It seems that maybe the winner here would be the venerable Estes Alpha. Or, is there one with a longer production life than it?

I thought maybe the X-Ray kit in it's E2X release, but it seems to be OOP too now best I can tell.


Earl

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

Rocket-Brained Since 1970

The current incarnation of the original K-25 Alpha would be my guess for the answer to this. And/or Big Bertha (originally K-23).

That E2X X-Ray was a mini-motored sorta X-Ray...and it's been gone a long long time I think.

Added after a quick look on Ninifinger: It's gotta be Big Bertha. She's in the 1966 catalog but the Alpha didn't come out until the 1967 catalog.

So, Big Bertha has been in production for 48 years!

(I'm assuming that it was continuously in production during my rocketry hiatus here....)

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

Yeah, I was thinking Alpha too, but forgot about the Big Bertha......that may be the winner.


Earl

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

Rocket-Brained Since 1970

Checking Gerry Fortin's kit database, it appears the Big Bertha was released in '65, with the Alpha coming out in '67.

Looks like the Big Bertha may be the winner, unless someone finds one we've overlooked.


Earl

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

Rocket-Brained Since 1970

IIRC I had a Big Bertha in '64. I went to a local park on my bike with a Porta-Pad(?), the BB and some other rockets in the basket. I joined the USAF that summer and didn't fly until my first PCS posting. Tyndall AFB, Florida. Discovered Centuri and built a Black Widow. I don't think I ever got the booster to glide on a flight. Built an Estes Gemini Titan and never got both motors to light. An Astron (everything Estes was Astron) Drifter disappeared over the Gulf of Mexico.

__________________
Clear skies and fair winds,
Mike

NAR 31689

The Bertha gets an asterisk because its identical (except for a 3-motor cluster) twin, the Ranger, made its debut in the 1963 catalog.

But the Bertha under its own name debuted in 1965. Wonder if Estes will put out a special "Golden Bertha" decal set or something next year??