Here's the tour group waiting at the door. To the right is a pickup truck. That was once Vern Estes parking place. Vern's office was on the second floor, above and to the left of the truck.
We were only allowed to take pictures of the outside of the main building and the lobby.
Ellis Langford led the tour with Bill Stine adding commentary.
John Boren has a BIG office with many models and some prototypes in development. Mr. Boren said to peek in the door to see what's coming from Estes. I did see a Mercury Atlas, the 1/100th scale Saturn 1B and an upscale Goblin, like the Mega Red Max. Ellis Langford did say the Saturn 1B is being developed for a re-release.
The tour included a walk thru the main building and out the back to the fence surrounding the engine making building. You could hear a hydraulic "hiss" and a "clunk". Each clunk was another engine made.
We walked across the street to the warehouse buildings. The igniter machine was running and everybody got a close view of the operation. The wadding machine was in the next room. 13 rolls of treated dry toilet tissue are routed into a folder and cut.Estes went out of their way for the NARAM participants. For a short time I felt 13 years old!
The picture at the right is of the original Estes buildings.
The tour took a little over two hours. That didn't give me much time to get back to the field for competition.
This is the competition tent. Check in is on the left, pad assignment is in the middle. The third table is for model return after flight.
The competition was very well run.
The boost was straight but the glide was a tight circle, 27 second duration.
I took the weight off the wing, cut it in half with my fingernail and stuck it on the other side.
The second boost was also straight, the glide was now LONG and flat. It landed about 1/2 mile to the West. Another flyer, Lynell Jackson found it.
I was sure the glide time would place in the top three. What do I know about competition?
I walked back to the return table and found the recorded time of 1 minute 27 seconds. I knew it was longer, but they can only time as long as they can see it.
I asked John Boren if it was a good time. He said, "Well, it was good but this gentleman had a five minute glide duration!" Five minute duration on a 1/2A engine? I was happy to finally got a boost glider to work!
I had no time to prep my Egg Lofter, competition flights were cut short with lightning in the area.
A tour of Estes and a very successful qualifying boost glide launch - a big day for me.
Congratulations on a successful boost glider flight. That Estes tour must have brought back a lot of memories, seeing that you worked there as a youth. I hope they bring out the Mercury Atlas kit soon. I was hoping for it a couple of years ago when I inquired about availability of the tube size and they hinted that I might want to hold off until later that year. But I guess things intervened. Good luck in the other competitions!
ReplyDeleteHi BAR,
DeleteI never worked at Estes, I took the tour there in 1972 or so. I talked to John Boren. He said his work on the 1/100 Saturn 1B was done a year and a half ago. It is just waiting for production. Nobody has mentioned any release date for the Mercury Atlas.
Hi, Chris. Good job with the glider. Anything over a minute is a good duration for a 1/2A B/G !! The guys that won the event likely caught some good thermals. Back in the 70s I had a small B/G that would turn in consistent times of around a minute. At one particular sport meet, it was a warm day with lots of thermal activity on the field. I launched that same glider that day. It caught a thermal and started climbing UPWARD as it glided! I lost sight of it after several minutes, and it was still gaining altitude. Never got that one back. Wish I could have been on that Estes tour. Gotta start throwing pennies in the jar for a Little Joe 1 and a S1B! Do they still launch a Big Bertha at the end of the tour?
ReplyDeleteHey Ed,
DeleteGreat to meet you here at NARAM. They didn't do a launch at the end of the tour. "Cape Estes" was behind the main office building to the right side.
I was very happy with the boost glider after that first try. It almost did too well. LONG walks!
A Saturn 1B and a Mercury Atlas both sound like fun. An upscale Goblin is a bit of a surprise - LOC just came out with their upscale Goblin recently, not that there isn’t room for two - just decalled my second Goblin ;-)
ReplyDeleteHi Openroad,
DeleteThe big Goblin looks to be about the same size as the Mega Red Max. I don't understand how other companies get away with their copies. Estes let copyrights expire I guess.
Yeah, my 7.5" Goblin is really an upscale. Hopefully, I will make it to NEFAR in September to launch it. It might even be painted, if I can figure out how to paint a rocket that big.
ReplyDeleteHi Metal,
DeleteHaven't seen you and the family in a while! Ill keep an eye out for your big Goblin.
I don't have any tips regarding painting a big model. You could always take it to a auto body shop. They have the big spray guns and might get good coverage. I've heard of others doing that - those who have a connection at the shop.