FSI kits on TV?

[blackshire]

Hello All,

I never had any FSI model rocket kits when I was growing up, but I did see some of them used in television shows in the 1970s and 1980s (although I didn't know they were FSI kits until much later).

For example, several of FSI's Argo D-4 Javelin kits were featured in an episode of "The Six Million Dollar Man" as "phony ICBMs" that a terrorist group fired into the Los Angeles reservoir (they claimed that the missiles came from the other side of the world) to blackmail the US government to give in to their demands. Steve Austin eventually discovered the missiles' real, nearby launch site (several FSI Javelins were shown on a rack launcher), and at the climax Steve threw one of the missiles at the terrorists' vehicle, blowing it up.

Also, several of another FSI kit (their Black Brant II, I believe) were used in the "Mad Max" movies, being launched as assault rockets from the dune buggies. In a TV special on movie special effects, the soap opera actor who played Luke Spencer on "General Hospital" drove one of the rocket-equipped "Mad Max" dune buggies in a simulated battle, in which he fired the rockets at targets.

Were FSI kits used in any other TV shows or movies?

Many thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

[tbzep]

I don't know about FSI, but an Estes Pershing 1A was used in an episode of Wonder Woman and the 1/100 Saturn V was used in an episode of Emergency!

[sandman]

James Bond would shoot Estes Bullpups without the front fins from his car.

[CPMcGraw]

Centuri Magnum Hornets (or a clone of it, dressed in white, with mil-type decals) were used in "The Fifth Element" being fired from a pivoting AAA stand...

[stefanj]

There was a crappy movie called "Megaforce" that reportedly employed the Reese Brothers. The motorcycles used by the heroes shoot rockets.

The fact that they were model rockets was picked up by reviewers at the time.

[blackshire]

I remember the Pershing IA in the "Wonder Woman" episode--it was painted pink and thought-controlled by a person wearing a special neurosensor-equipped transmitter helmet.

Was the movie with the rocket-firing motorcycles "Megaforce" or "Delta Force?" I recall a movie scene (toward the end of the film, whichever one it was) where Chuck Norris encountered his terrorist rival while riding a motorcylcle with two upward-angled rockets on its handlebars. They stared at each other for a few seconds before he fired one of the rockets, which arced up and then down to dispatch his foe.

Centuri provided the rockets for a late-1970s movie about a comet that struck somewhere in the western US. Another Centuri rocket (an Argus that was painted with aluminum paint all over) featured in another "Six Million Dollar Man" episode, in which a high school whiz kid who was experimenting with a new liquid monopropellant for rockets accidentally developed a new super incendiary chemical instead.

[Spaceclipper]

Estes Silver Comet was used in direct to VHS "Barney in Space" ( I think will have to dig the tape out) watched it a million times with my daughter when she was little. Can't miss the rocket. One of my faves... :chuckle:

[tbzep]

I remember the Pershing IA in the "Wonder Woman" episode--it was painted pink and thought-controlled by a person wearing a special neurosensor-equipped transmitter helmet.


Yep. I posted a thread about it about a year ago. Pershing/Wonder Woman (http://forums.rocketshoppe.com/showthread.php?t=4424&highlight=pershing+woman)

And the Emergency! episode with Estes Saturn V. (http://forums.rocketshoppe.com/showthread.php?t=4410&highlight=pershing+woman)


.

[rokitflite]

James Bond would shoot Estes Bullpups without the front fins from his car.

And without the forward fins and painted red, white and blue in "The Fifth Element".

[blackshire]

I'll have to watch that online "Emergency!" episode. My father was a fire chief, and he (who controlled the TV set in the living room) didn't watch the show much because he couldn't suspend disbelief long enough to get into the stories due to all of the technical oversights that the stories often required. His common comment on the show was, "We just don't do it that way in real life!"

I did, however, see another episode of "Emergency!" that involved a boy who built a full-scale rocket that looked just like Evel Knievel's Skycycle rocket (although it was gray or gray-green instead of red, white, and blue). The boy's father, who called the paramedics because of his son's impending launch disaster, made a sarcastic comment to them that stung me back then: "Other kids want to play football--*mine* wants to go to the Moon!"

