You know, I was in the audience and only remember two:

Vern - Big Bertha

Bill Simon - Alpha (because it was born on his drawing table)

The panel was recorded; anyone know how the video might be obtained?

Oh . . . I think Lee Piester said the Little Joe II.

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NAR #27085 - Oregon Rocketry - SAM

I remember what Gleda said (so I won't post that right now). I took a recording on my phone - I'll have to go review it.

No idea when/if the MoF will make that video available. I may have to start bugging them about it....

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Bernard Cawley
NAR 89040 L1 - Life Member
SAM 0061
AMA 42160
KG7AIE

Yes, Vern was Big Bertha, which I expected.

I was really surprised by Bill Simon's answer. I talked to him afterward and he said he loved the Alpha because of its lines. Clearly he has good taste because the Alpha is still available 49 years later.

Here's a list of the rockets Bill designed:

Astron Apogee (K-5) 1962 Astron Phantom (K-7) 1962 Astron Cobra (K-10) 1963 Astron Farside (K-12) 1963 Astron Farside-X (K-12X) 1963 Astron Sky Hook (K-8) 1963 Astron Drifter (K-14) 1965 Astron Alpha (K-25) 1966 Astron Avenger (K-38) 1968 Astron Midget (K-40) 1968 Astron Scramber (K-37) 1968 Saturn V Semi-scale (K-39) 1968 Astron Beta (K-45) 1969
Astron Birdie (K-44) 1969 Russian Vostok (1272) 1975 Antares (1276) 1976 Firefly (1280) 1976
Icarus (1277) 1976

Lee Piester did say the Little Joe 2 was his favorite. Again a surprise to me because Centuri did so many great futuristic designs and Lee was/is very graphic design focused. So I was surprised that he chose a scale model.

I'm just conjecturing on Lee's answer because I have never met him or talked to him (though I would dearly love to one day....met Vern at NARAM-30 back in '88). But as to Lee's answer, I know he has mentioned that 'scale' was a target product that he wanted Centuri to focus on, and to do it better than anyone at that time....and they probably succeeded at that goal. He has also mentioned the particular challenges of producing the materials used in that kit as being one of the more difficult kits for them to make.

So, possibly his answer is part reflection of 'pride' in turning out a quality kit that, all these years later, still stands as one of the most sought after OOP kits in the hobby. And it certainly does make a great looking finished model, even if that ultra-shiny chrome Mylar corrugated wrap is just a bit too shiny compared to the real thing. Just some thoughts....

He certainly did have a lot of great designs to pick from though, no doubt. I still remember as an eight year old kid being VERY envious of that Mr. Piester guy in the photo on the inside back cover of the 1971 Centuri catalog kneeling in that (probably golf course) grass surrounded by every model in that catalog. I thought he must be one of the luckiest men in the world to be around THAT many rockets! At the time, I did not own nor was I able to afford a single one of them.

Earl

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

Rocket-Brained Since 1970

Has to be Vern and the Big Bertha.

S.

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SAM #0031

Guess I should have read all of the posts

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SAM #0031

Bill Stine Asp
Lee Piester Saturn 1B

Seems like I once read that Gleda"s favorite was the Spaceplane, and she may still hold a flight record with it.

It's also a surprise because when we had him back here for NARCON in 2005 or 2006 he told me the Starfire was his favorite as he signed my kit.

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Scott D. Hansen
Ye Olde Rocket Shoppe - Your One Stop BAR Shoppe!
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Ye Olde Rocket Forum
WOOSH NAR Section #558

Yes, the Astron Spaceplane is Gleda's favorite and she did, indeed, hold an NAR record with it for almost 40 years.

Pic below is of Vern and Gleda with Gordy Agnello's Astron Spaceplane at NARAM 47.


Jerry,

Lee said his favorite was the Little Joe 2.

Bill Stine's favorite was not the Asp, but I'm curious why you thought it might be. Also, I asked Bill his favorite kit from his youth (not a current Quest kit). Remember that one of Bill's early jobs was to build the display rocket models for Lee Piester's first Hobby Bench store in Phoenix. Many of the models still hanging from the ceiling of the 19th Avenue store were built by Bill Stine.


Scott,

LOL! The Starfire may really be his favorite. It was kind of funny that when I asked the question Lee was first in line to answer, I think the question took him by surprise, and he had to think a bit. The Little Joe 2 might have just been the first thing to have popped into his head, although it is a great kit. I wish there had been time to ask everyone why each of the rockets mentioned was their favorite.

Bill Simon was the only one I had a chance to ask why and his response was that he just loved the lines of the Alpha and he designed the whole thing on his desk at work. Additional note, one of North Coast Rocketry's best sellers was the Phantom 4000 which, according to the person who designed it, is just "an Alpha on steroids." (pic below) The 40th anniversary edition Alpha IV was also designed by the Phantom 4000's designer, and was apparently a very good seller for Estes. I hope Estes is planning a 50th anniversary edition for 2017!

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