My sister just sent me this picture she found.

April 1969.

I am holding a Gemini Titan.

A Thor Agena B is on the pad.

What rocket is my brother holding?

Attached Thumbnails

 

Gus,

The bottom (booster) section looks like a T-Bird third stage (sustainer) from the fin shape, but it appears to have been combined with another design to form this one.

Do you already know the answer, or were you asking for the info?

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Craig McGraw

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SAM 0044
AMA 352635

Craig,

No, I don't know the answer.

I've looked through both the Centuri and Estes catalogs for the period and can't find it. Most of what I built in those days was Centuri, because I grew up in Phoenix (although the two scale models in the photo are both Estes, the launcher is a Centuri Lectra-Line and pad).

It wouldn't surprise me if the rocket my brother is holding is something I just hacked together out of spare parts, but I just wanted to see if it looked recognizable as a kit to anyone else.

Funny I don't recall ever building the Thor, but there it is on the pad.

Laser-X with the fins on backwards? Just a guess.

What a great picture. Do you still have the rockets?

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Leo

My rocket fleet and more @ Leo's Leisure Site and on YouTube - My latest project: ALTDuino

Kinda looks like a Laser-X up at the top. Don't know about the bottom half though.

I dig that crazy shirt you're wearing!

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Scott D. Hansen
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WOOSH NAR Section #558

Good call, I think the body tubes, transitions, and upper fins are all Laser-X. But the Laser-X fins were basically a clipped triangle with a strake in front of the leading edge. I can't get the shape of the fins on the pictured rocket to match up with Laser-X pieces.

The shape they most closely resemble from the Centuri and Estes '68 catalogs are the fins from the Payloader II. But they're a little off from that design too, so maybe I just cut my own.



Leo,

I agree, it's a great picture. Unfortunately all my rockets disappeared through the years.


Scott,

Even more unfortunate than the lost rockets is that that great shirt has gone missing. I think my parents were forced to discard it after it induced seizures in several innocent bystanders, LOL.

My daughters also especially like the "waiting for the flood" pants (which were particularly inappropriate for the desert in Phoenix) and the "black socks with sneakers" look. My youngest wants to know where my "pocket protector" is hiding.

The most disturbing thing to me about the picture is that my sister's outfit would still look stylish today, almost 40 years later. Apparently some people are just born with great taste, and then there's the rest of us.

Since you said most of your builds were Centuri, then the T-Bird fins on the lower section still makes sense. It's not so much a kit as it is a kitbash. It has the Laser-X upper section, a booster body made from something ST-13 in size with T-Bird fins added.

That field is probably a Wal Mart today...

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Craig McGraw

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SAM 0044
AMA 352635

In 1969 you'd have been teased relentlessly if you wore white socks - they were for gym class only!

Yup - on the east coast anyway, one was branded a "goober" for wearing white socks.

Sean