I have also heard of (but not seen) an episode of "Family Matters" involving Steve Urkel and a Cox Saturn IB launched indoors that depicted our hobby in a less-than-positive light.

[A Fish Named Wallyum]

There was a crappy movie called "Megaforce" that reportedly employed the Reese Brothers. The motorcycles used by the heroes shoot rockets.

The fact that they were model rockets was picked up by reviewers at the time.

The soundtrack was even crappier. Two of my friends thought otherwise, and I spent part of one semester in college hearing it every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on the way to school.

[sandman]

And without the forward fins and painted red, white and blue in "The Fifth Element".

OH, yea in that funny hand held weapon thingy.

[Initiator001]

There was a crappy movie called "Megaforce" that reportedly employed the Reese Brothers. The motorcycles used by the heroes shoot rockets.

The fact that they were model rockets was picked up by reviewers at the time.

FSI provided motors/rockets for several films.

I remember back in 1988 when I was at Enertek and reading a toy/hobby industry trade publication which had an article about FSI. Harold Reese was interviewed and discussed the work that FSI did on one of the Rambo movies (Either #2 or #3, I can't remember).

From personal experience working at AeroTech, movie companies are 'interesting' customers to work with. ;) :rolleyes:


Bob "Delta Force 2, Iron Eagle 3" Sanford

[Shreadvector]

FSI did the RPGs for Red Dawn.

I built the rocket for Amazing Grace and Chuck (a real stinker of a 'movie') and used Aerotech motors. (FSI wanted to charge them 10 times as much as me).

How about the Estes rocket in Diff'rent Strokes? Here is the episode number and info from wikipedia:

164"Russian Embassy"February 9, 19850719Arnold's toy rocket crash lands at the Russian embassy and nearly causes an international incident.

[rokitflite]

OH, yea in that funny hand held weapon thingy.

Actually, that one was yellow I believe... The ones I'm talking about were mounted on a base with a shield and launched by the "Monglors"(?) at Bruce Willis on the ship orbiting FLOS-TON PARADISE!!! :D

[Shreadvector]

Actually, that one was yellow I believe... The ones I'm talking about were mounted on a base with a shield and launched by the "Monglors"(?) at Bruce Willis on the ship orbiting FLOS-TON PARADISE!!! :D

Right outside the concert hall. Whenever I spot that movie while scanning through the hundreds of DirecTV channels I pay for, I end up stopping and watching (or leaving it on in the background while I do something else).

http://www.moviesounds.com/element/omigod.wav

[Green Dragon]

FSI provided motors/rockets for several films.

I remember back in 1988 when I was at Enertek and reading a toy/hobby industry trade publication which had an article about FSI. Harold Reese was interviewed and discussed the work that FSI did on one of the Rambo movies (Either #2 or #3, I can't remember).

From personal experience working at AeroTech, movie companies are 'interesting' customers to work with. ;) :rolleyes:


Bob "Delta Force 2, Iron Eagle 3" Sanford

Bob,

any chance of digging that articel up and posting it someplace ?

I;d be happy to see FSI info reported.

as would others,

~ AL

[CPMcGraw]

Actually, that one was yellow I believe... The ones I'm talking about were mounted on a base with a shield and launched by the "Monglors"(?) at Bruce Willis on the ship orbiting FLOS-TON PARADISE!!! :D

Scott,

When I looked at those rockets, I thought they were a bit longer than the Bullpup, and I don't recall them having the tailcone. They looked like the straight-sided Magnum Hornet, although the decals were more Bullpup.

[Royatl]

There was an episode of Thirtysomething that got a lot of complaints from NAR members when they had Timothy Busfield's kid nearly blow himself up with an Estes Saturn V.

[tbzep]

I'll have to watch that online "Emergency!" episode. My father was a fire chief, and he (who controlled the TV set in the living room) didn't watch the show much because he couldn't suspend disbelief long enough to get into the stories due to all of the technical oversights that the stories often required. His common comment on the show was, "We just don't do it that way in real life!"

