Centuri Memories

[Tau Zero]

Okay, you guys get first crack at this, even though I plan to post this to The Rocket Forum and OldRockets as well.

(clears throat to sound official) Our Esteemed Fellow Rocketeers who are putting on NARCON 2006 have asked me to assemble an article based on the following suggestion from Scott Goebel, who is the Director for NARCON 2006, as well as Facility Coordinator and President of WOOSH (the NAR Section sponsoring the event):
"I know that Centuri Engineering's products meant a lot to many rocketeers and an article that captures the lore of the Centuri product line and what the hobby meant to you then and now is something that would make the program book a big hit."

Here's how each of you can help the aforementioned article for the NARCON 2006 program book *personal.* I want you to send me *your* stories about why Centuri rockets, launchers, Designer's Specials, and so on, were special to *you*. No matter whether it's about your favorite Centuri rocket, or a memory that brings back "warm fuzzies" about Centuri "back in the day," I want to hear from you!

Include the following with your story: Your REAL name, along with your internet username, your city and state (or province/whatever and country if you're located outside the US).


Remove all of the spaces and put the "@" and "." in their proper places in the address below:

centuri 2006 (at) earthlink (dot) net

...and e-mail me *your* "Centuri story."


I need these as soon as humanly possible :D so I'm setting a working deadline of midnight January 23 (your local time). Let's get cracking, and I'll be checking my mailbox!


Cheers, and thanks in advance,

--Jay Goemmer
"Centuri Guy"
Twin Falls, Idaho, USA

[Tau Zero]

Okay, I have a minor addition to make. After you tell me your "Centuri story," please include a final paragraph that describes either what you're doing with Centuri-related or -derived products today (cloning, etc.), or what your perspective is about Centuri now that you're an adult.

Please note that I didn't say "*mature* adult."

Thanks, and cheers,

--Jay

[Tau Zero]

The original deadline of January 23rd is racing ever closer, but so far, I have received "Centuri Memories" from:

Bill Eichelberger
Mike Jerauld
John E. Thompson
Buzz Nau
Chuck Walden
Steve Rogers
Craig McGraw
...and some yahoo with the initials J.G. :confused: :eek:


I'm also including the following list of websites, since most of them are mentioned in the "Centuri stories":



Related Web Pages to Visit


Doug Holverson's Centuri Memories
http://members.cox.net/retrojayrocket/

Sven Knudson's Ninfinger Productions - Centuri catalogs
http://www.ninfinger.org/~sven/rockets/rockets.html

Jim Zalewski's JimZ Rocket Plans - Click on "Centuri"
http://www.dars.org/jimz/rp00.htm

Ye Olde Rocket Plans - Centuri
http://www.oldrocketplans.com/centuri.htm

Craig McGraw's BARCLONE - Original Rocket Designs
http://barclone.rocketshoppe.com/

Steve "Austin" Rogers - Click on "Nostalgia Fleet"
http://homepage.mac.com/srogers4/rockets/index.html

Chuck Walden's Photo Gallery
Click on "Rocketry" and especially "2003 Centuri Trip"
http://atomicturtle.net/modules/xoopsgallery/ (NO "www!")

Semroc Astronautics Corporation
http://www.semroc.com

Essence Model Rocket Reviews (EMRR)
http://www.rocketreviews.com/


I haven't received any stories about Centuri's "Enerjet" line. If you want to share your story, this *could* be your last chance. (ghrocketman, are you reading this?)

There's less than a week left, but I still want to hear from you, so drop me a line at the "centuri (remove spaces) 2006" address above.


