Back In The Day, Part 28 - The Estes Aerospace Club.

 It is my belief that probably every young person who was involved in model rocketry back in the early '70s mailed in a $2 fee to Estes Industries in order to become a member of that prestigious organization, the EAC.

I was one of those young persons.

For that mere two bucks, one received an official EAC package that included a membership card, certificate, range box stickers, stationary, a decal sheet, a Technucal Manual, an iron-on EAC emblem, and of course, the Viper rocket kit.  Everything was packed into one of those super cool cardboard range boxes. 

Here is a photo of the EAC info in the Estes 1973 catalog.

Nowdays, don't  have very much of this material left from my old EAC kit.

These are some faded decals and an EAC sticker still affixed to what used to be one of my range boxes:

The Viper rocket is long gone, having been sold with the rest of my stuff when I exited the hobby in 1984.  I don't  even have a picture of the model.

My flight logs from back then show 7 successful flights of the Viper.

The iron-on emblem and thrust bars are gone as well.  I never affixed those to a T-shirt because, back then, I was in high school.  I was trying hard to not be a nerd in those days.  In my eyes, wearing such a garment in public would be paramount to social suicide!

Funny, I would gladly wear such a shirt nowadays. I don't care if it's nerdy or not. Kind of wish I still had those iron-ons!

Finally, here are my EAC certificates:

I only went as far as getting to the 'Craftsman' skill level before dropping out. I totally missed out on the 'Advanced' and 'Expert' categories.

Alas, I am now and forever doomed to spend all of eternity as a mere 'Craftsman' rocketeer!

Wait a minute.  I have a great idea: 

Why shouldn't Estes Industries resurrect the EAC in it's original form so that us old BARs that didn't finish the requriements could have a chance to attain that coveted 'Expert' pinnacle?

Mr. Langford, what thinkest Thou?