Back In The Day, Part #10: Launching Model Rockets From A Broom Closet!

 

This post is an account of a demonstration launch that occurred back in the summer of 1976 in Limon, Colorado.  I had posted this same story on a previous version of this blog which I took down back in 2016. All of those posts became lost in the internet abyss, and I did not keep any original drafts of them.  So forgive me if this sounds familiar….

It all began when the Skywatchers/ROMAR rocket club of Colorado Springs, Colorado got a call from Houtz’ Drug Store in Limon, Colorado.  They had just started carrying Estes model rockets in the hobby section of their store, and decided it would be nice to host a demonstration launch by someone who was experienced with flying model rockets.

The club gleefully accepted the invitation.

On the appointed day, half a dozen stalwart members of ROMAR, including myself, loaded up two vehicles with the club launch rack, P.A., range boxes, and a bunch of rockets, and hit the road for the wide open plains of eastern Colorado.

Now, friends, we would have thought that a model rocket launch at a small rural town would have meant flying from a spacious, open field with unobstructed views to the four horizons.  We were thinking F-engine country, here!

Instead, upon arriving in town, and speaking with the drug store owner, we learned that our designated launch site was to be the parking lot adjacent to the business’ building, right smack-dab in the middle of downtown Limon!

We’re talking a very small asphalt-covered space with maybe 50 feet on the longest dimension, surrounded by three story buildings, tall trees, and plenty of power lines.

Hmmm….

It was quite obvious that our hosts were unaware of the altitude capabilities of even the smallest of model rockets.

We huddled and held an impromptu meeting to decide whether we wanted to try this or not.

“Yeah, why not?  We traveled all the way out here!  We don’t want to chicken out and dis-appoint our kind hosts!”

So, we bravely went about setting up the range equipment, the display table, and prepping the models that were to fly that day.

Once all was in readiness, our LCO conducted a test of the launch system.

Dead as a doornail.  What else could go wrong? By now, a substantial number of spectators had shown up to see the demo.

As the equipment team scrambled to troubleshoot and repair the system, one of our members  engaged the crowd with a lengthy description of what model rocketry was all about, and demonstrated prepping a model.

Finally, we got the word that the launch system was operational.  Huge sighs of relief!

As the rack was being loaded, I started things off with the first flight of the day – my Cold Power Convertible Yankee 5.  Since it was a warm Colorado day, the model lifted off and flew quite high.  The best part is that it was successfully recovered.

We managed to fly about two dozen models over the course of the demo.  Most of them were recovered, thanks to the owner of Houtz Drugs, who had stationed some of his employees and other townsfolks volunteers on the rooftops of several nearby buildings.  A few models were still lost, nonetheless.

I had taken along a few birds from my personal fleet to fly in this demo:
Astron Spaceman – this one flew nicely and landed on top of the local theater building.  It was retrieved by a kind gentleman who was stationed at that location.  The Spaceman did, however, sustain a broken balsa brace piece.

Estes Starblazer (The old K version with curved fins and carved canopy) - This model turned in a very nice flight, but was never found.  I was somewhat sad at the loss because it was my second ever rocket build.

Skeeter Eeter – This one was my BT-60 upscale of the Estes Mosquito, powered by a D engine.  It was the only model flight of the day flown with a larger impulse engine.  I had a little trepidation about flying this one, but went ahead anyway.  A real cloud pleaser, it was, achieving a very respectable altitude.  Unfortunately, it too, was lost, despite descending in sight on a large streamer.

Despite the flying conditions and loss of some models, our demo drew a good sized crowd, and can be classified as a success.

On the drive back to Colorado Springs, one of the club members made the comment:
“That’s the first time I’ve ever flown rockets out of a broom closet!”

Addendum:  After submitting this post on the old version of this blog, I managed to get in email contact with the owner of the drug store in Limon.  It is no longer Houtz Drugs, but is still in business as Howard’s Drugs.  The gentleman remembered this rocket demonstration event from so long ago, and said that it sparked some interest among some of the townsfolk, who afterward purchased rockets and flew them in and around Limon.

-Ed