This month's theme was the Estes 50th Anniversary, so I dusted off some moldy oldies, readied some others, and headed out to the range.

This is my original Estes SDI Satellite. I built this kit when it first came out, but never got around to painting or finishing. Over the years (and several moves) I had lost the unique nose cone. After I got back into the hobby a few years ago, the old SDI body just sat forlornly in the corner of my workbench. Then, on a tour of Milwaukee hobby shops, I miraculously found the same nose cone, sitting in a jumbled spare parts box. $5 later, and the SDI lives!

I finished the painting last year, but didn't find the original decals until a few days ago. Luckily, I had time to dress her up before launch day;


Flying on a C6-3, I surprisingly got a lot of altitude out of this very "draggy" design;


Here's my alternate decal clone of an Estes SkyTracer (white with blue stipes) drag-racing against an alternate color clone (orange with red stripes);

Due to a misfire on the ignitor, I lost this race, but....

The highlight of my day was most definitely my other drag race. I dusted off my original Orbital Transport which I built over 20 years ago. I had figured this one retired a long time ago, but I thought to myself, "What's the point of having a rocket if you're never going to fly it?" And if I was going to fly it, what better time than an Estes 50th celebration!

Aside from unfurling the chute and repacking it for launch, this bird hasn't been touched in over 20 years. What better way to up the ante on an already nerve-wracking flight than to drag race against a Centuri SST? The participants....


...and the contestants on the pad;


Amazingly enough, my old girl leaped off the pad straight and true with a perfect, arrow-straight flight. She popped chute and glider right at apogee, winning the race. The glider flew moderately well, and both were recovered without a single dent, scratch, or bit of damage. I guess my building skills as a teenager weren't too bad.

All in all, a fun day at the field, and every rocket came back in one piece. Who could ask for more?

Later,
EV

WTH kind of sod is that? I pictured a vast expanse of lush, well mown grass. Rockets softly sighing as they touch down on the cool dewy blades. Looks like you're out in the forgotten train yard.

I see the place is a hop, skip, and a jump from Hal's H-D (I also see you're wearing a Buell t). I used to live relatively close about thirteen years ago.

Having recently aquired a vehicle that gets over 40mpg (but with very limited cargo space), I'll have to see if I can drop in on a launch. Unfortunately I've got a Brewer's game on Sept. 6th, I'd love to see the Interceptor Drags. Nothing slated for Oct. 4th though, maybe then. That's if the Warden let's me out on a good behaviour pass, time to knock some jobs off the "honey-do" list.

If I'm really good, I might get enough time off to hit a Bong launch.

Time to see about joining WOOSH.

BTW, nice pics EV.

Heh. I think maybe 25 years ago it was a sod farm. Now it's in name only. There is a mown circle area where C/L fliers enjoy their hobby.

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