dedicated building where we had workshops, classes, meetings, and a sales area. We were a dealer for Estes, Centuri, AVI, MPC, SAI and others.

If you ever need a place to store full resolution scans of photos as well as stories from as many folks as you can find, I will offer free permanent web space as I do to all rocket projects.

Jerry, late to NAR #24333
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  #10  
Old 11-30-2013, 03:05 PM
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Bill Bill is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fireman
I also have a few pics from those days, including a few from the first NARAM I participated in , NARAM 4. The pics aren't great (I think they were taken with a box brownie)



Until someone invents a camera which can go back in time and capture images, those pictures are great in my book. Bring them on...


Bill
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