Bob-

Excellent and informative narrative! I enjoyed each installment. I recall in that same timeframe some rumors of Scott Dixon (Vulcan) possibly developing composites for Estes. Any idea whether there was any shread of truth to that rumor?

In a similar vein to this 'history' thread, any chance you can provide a similar treatment to your involvement with Enertek? I know you have touched on it in some prior threads, but it would be very interesting to hear (if you are at liberty to say and if you feel comfortable talking about it) why Enertek as an entity 'failed' so to speak, with such (as you commented in your opening post to this thread) high hopes and high sales potential. I understand that Lee stepped out of the picture at some point (wanted to spend more time/effort with his Hobby Bench stores maybe, seems I heard?), but I don't think I've ever really heard why Enterk didn't make it, after such great early promise.

Earl

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

Rocket-Brained Since 1970

Thanks for taking the time to share the history, Bob.

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Hans "Chris" Michielssen
Old/New NAR # 19086 SR

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Great post, Bob! I really appreciate you sharing that story and bit of history here.

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Scott D. Hansen
Ye Olde Rocket Shoppe - Your One Stop BAR Shoppe!
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Estes never bought or owned North Coast Rocketry. Matt Steele and Dan Kafun entered a licensing agreement to use the NCR name and were employed by Estes to develope products.
I was never an owner or investor in NCR, just a peon working in the back. I was not involved in the agreement with Estes. I believe that Matt still owns the rights to NCR, but he would have to clarify - or not. Got to keep some intrique in the manufacturing sector <g>.

Chas

__________________
Charles Russell, MSgt,USAF (ret.)
NAR 9790, Lvl 1
SAM "Balls Three"

Thanks for a great history, Bob. It was an interesting time.

Some of the Pro Series stuff morphed into North Coast Rocketry by Estes products. The controller had an extra clip lopped off and was re-packaged under the NCR name (though the molded parts till reflected the Estes Pro Series line).

The Patriot nose cone ended up in the NCR Lance Beta kit (and is still available as the nose cone for the Big Daddy, that I designed).

Chas was our trusted assistant at North Coast while we were operating in Salt Lake, and was invaluable in our success that led to a deal with Estes.

I am in the process of preparing a full history of North Coast - it feels like the time is right.

Matt

Earl,

I'd have to let someone with more 'inside' knowledge comment on Dixon/Vulcan working on motors for Estes years ago.

As for Enertek, here's a link to a thread that has a pretty good history and pictures, too!

http://www.rocketryforumarchive.com...ghlight=enertek

Enjoy!

__________________
Bob
S.A.M. # 0014

Bob, many thanks for this piece of history. Very informative. You write well.

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Enjoy life, it has an expiration date.

Matt, I, for one, am really looking forward to your history. NCR had some really fine kits.

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Enjoy life, it has an expiration date.

Thank you. I think it is important to document and distribute information about the hobby of model rocketry.

It can be fun, too.

I wrote an article for LAUNCH magazine about the history of Enerjet. Here's a link:

http://launchhistory.com/history/ce...e-enerjet-story

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Bob
S.A.M. # 0014

Bob-

Thanks for the link on the Enertek history....that was GREAT stuff, photos and all! Makes one really wonder 'what might have been' if the products in that '89 catalog had actually made it to market! I picked up my first ever copy of that catalog this past summer and in the context of the late 80s, these would have sold like gangbusters one would think.

Was Enertek's demise a result of the inability to formulate enough capital for those initial orders? Or was it more complicated than that?

Regardless, that would have been an impressive initial offering of kits!

Great history!

Earl

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

Rocket-Brained Since 1970