Thanks, and cheers,

--Jay Goemmer
"Centuri Guy"

[A Fish Named Wallyum]

The original deadline of January 23rd is racing ever closer, but so far, I have received "Centuri Memories" from:

...and some yahoo with the initials J.G. :confused: :eek:



Whoa! Jerry Garcia flew rockets? :cool:

[Tau Zero]

Whoa! Jerry Garcia flew rockets? :cool:He was one spacey guy, don'tcha know. I mean, he wrote "The Twilight Zone" theme song for TV. ;) :D :eek: :cool:

--Jay

[ghrocketman]

I don't really have any stories to tell about the Enerjet line from my youth; they were already mostly discontinued when I got into rocketry in 1977.
I was only 2 years old when the last Enerjet catalog was published (1972)
I currently have cloned most of the Enerjet line or have the original kit in my collection.
Still need to clone an Egg Crate, which I will via the Eggspress kit with proper fins.
Incidentally I knew about the Enerjet E and F engines during my youth as a hobby shop I frequented had several LARGE BOXES of them until the late 80's !!!! Most had ORIGINAL pricing too !
If I knew then what I know now I would have begged and borrowed to buy out their inventory....I do not know what happened to them....the Hobby Shop is still in business, but nobody seems to know what ever happened to them.
I did not know about any sort of Enerjet kits that were produced in the 70's until around 1999....I was more of an Estes/FSI flier in my youth.

I am living the Enerjet days NOW that I never knew about back then.

[stefanj]

Centuri was the "second city" model rocketry company of my childhood.

I found out about rocketry through an Estes catalog, and my first starter kit was bought directly from Estes by old-fashioned mail order. This was in late 1970.

However, in spring of 1971 a variety store in the next town began carrying rockets. They had MPC engines and Centuri kits.

I was suspicious, in the way that kids are, of imitators and wanna-bes. Almost everything in the Centuri 1971 catalog looked suspiciously like a ripoff of an Estes model. They didn't have the super-high-tech cameras that Estes sold.

And yet . . . while I had chosen sides in the way that kids do, I was sure intrigued by the Centuri line. The shape of the fins, the names of the kits, all seemed more glamorous and stylish. The catalog was brighter and more hip.

And then there were the Mini-Max and Enerjet motors. I had barely wrapped my mind around the concept of the Mighty D13, and here was an outfit selling E and F motors! And the models designed to use them, dang! If I'd known what a testicle was at that age (9), I would have given one up for an Aero-Dart starter kit.

With time, suspiscion gave way to practicality. The fact that I could buy Centuri kits right off of a store shelf, as opposed to waiting for a mail-order shipment, meant I bought a lot of Centuri kits. I never got any of the really fancy high-end models like the Little Joe II, but if you could see the number of classic kits I bought, sloppily assembled, and lost your heart would break.

I did manage to scrape together enough money to mail-order a Nike-Ram from the Enerjet catalog. Buying a composite motor was totally out of the question. (I didn't get my hands on an F motor until 1976 or so. By then the Nike Ram was long gone.)

By the time I got back into rocketry in 1988, Centuri was long gone. I auctioned off the bits of pieces of old parts I had, and sold the old plan sheets I had in my files. I don't feel sorry doing this, because I have the memories and of course almost anything I really want is "cloneable."

I am close to completing clones of every "classic era " Centuri Large Scale Rocketry line model. I've completed several Jaguars, a Scorpion, an Explorer, an Aero-Dart, and a Hustler. I have parts for a Lil' Hustler.

It is a lot of fun to bring these models to launches and watch for the faces of certain old-timers to light up in recognition!

[ghrocketman]

Jay,
Do you have the dimensions/parts lists for the Explorer and Li' Hustler ?
I still have not done these two !

These are what I have done:
MiniMax/Enerjet Hustler Clone
1972 version Enerjet Aero-Dart Clone
Enerjet Athena Clone (with another parts set to make #2 ! :D )
Mini-Max Scorpion clone
Mini-Max Jaguar Clone
Enerjet Nike Ram clone

Kits I have that I will build:
ORIGINAL Enerjet "working-smoker" Nike-Smoke :p :p :p :p

Kits I intend to clone/build:
Enerjet EggCrate (via modified Estes Eggspress kit)
Lil'Hustler
Explorer
Mini-Max 1966-1971 version Aero-Dart (which I'm hoping Carl at Semroc will release SOON with that S1B, LJII, and Mars Lander)
Large/Small payload Enerjet 1340's (using Estes Challenger II/Centuri Phoenix Bird fin cans)
Enerjet 2650 via the Gary Rosenfeld drawn Composite Dynamics plans

[stefanj]

Do you have the dimensions/parts lists for the Explorer and Li' Hustler ?
I still have not done these two !


