United Press International Photo 1969, Part 2

A further United Press International photo from a series of images taken at an NAR launch at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, on November 29, 1969. The sophisticated rack launch pad shown in this beautifully detailed photo is mainly dominated by launch-ready old-school boost gliders typical for the period.

The second rocket from the left looks like an extended Estes Astron Drifter, the third model from the left appears to be an Estes Astron Falcon rocket glider.

The press text attached to the rear of the original photo reads as follows:

WAP 1613622

MODEL ROCKETRY

GREENBELT, MD: On the launching pad at the Goddard Space Flight Center here, five await their turn while a sixth model rocket is launched. Model rockets do not require concrete bunkers for safety purposes. No extensive safety precautions are needed. The rockets are launched electrically from 10 to 15 feet. Each model rocket contains a recovery device such as a parachute, streamer or other high drag mechanism. The models are returned safely to the ground so that they can be flown many, many times. Some model rockets have been sent aloft as many as 100 times.

11/29/69

United Press International Photo 1969

This beautifully evocative vintage image, taken at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is a United Press International photo, dated November 29, 1969. There's a candid immediacy to the scene depicted; it conveys a familiar sincerity and enthusiasm most of those who were teenagers captivated by model rocketry during the 1960s or 1970s (such as the author of this blog) will immediately remember.

It's fun to rummage visually through the details in this picture to discover items one is familiar with. The most obvious being the rockets, of course, such as the main body, clear payload section, and nose cone of a Centuri Payloader II in the grass, the Estes Astron Camroc camera nose cone in the boy's hand, or the Centuri (or Estes?) Apollo Little Joe II in the cardboard box at right. Next to the boy's left foot is a Centuri 1967 model rocketry products catalog, quite a collector's item today, all these years later.

The press text attached to the rear of the original photo reads as follows:

WAP 1613620

MODEL ROCKETRY

GREENBELT, MD: With the equipment and tools necessary to build a model rocket, a member of the National Association of Rocketry is busy assembling his latest creation. Each year, the NAR sanctions contests throughout the United States in preparation for the National Model Rocket championships, also sanctioned by the NAR. Model rockets are constructed of paper, balsa wood, and breakable plastics and contain no substantial metal parts. The rockets are powered by commercially manufactured propellants of proven reliability and performance.

11/29/69

Cox Model Rocket Ad, December 1972

Cox "Now: Two more ready-to-launch rockets" ad, featured in Model Rocketeer magazine, vol. XIV, no. 11, December 1972, published by the National Association Of Rocketry, McLean, Virginia, USA.

Shown are Cox' legendary X-15 plastic model rocket, recovered by parachute, and the elegant Space Shuttle America, whose booster section was recovered by parachute while the two "shuttles" glided back to the ground.

Cox ad © by Model Rocketeer, McLean, Virginia & L.M. Cox Mfg. Co., Inc., Santa Ana, California, USA, 1972.

Flight Systems Motors

A selection of 1970s vintage Flight Systems Inc. black powder motors. The discovery of Flight Systems' more powerful motor range in the late 1970s enabled us, finally, to fulfil a burning desire to construct rockets capable of a noticeably superior performance.

As young teenagers in 1975 and 1976, we initially built self-made and utterly flawed aluminium tube rockets filled with any highly flammable material we could obtain. These efforts resulted in far more explosions than legitimate flights, and it is solely due to sheer luck that we came out of this period without any serious injuries. In late summer of 1976, we finally discovered professional 18 mm and 24 mm black powder motors of the A through D range, first those manufactured by Estes, and soon after those by Centuri. At this time, they were still somewhat difficult to acquire in Switzerland. Frequently driven by ambition and youthful enthusiasm, however, we were often dissatisfied by the speeds and altitudes attainable with these motors.

Through our subsequent NAR membership and the associated subscription to the Model Rocketeer magazine, we soon learned that there existed further companies that manufactured different motors. But it was only when German distributor ESE Electronics and Scientific Equipment started carrying the Flight Systems Inc. product line that we finally were able to actually purchase that company's E and F motors. They were a revelation to us at the time, and they enabled us to accomplish a brief revolution in our rocketry activities before certain harsh realities in our lives temporarily forced us to divert our attention to other issues.

Shown in the image above are Flight Systems Inc. 21 mm E5-6 motors produced in May 1978 (top left, yellow header), 21 mm D20-7 motors produced in June 1979 (top right, blue header), a 27 mm F7-4 motor produced in June 1979 (second from bottom, green print) and a 27 mm F100-8 motor produced in July 1979 (bottom, purple print). The small plastic bag at bottom right holds the electric ignitors. The photo was taken in Zurich, Switzerland, on May 18, 2016.