Monday, September 12, 2022

Estes Space Shuttle Columbia Build #1385, Background

 






The first appearance of the new Space Shuttle Columbia was on the cover of the 1982 Estes catalog.










Here's the catalog page for the kit.

Bt-60 based with a new blow-molded nose cone. The canopy is molded into the nose cone. 
It doesn't glide but uses a standard 18" parachute for recovery.
The large wing is built up from eight pieces of die-cut balsa, 3/32" thick.
The OMS Pods are blow molded with the nose cone.




At first I thought this might be a rebranding of the Centuri Space Shuttle Columbia from 1080- but no. Both designs used a trifold cardstock rudder deflector. I would assume this helps maintain a  vertical boost.  
They are very close in size. The tube diameter is a ST-16 at 1.64" diameter, almost the same as an Estes BT-60 tube.

The Centuri version had fibre fins and press-on "decals".
Display nozzles remove for flight.
The OMS Pods on the Centuri kits are thin profile pieces glued on like small fins.

6 comments:

  1. I had that launch controller, when I was a kid. I thought the flat batteries were the coolest thing. They were from Polaroid, I believe.

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  2. Hi Chris,
    I had this kit as a kid, and now my dad has it somewhere in his house. We launched it just a couple of times, but it was surprisingly stable during ascent. Very cool to see this rocket again.

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    1. Hi Anonymous,
      I'm curious about the boost with that single spin tab on the wing.

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  3. That Pola-pulse controller was neat......until that flat battery decides to just fall out! Get out to the launch site and then realize 'where's the darn battery?'.

    Tried using tape on the backside of that to 'shim' it up better but still was a PITA to deal with.
    AstronMike

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    Replies
    1. Hi Mike,
      I've bought a few controllers over the years, but never owned this one - It looks like it was a catalog item for six years.

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