I did, however, see another episode of "Emergency!" that involved a boy who built a full-scale rocket that looked just like Evel Knievel's Skycycle rocket (although it was gray or gray-green instead of red, white, and blue). The boy's father, who called the paramedics because of his son's impending launch disaster, made a sarcastic comment to them that stung me back then: "Other kids want to play football--*mine* wants to go to the Moon!"

I have also heard of (but not seen) an episode of "Family Matters" involving Steve Urkel and a Cox Saturn IB launched indoors that depicted our hobby in a less-than-positive light.

Yep. The kid was a boy genious. I remember that episode. :cool:

As for "we just don't do it that way in real life". Sigs30 and I can attest to that also. It kills me that they go into burning buildings wearing slacks and regular shoes. :eek: Yet if they get a call at night, they jump into their bunker pants/boots. That's just the tip of the iceberg. :p

I never could get into Erkel, so I didn't see that episode.

[Nuke Rocketeer]

I remember reading a Centuri publication back in 1969 or 1970 where they talked about using Mini-Max powered rockets for special effects in one of the spy movies popular at the time. I could not find it on the Ninfinger site though.

[stefanj]

I remember reading a Centuri publication back in 1969 or 1970 where they talked about using Mini-Max powered rockets for special effects in one of the spy movies popular at the time. I could not find it on the Ninfinger site though.

You can BUY a recreation of that rocket (used in the Man from U.N.C.L.E. series) from Semroc! They call it the April Dancer. I think there are links to the articles you mention there.

[rocketguy101]

I remember reading a Centuri publication back in 1969 or 1970 where they talked about using Mini-Max powered rockets for special effects in one of the spy movies popular at the time. I could not find it on the Ninfinger site though.


pg 13 of the American Rocketeer Vol 3 #1 (http://www.oldrocketplans.com/pubs/Centuri/American_Rocketeer/vol3no1/am_rocketeer_vol3no1.pdf) right here on YORP!

[kurtschachner]

And that Laser 244 is pretty cool too (approved by L. Piester!).

pg 13 of the American Rocketeer Vol 3 #1 (http://www.oldrocketplans.com/pubs/Centuri/American_Rocketeer/vol3no1/am_rocketeer_vol3no1.pdf) right here on YORP!

[jeffyjeep]

Centuri Magnum Hornets (or a clone of it, dressed in white, with mil-type decals) were used in "The Fifth Element" being fired from a pivoting AAA stand...
Yeah, Gary Oldman probably throws up every time he thinks about "The Fifth Element". I liked the waif chick with the straps, though. Jeff

[sandman]

OK, I'll have to watch that movie again.

[CPMcGraw]

Yeah, Gary Oldman probably throws up every time he thinks about "The Fifth Element". I liked the waif chick with the straps, though. Jeff

Given the number of times the movie has been shown, and how many copies have been sold, he may just be gagging "all the way to the bank"... :D

Cult status...

[ghrocketman]

Surprising FSI kits made it ANYWHERE outside of hobby shops with their less than attractive marketing and more often than not SUB-standard quality control. At the end of their existence one never knew what they were going to get in the kit bag. More often than not the fins and nose cone were in no way shape related to what was on the header card for their 'sport' kits. I always saw their kits as at best second class to Estes and Centuri, but were the only easily available source for E and F engines for quite a while until Aerotech really got rolling.

[hcmbanjo]

Maybe that was the case towards the end of F.S.I.
They did send me an Orbit kit to review in the mid-1970s. It was a great surprise.
The fit of the centering rings rivaled the accuracy of the laser cut rings you see today.
The nose cone and adapter fit was as good, if not better than anything I'd ever recieved from Estes or Centuri.
Sure, the packaging wasn't four color and the instructions weren't as polished. But, it was a surprisingly good build and flew well on the F engines.
F.S.I. was a big supporter of NAR. I met up with Lonnie Reese and Doug Pratt at two different NARAMs.

