Launching the remarkable Centuri Phoenix Bird from what was likely (and with an unashamed nostalgic tinge) my favourite launch pad ever, the Centuri Power Tower, northeast Switzerland, July 1978.
Frequently preferring Centuri over Estes, I ordered the Phoenix Bird and Centuri's Screaming Eagle at the same time. I had seen them side-by-side in Centuri's deeply absorbing 1978 catalogue (which, unlike some of their beautiful earlier catalogues, was incomprehensibly printed on cheap and flimsy paper). Both rockets were labelled as Kwik Kits, distinguished by one-part plastic fin units, white body tubes which did not need to be painted, plastic nose cones, and stick-on decals. The catalogue thus praised them as "ready to fly in one hour", although the actual construction still required glue and took a bit longer.
First launched on a cloudy and windy day, the Screaming Eagle flew fantastically. It was lost, however, in the forest visible in the background of the photo above, on that very flight. But the Phoenix Bird served my fleet as an equally stable and beautifully and cleanly designed display rocket for quite some time. I am unable to recall after all of this time why I refrained from using the kit's stunning decals, or if I applied them after this photo was taken.
Photography by Hans Hofer.
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