"Ye Olde Rocket Plans" has the plans, measurements, and templates for the Lil' Hustler.

You can get everything you need, parts wise, from Semroc.

I have the stuff for the Explorer, courtesy Sean Lannan, but I could have sworn that it had already been posted to YORP.

[ghrocketman]

Jay,
I found the Lil'Hustler plan on YORP, but the Explorer is definitely not there (the ExCALIBUR is)

[SEL]

"Ye Olde Rocket Plans" has the plans, measurements, and templates for the Lil' Hustler.

You can get everything you need, parts wise, from Semroc.

I have the stuff for the Explorer, courtesy Sean Lannan, but I could have sworn that it had already been posted to YORP.

I thought so, too, but I guess not. JimZ site doesn't have the plans either. I'll scan mine this weekend and get them over to Scott.

Sean

[Ltvscout]

"Ye Olde Rocket Plans" has the plans, measurements, and templates for the Lil' Hustler.

You can get everything you need, parts wise, from Semroc.

I have the stuff for the Explorer, courtesy Sean Lannan, but I could have sworn that it had already been posted to YORP.
If you or Sean have this plan set, please send it over for posting!

[SEL]

If you or Sean have this plan set, please send it over for posting!

Okay, Scott... comin' atcha as we speak. Give it a few minutes, they're via phone line :o

Sean

[Ltvscout]

Okay, Scott... comin' atcha as we speak. Give it a few minutes, they're via phone line :o

Sean
Got 'em. Thanks!

[Tau Zero]

Our Esteemed Fellow Rocketeers who are putting on NARCON 2006 have asked me to assemble an article[Crossposted to The Rocketry Forum (TRF), Ye Olde Rocket Forum (YORF), and Yahoo!Groups "OldRockets" (no acronym available ;-D )]


Sorry, all. I've had an inadvertent amount of "real life" intruding into my time this week. (Go figure.)

I'd like to thank everyone who contributed their Centuri and Enerjet memories for the NARCON 2006 program book. If you're not able to make it to NARCON this year, and you haven't already already signed up for a "Non-Attending" registration, I highly recommend that you do just that.

Scott D. Hansen, my co-conspirator with the WOOSH faction (sorry, "Section") of the NAR assures me you can order your copy of the NARCON 2006 program book thusly:

Either order it via check by downloading the non-attending PDF form found on this page, http://www.narcon2006.org/registration.htm

or by buying it with an online purchase via PayPal at this page, http://www.narcon2006.org/online_pay.htm.


Please note that along with your program book, you can *also* order the CD-ROM which (if I understand correctly *and* all goes well) will include at least excerpts of the speeches by Lee Piester and Matt Steele.


Thanks once again,

--Jay Goemmer
"Centuri Guy"
Twin Falls, Idaho

[Ltvscout]

[Crossposted to The Rocketry Forum (TRF), Ye Olde Rocket Forum (YORF), and Yahoo!Groups "OldRockets" (no acronym available ;-D )]


Sorry, all. I've had an inadvertent amount of "real life" intruding into my time this week. (Go figure.)

I'd like to thank everyone who contributed their Centuri and Enerjet memories for the NARCON 2006 program book. If you're not able to make it to NARCON this year, and you haven't already already signed up for a "Non-Attending" registration, I highly recommend that you do just that.
Thanks again for taking on this huge project for us, Jay!

[Tau Zero]

Thanks again for taking on this huge project for us, Jay!(Resonant voice) You should see what I did with the 6 o'clock news this week. (uncontrolled maniacal laugher) :eek: ;) :D


[Crossposted to The Rocketry Forum (TRF), Ye Olde Rocket Forum (YORF), and Yahoo!Groups "OldRockets"]

Okay, a funny story I have to tell about compiling the "Centuri Memories" stories. After I gathered 21 stories besides my own, the total word count came to something like 10,800 words (according to Word 2002) and the printout was 21 pages (with Courier 10pt., or 12cpi).