[jeffyjeep]

OK, I'll have to watch that movie again.
DON'T DO IT GORDY!! PLEASE DON'T DO IT!!

The last time I saw it, it was part of a movie marathon along with (get ready):

"Battle Beyond The Stars" and "Starcrash"

I barely survived. Fortunately there was alchohol involved to kill the pain.

[blackshire]

DON'T DO IT GORDY!! PLEASE DON'T DO IT!!

The last time I saw it, it was part of a movie marathon along with (get ready):

"Battle Beyond The Stars" and "Starcrash"

I barely survived. Fortunately there was alchohol involved to kill the pain.No "bad science fiction movie marathon" is complete without "Zardoz" (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zardoz ). Sean Connery with a pony tail and wearing red leather straps...I guess he must have needed the money at the time. :-)

[jeffyjeep]

OMG! That is the most hideous costume that Sean is wearing! I'd never even heard of "Zardoz" before. We didn't even have it on the sub--and OUR sub was where all stinkaroo movies went to die.

[blackshire]

OMG! That is the most hideous costume that Sean is wearing! I'd never even heard of "Zardoz" before. We didn't even have it on the sub--and OUR sub was where all stinkaroo movies went to die.If he has a web site that contains stills from his movies, somehow I don't think *that* one is on it... :-) A friend of mine worked as a contractor at Thule Air Force Base in Greenland in 1967 - 69, and he said that their movie fare was also often rather "bottom of the barrel."

"Zardoz" was incomprehensible. My mother, father, and I watched it one night on TV during the 1980s (since Sean Connery was listed as the lead in the newspaper TV schedule, we thought it would be a good film). When it ended, we all looked at each other with puzzled expressions. I had to read the online IMDb (Internet Movie Database) synopsis many years later to understand what was going on!

[Green Dragon]

Make sure you add in Amazon Women on the Moon .

classic cult film directed by our own Bob Weiss ( tripoli member , cert 2 )

~ AL

funny how these Yorf threads always go off topic - now I'm going to have to borrow the Fifth Element dvd from my brother.....

[DeanHFox]

DON'T DO IT GORDY!! PLEASE DON'T DO IT!!

The last time I saw it, it was part of a movie marathon along with (get ready):

"Battle Beyond The Stars" and "Starcrash"

I barely survived. Fortunately there was alchohol involved to kill the pain.Aw, c'mon, "The Fifth Element" is at least good for some laughs --- you just can't take it seriously. If you put it in for the humor value, there's some fun scenes. Heck, Chris Tucker as "Ruby Rhod" alone is priceless (and if anyone throws up a little every time a movie of theirs is shown, I'd be willing to bet it's Chris --- for this role alone!) :)

Besides, Mila J. is easy on the eyes! :eek:

[Mark II]

Sci-fi so bad, it's good - oh, how I miss MST3K.

MarkII

[Ltvscout]

Sci-fi so bad, it's good - oh, how I miss MST3K.
Me too. The original MST3K with Joel Hodgson. I didn't much care for his replacement. I wish someone like SyFy would run those old shows again.

[Royatl]

Sci-fi so bad, it's good - oh, how I miss MST3K.

MarkII


http://www.rifftrax.com -- mike nelson, kevin murphy, bill corbett

http://www.cinematictitanic.com -- joel hodgson, trace beaulieu, j elvis weinstein, frank conniff, and mary jo pehl


It's almost like MST3K divorced itself and split the kids into two families.

[sandman]

I watched "The Fifth Element" the other day.

The rocket in the hand held unit looked more like a BT-60 rocket. It didn't look like anything specific but it appeard to have a 4:1 ogive cone.

[Shreadvector]

I think it's from this scene, but I need to find the "unedited' version...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doWca8vThR0&feature=related


I watched "The Fifth Element" the other day.

The rocket in the hand held unit looked more like a BT-60 rocket. It didn't look like anything specific but it appeard to have a 4:1 ogive cone.

[sandman]

I think it's from this scene, but I need to find the "unedited' version...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doWca8vThR0&feature=related

What the H#&& was that?

