'Rambling' is what most of us do here most of the time!

And by the way, that's a good thing.

Keep up the rambling!


Earl

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Earl L. Cagle, Jr.
NAR# 29523
TRA# 962
SAM# 73
Owner/Producer
Point 39 Productions

Rocket-Brained Since 1970

Remember, this was in the 1960s. Model rocketry was still brand spanking new then and had not yet become widely accepted throughout the US.

1. Building and launching rockets is illegal. You will be arrested if you are caught and you will go to jail.
2. Boys (it's always boys) who want to build and fly rockets are sad, mentally ill losers.
3. Their obsession with rockets will eventually land them in prison. (See #1.)
4. Bringing and keeping model rocket supplies in this house endangers your entire family.
5. You could burn the house down.
6. Boys have been blinded and even killed doing whille pursuing this "hobby."
7. People will ostracize you and no one will ever hire you because companies will regard you as dangerous and most likely mentally unstable. (The jury's still out on that one. )
8. It doesn't matter what information you give us, because you are too young to understand the whole picture.

At the time, we didn't know anyone else who participated in model rocketry. It was unheard of in my school and in my Scout troop. Local hobby stores had never heard of it (I asked around) and neither had any of my friends.

You can see how much influence all of the above arguments had on me. The biggest consequence was that I have to pursue the hobby sub rosa, so to speak.

Early on, my wife saw my pursuit of the hobby as a BAR as an embarrassment and something that we needed to conceal from friends and family. There has been gradual improvement in that area. No one else in my family or in my circle of friends has any interest in model rocketry and they never ask me anything about it.

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SAM # 0011

9. If that shady looking Vern Estes fellow drives up to you RUN AWAY and tell the police no matter how many engines he offers you.

My wife still uses some of those, especially 2, 3 and 7

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Bernard J. Herman Ohio RLS

Starport Sagitta Rockets
email bherman@sagittarockets.com

NAR # 97971 SR

What's your idea on the best way to change Washington D.C.?
Let us know at the Cantina
Sagitta Cantina

We're looking for a few good Catos, please tell us about any you may have had. Survey of Anecdotal Malfunctioning Engines or S.A.M.E.

Thank you for elucidating this. Wow--that is quite a culture shock to me! Even when I got started in model rocketry in 1969 (my father had discovered it in the early 1960s), no one else in our neighborhood was into it, but in our family and among our neighbors there was no negativity expressed about it or connected with it at all. When we were packing the supplies in the '65 Chevy suburban to go out to the old (closed) Tamiami Airport for a rocket flying session, if a neighbor happened to walk by or step outside to "chew the fat" for a bit, neither my mother or father had any shame or fear about saying "We're going off to shoot some rockets." No one thought we were "strange" or "borderline criminals" for engaging in the hobby. On one occasion, when I built a very crude home-made model rocket with cardboard fins, a parallel-rolled cardboard body tube, and a command module from a Revell Saturn V kit as a nose cone (my father had found an incomplete Saturn V kit at a swap meet), he set up the Estes Tilt-A-Pad right in our front yard and we launched it on 1/2A6-2 motors. There was no feeling of "We have to do this on the Q.T., or the neighbors will think we're odd." I guess I was luckier than I realized, growing up in such a model rocketry-accepting place.

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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

I didn't have to do it covertly, but my father frowned on it. My parents lived through the Great Depression and were dirt poor both growing up and well into their marriage. They felt that anything not work related beyond a stick and a ball was a waste of money. My father was a mechanic and made a decent wage by the time I came along, but we lived very conservatively anyway. I did get to build and fly rockets, but was only allowed to make a small order once or twice a year....more like once. The orders got a little bigger as I got older, and I even got a few rockets for Christmas one year. The Centuri Saturn V was by far the most expensive order I ever placed before leaving home.

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I love sanding.

There were 3 Hobby shops in the area. The one in the city, I could take the bus to get to but the other 2 my father had to drive and I visited then once or twice a year.

The one in the city was the only one that had rockets and motors and they also had mimeographed copies of the state law concerning models rockets which came in handy.

It wasn't my parents who thought it was illegal but the local police. I would launch at the Jr. High athletic field most of the time (our property abutted the field in the back) and it seemed like the police always showed up to try and confiscate my "fireworks". There was a cranky old lady that lived nearby and I think she called them every time I was launching. I would show the police the copy of the state law and I got sceptical looks from them but they never took them away, but a couple of times made me leave.

My father taught the gun safety course that all the police officers were required to take and knew the Police Chief very well and finally told him that it was his son that was launching rockets at the Jr. High field so eventually, when I was launching, the police would show up, see that it was me, watch a couple launches and then leave.

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Bob Harrington
NAR #62740 L1
AMA #46042
CMASS & RIMRA Member

Oddly, even though my parents were very Puritanical when the subject involved model rockets, the community didn't seem to give it a second thought. Other than the fact that it would have never been allowed at school (or was regarded as a fit subject for classroom discussion, as I found out during a science class), no one every seemed to care or really even to pay any attention to our launch activities. As I mentioned, such activities were few and far between, though. If we launched as many as three rockets during a session, it was a major event, and we only did that once as I recall. No one ever stopped by and asked us what we were doing, and we never saw the police or any adults during our launches. Or any other kids, for that matter.

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SAM # 0011

I sure am glad my parents allowed me to spend MY money however I saw fit when growing up including saving every penny if I so chose or SPENDING every penny if that was MY choice.

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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC !

In my case, my parents weren't able to stop me from buying rockets, or LP albums, or anything else I wanted because I did it all behind their backs without ever seeking their permission or approval. They didn't support such choices but they were unable to stop me from making them. All that ended up happening was that I was on my own, without any backing or encouragement from them. When my guard was down, they gathered up and threw out all of my rockets, supplies and equipment, which is why I don't have anything left from that era but memories. I never had their approval for my rocketry activity, but I did it anyway.

My parents were not heartless and uncaring; they just didn't like the fact that I had an interest in this area. I never really thought much about it and I kind of thought that my experience was more or less the norm. In recent years I have read accounts of mothers and fathers who are my age who go out and launch rockets with their kids, give them rockets as birthday gifts, help them participate in the hobby, help them obtain Junior Level 1 certifications, go and teach about rocketry to school groups, etc. All of that struck me a being quite strange and unexpected. It really blew my mind, and not in a good way. It felt like the world had turned upside down. I'm still struggling to wrap my mind around it.

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SAM # 0011