The gentlemen at WOOSH said, "Well, that's really good, but can you cut it in *half?*" So I hacked and slashed and burned, and got it down to less than 5000 words (or just over 10 pages).

*Then* one of the guys said, "You've got the right idea, but we still need to edit for CONTENT." (*Sheesh!*) So I did that, and unfortunately I had to drop a couple of stories so the article could still fit into the program book (without being printed in a tiny font visible only with an electron microscope).

While this has been a wonderfully growing experience for me ("Good heavens! An editor who gives actual FEEDBACK!"), I'm sorry that I couldn't include all of the full-length stories. I have a general idea for how to use them in their entirety in another way, but no official details are available just now.


Thanks again for sharing your incredible stories with me,

--Jay Goemmer
"Centuri Guy"
Twin Falls, Idaho

[Tau Zero]

I'm sorry that I couldn't include all of the full-length stories. I have a general idea for how to use them in their entirety in another way, but no official details are available just now.This just in! One "Scott D. Hansen" has informed me that:

> Jay,
>
> We'll put the full story package on the CD-ROM, so all is not lost!

Well, *that* worked out even quicker than I thought it might!

"So BUY yer program books AND yer CD-ROMS!" ;-D


Cheers,

--Jay

[snaquin]

This just in! One "Scott D. Hansen" has informed me that:

> Jay,
>
> We'll put the full story package on the CD-ROM, so all is not lost!

Well, *that* worked out even quicker than I thought it might!

"So BUY yer program books AND yer CD-ROMS!" ;-D


Cheers,

--Jay

Thanks Jay

I put my order in for the program book and CD-ROM back on 1/23 when it became apparent that NARCON would conflict with my work schedule.

Does anyone know if the order for the program book and CD-ROM can be confirmed as received by someone with the NARCON staff? I only received the receipt from Pay-Pal so should this serve as my order confirmation too?

I'm really looking forward to those materials and it will come in handy for me when you guys get back from NARCON and start rubbing in how great it was to be there ..... :)

[Ltvscout]

Does anyone know if the order for the program book and CD-ROM can be confirmed as received by someone with the NARCON staff? I only received the receipt from Pay-Pal so should this serve as my order confirmation too?
Yes, that acts as your order confirmation.

[snaquin]

Yes, that acts as your order confirmation.

Thanks Scott. Next year I should be in a better position to attend NARCON, without the extra "work" weekends getting in the way of my hobby!

[Tau Zero]

Okay, a funny story I have to tell about compiling the "Centuri Memories" stories. After I gathered 21 stories besides my own, the total word count came to something like 10,800 words (according to Word 2002) and the printout was 21 pages (with Courier 10pt., or 12cpi).

The gentlemen at WOOSH said, "Well, that's really good, but can you cut it in *half?*" So I hacked and slashed and burned, and got it down to less than 5000 words (or just over 10 pages).

*Then* one of the guys said, "You've got the right idea, but we still need to edit for CONTENT." (*Sheesh!*) So I did that, and unfortunately I had to drop a couple of stories so the article could still fit into the program book (without being printed in a tiny font visible only with an electron microscope).

[snip] I'm sorry that I couldn't include all of the full-length stories.I got a "sneak peek" at the NARCON 2006 program book yesterday. <Big Evil Grin> *All* of the stories that you sent to me were included -- in all their FULL-LENGTH glory. :D :cool: And they take up a whopping 16 pages. WOW!

However, the boys/men at WOOSH managed to scrape up another Very Cool Story that I had *nothing* to do with... but it captures the "Centuri Memories" spirit *very* well. (IIRC, it's after your story, Bill. :cool: )

I'm VERY happy with the end product. :D


Cheers,

--Jay

[ghrocketman]

I ordered my copy of the Program and CD from the website yesterday.
Hopefully I can attend next year !

[snaquin]

Can't wait to see them!