I counted 11 or 12 different movie clips.

The BT-60 rocket was on the hand held "weapon" that Torg (or some name like that, was paying off the ugly paid assasins with.

The rockets in the scene you had were indeed Bullpups.

[Shreadvector]

What the H#&& was that?

I counted 11 or 12 different movie clips.

The BT-60 rocket was on the hand held "weapon" that Torg (or some name like that, was paying off the ugly paid assasins with.

The rockets in the scene you had were indeed Bullpups.

Once I saw the "mashing" of the scenes, I fast-forwarded and missed the Bullpups. So, on this goofy clip, what time do the bullpups appear?

[sandman]

Once I saw the "mashing" of the scenes, I fast-forwarded and missed the Bullpups. So, on this goofy clip, what time do the bullpups appear?

At time 1:14 where the guy from "True Lies" fires the RPG that was supposed to be one of the bullpups fired by the ugly guys.

[Shreadvector]

At time 1:14 where the guy from "True Lies" fires the RPG that was supposed to be one of the bullpups fired by the ugly guys.

Yes, in other words, the goofy mash-up eliminated the bullpups. I.e. it does not show the bullpups. I'm looking for the actual clip with the bullpups.

[Ltvscout]

http://www.cinematictitanic.com -- joel hodgson, trace beaulieu, j elvis weinstein, frank conniff, and mary jo pehl


It's almost like MST3K divorced itself and split the kids into two families.
I'm happy to see the "original" cast is back together! As a bonus, they're going to be in Milwaukee on February 20th!

One thing I enjoyed was since these guys are from MN, they would many times throw in WI references to their conversations during the movies.

[jflis]

If I recall correctly, weren't those car-rockets used in the Green Hornet's car FSI rockets? Anyone know for sure (or was this already discussed and I missed it...? :) )

[Vanel]

Digging up an old thread here...

I'm giving a short (10-15 minute) tech talk at our club meeting this Thursday evening on model rockets used in the entertainment industry. In preparing this pitch, I made "liberal" use of the material posted in this thread and in a couple of others on this forum - you guys are a gold mine of information! My thanks for making this presentation fairly easy to assemble :D

Here is the talk, in PDF format. Comments/additions are welcome, as always.

Rockets in Movies and TV (http://www.billcooke.org/rockets_entertainment_2015May07.pdf)

[Jerry Irvine]

Umm . . . .

http://v-serv.com/usr/fx.htm

Having re-read this thread now, there was also the Saturn V flown at the 1969? Superbowl. That was on TV. There are several helicopter mounted rockets we made which used FSI or Estes motors not ours. Mostly with the Helipilot Clay. Not on the USR website. Yet . . . .

[Royatl]

Umm . . . .

http://v-serv.com/usr/fx.htm

Having re-read this thread now, there was also the Saturn V flown at the 1969? Superbowl. That was on TV.

Bluebonnet Bowl, Houston Astrodome. And yes, barely 1969 (i.e. new years eve).
The Estes, the Piesters, and others from the companies were there. There were also Alphas and (i think) a couple of Astro-1's flown from the endzones.

I just happened to be watching, building rockets I got for Christmas, as my parents were at a NYE party. All my rocket buddies at the time were off for the holidays and I couldn't stand it that I couldn't call them!

http://www.rocketreviews.com/mark-evans-prepares-the-saturn-v-for-launch-during-the-1969-bluebonnet-bowl-half-time.html

[Ltvscout]

Digging up an old thread here...

I'm giving a short (10-15 minute) tech talk at our club meeting this Thursday evening on model rockets used in the entertainment industry. In preparing this pitch, I made "liberal" use of the material posted in this thread and in a couple of others on this forum - you guys are a gold mine of information! My thanks for making this presentation fairly easy to assemble :D

Here is the talk, in PDF format. Comments/additions are welcome, as always.

Rockets in Movies and TV (http://www.billcooke.org/rockets_entertainment_2015May07.pdf)
Very nice, Bill! Thanks for the shout out. I'm glad our members were able to supply you with lots of great info.

[Vanel]

Hi Jerry!

Umm . . . .

http://v-serv.com/usr/fx.htm

Having re-read this thread now, there was also the Saturn V flown at the 1969? Superbowl. That was on TV. There are several helicopter mounted rockets we made which used FSI or Estes motors not ours. Mostly with the Helipilot Clay. Not on the USR website. Yet . . . .

Looked over the links on your website, and while I see a lot about you helping with/providing motors for various movies (I especially liked the "Running Man" stuff), I didn't see anything about rockets, which is the focus of my talk.

Are there any movies/TV shows which feature USR rockets or something you have scratch built (e.g., which shows used the helicopter rockets mentioned above)?

My apologies in advance if I missed something.

[sandman]

Bill, not on TV but in another movie.

There was a small article in an RC mag years ago when the movie "The Right Stuff" came out.

The movie company needed a B-29 to use for the Bell X-1 flights.

At the time there was only one operational B-29 flying and the owner said "No way" to the movie company cutting a hole in the bottom of his plane to mount an X-1.

One of the crew said that he had a RC version they could use.

So somebody had to build a Bell X-1 and as it turned out it was the right size for an 18mm motor.

A "C" only has about a 2 sec burn and that wasn't enough so they cut two more "C" engines and epoxied them together to get about a 6 sec burn.

Just enough for the filming.

Sorry guys but this was over 30 years ago. I may have a bunch of details wrong.

I do remember that it took 2 guys to fly the B-29 and one to fly the X-1, all hanging out the door of a chase helicopter. No digital RC stuff back then.

So, not a rocket but a rocket plane and 3 "modified" rocket motors.

So the next time you watch the movie check out the exhaust on the X-1.

Everybody here know what an 18mm motor's exhaust looks like. Look for it.

[Royatl]

Here's another one, Bill. Just posted on Facebook by Squirrel Works Model Rocketry:

https://youtu.be/dG6ReEhHFYw

"Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze" from 1975. At the end of this clip, a metallic Estes Goblin is launched to catch a fish!

[Jerry Irvine]

Hi Jerry!
Looked over the links on your website, and while I see a lot about you helping with/providing motors for various movies (I especially liked the "Running Man" stuff), I didn't see anything about rockets, which is the focus of my talk.
Are there any movies/TV shows which feature USR rockets or something you have scratch built (e.g., which shows used the helicopter rockets mentioned above)?
My apologies in advance if I missed something.I guess I don't understand the question. I posted as many details as possible about the motors and rockets used in actual FX deals. If I missed a description or spec I can add as a result of a question, I am all in.

My mention of the helicopter rockets are not on my website if that is the question. There are also four movies I don't list because they either were never released or didn't produce trailers. I also don't see them in IMDB.

Robot Jox for example, was released but went through four different owners/titles/production companies before it was released via DVD.

Jerry

[Shamous]

Here's another one, Bill. Just posted on Facebook by Squirrel Works Model Rocketry:

https://youtu.be/dG6ReEhHFYw

"Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze" from 1975. At the end of this clip, a metallic Estes Goblin is launched to catch a fish!
OMG that is cheesy!

[Jerry Irvine]

Hi Jerry!



Looked over the links on your website, and while I see a lot about you helping with/providing motors for various movies (I especially liked the "Running Man" stuff), I didn't see anything about rockets, which is the focus of my talk.

Are there any movies/TV shows which feature USR rockets or something you have scratch built (e.g., which shows used the helicopter rockets mentioned above)?

My apologies in advance if I missed something.Red Dawn among others. Those white rockets kinda like a Bullpup with no boat tail have been in several movies, mostly on helicopters. I actually don't even recall most of them because they were B-C grade movies, but keep an eye out and I will try to confirm or deny any sightings. Some probably have funny stories once I remember who was involved.

My best story is actually Jim Brown the football star. He had rockets attached to him for live fire. That guy has ba11$ of steel.

But, yes, I see your point about them not being "rockets". I tend to do the sorts of stunts FX guys cannot do on their own. In commercials there have been lots of "rockets".

Jerry