FlatCat Boost /Glider Build, Part 1 – Introduction.

The FlatCat Boost Glider was designed by G. Harry Stine back in the earlier days of model rocketry.  It is arguably the quintessential example of a standard front engine pop-pod boost glider, designed to be easily built and flown by model rocketeers who had no previous experience with gliding models. 

The design was originally published in the August 1969 issue of Model Rocketry Magazine in the ‘Old Rocketeer’ column.  In 1970, the glider was produced in kit form by Model Products Corp.  The FlatCat was also featured in the 4^th edition of The Handbook of Model Rocketry.

Though the basic design appears rather clunky by today’s competition-grade standards, the FlatCat proved to be quite popular for use in NAR sanctioned contests in the late 60s through the early 70’s.  Mr. Stine himself flew one to take top Senior Division honors in the Sparrow (A-engine) Boost/Glide event at NARAM-11 in 1969.

Stine made the comment in the Old Rocketeer article that the FlatCat was a good solid design which could be used as a ‘test-bed’ for experimenting with boost/glider modifications.

As for me, I built two of these birds back in 1973, and remember how much fun they were to fly.  One of them was modified to fly as a variable geometry rocket/glider by utilizing a sliding engine pod.  I’ll describe these models in greater detail in a future post.

Anyhow, for a little more insight on the history of the FlatCat, here are a couple of interesting links:

http://www.oldrocketforum.com/showpost.php?p=215005&postcount=67

https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/airplane-flying-model-boost-glider-flat-cat

A Very Busy Blogger

The next couple of weeks are going to be a very active time for me here on the BlastFromThePast Blog.  I will be putting out an unprecedented two or three posts per day!

Besides the large amount of NAR Reunion material yet to be written and put up, I am just now finishing up a build of the FlatCat boost/glider downstairs in the secret basement  la-BOR-atory.  I have most parts of a build series on this bird near completion and ready to hit the big green 'GO' button. 

And, who knows, there might be another launch session or two to report on between all of the other posts.

I would like to take this time and thank all of you who have been following this blog!  I suspect that writing has now become one of my minor hobbies.

 I will strive to continue keeping this blog interesting, informative, and FUN!

Cheers!

NAR 60 Year Reunion. Part 5 - Presentation Opening Remarks

Halfway through the reunion activities, the central stage and podium were open to presentations by the various NAR dignitaries who were present.
To start things off, Reunion Coordinator Trip Barber stepped up to welcome all of the attendees and make a few remarks about the reunion. 

The over-arching theme of the event emphasized the 'Pay Forward' concept.  It was pointed out that a good portion of the NAR membership present at this event was aging. (Indeed, a quick look around the room corroborated this - lots of salt & pepper & balding).  Trip urged all of the older members to seek out folks with higher NAR numbers and spend time with them sharing stories about the old days, and getting to know them.

For myself, I followed that directive for most of the latter part of the re-union.  Met a lot of interesting younger rocketeers!

Following Trip to the podium was current NAR President John Hochheimer, who also gave a few opening remarks.

Both men had just returned the day before from Warsaw, Poland after participating in the Internats as part of the U.S. team.  They were experiencing serious jetlag, with their body clocks thinking it was Eastern Europe time.  We definitely applaud their presence here at the reunion!

NAR 60 Year Reunion, Part 4 - Something For Us Glider Nuts

At the NAR reunion, there were several display tables lined up against one of the meeting room walls that contained a lot of very interesting models, photos, and artifacts from the early days of model rocketry.

Being a fan of boost/gliders, I was instantly drawn to the display presented by Larry Renger.

As most of all of us old-time rocketeers know, Larry is the guy who came up with the very first front-engine boost/glider - the SkySlash -  back in the 1960s.

At that period, the boost/glider field was dominated by rear engine models that were essentially large-finned conventional rockets that could be transitioned into gliding vehicles.

The SkySlash virtually revolutionized boost/glider technology, and set the stage for many improvements and refinements that led to the high performance models we fly today.

Here is a pic of one of Larry's famous SkySlash models:



And a photo of the descriptive write-up about the model.  Sorry for the skewed image.  I couldn't take a straight down shot because it would have been obscured by my shadow from the overhead lighting.

Also on display at Larry's table was this gorgeous model, the AstroBlaster....

In addition, Larry had on the table a vintage Estes SkyDart.  The photo I took of it was too blurry to post here, but you can see parts of it in the above two pics.

Most of all, I was thrilled to actually meet and talk gliders with Mr. Renger himself!

NAR 60 Year Reunion, Part 3 - The OddRoc Master Himself

While making another circuit of the meeting room floor early in the event, I came across one of the display tables on which some new items had appeared....

 

And I knew exactly who had put them there.

I approached the man standing near the table with his back toward me.

"Ahem", I said, "These strange rockets look like they just might be the work of Randall Redd!"

Randall turned and saw me.

A happy reunion ensued.

Randall had been one of the Utah rocketeers from the old WARP section that drove out to Colorado every August from 1980-1983 to participate in the HOTROC (Heart of the Rockies) regional meets hosted by ROMAR of Colorado Springs.

Randall and I kept up letter correspondence well up into the late 1980s, even though I had exited model rocketry by that time.  He and his wife, Cathy, stopped by my home to visit on any occasion they were passing through Colorado Springs while traveling on vacations.

I lost touch with Randall until I became a BAR in 2016.  I looked him up and got into contact with him again, and was delighted to learn that he was still flying model rockets out on the Salt Flats with the current NAR section in Salt Lake City, UROC.

When I learned about this reunion, I shot an email to Randall to see if he was coming out here to NARAM 60.  He replied that he was, and a short while later, I was again delighted to note that he and Cathy were registered for the re-union!  

This is a picture of Randall and Cathy at the reunion.  Randall is holding the front page of a Colorado Springs newspaper feature on HOTROC-2, published in August, 1981.  The full page cover photo shows Randall hooking up his Class C Egglofter for flight!  I had brought this along to present to him, knowing he would be tickled by it.

Here's a shot of Randall and me...

Randall has cited me as the inspiration for his getting interested in building and flying Oddrocs.

How did I earn that dubious distinction?

Being the CD of some of the HOTROC regionals, I had introduced and scheduled Oddroc as an unofficial contest event. It quickly became one of the more popular and anticipated features of the meets. Randall took hold of it and never looked back. We always looked forward to seeing what kind of new contraption Randall would bring along to fly every year at HOTROC!

He never disappointed!

NAR 60 Year Reunion, Part 2 - An Old Rocket Buddy

I'm going to start this reunion series on a more personal note.

This is a picture of myself and one of my best friends who happened to travel out here from Virginia to attend the reunion - Mr. Marc Kramer.

 

(Special thanks to George Gassaway for taking the time out to shoot the above photo.)

Marc and I go back to 1968 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  He is actually the guy that got me into model rocketry.  In August of 1969 Marc invited me to go along with he and his dad to a model rocket event happening at the United States Air Force Academy. Marc was celebrating his 11th birthday, and a trip to this meet was one of his birthday gifts from his folks.

Turned out the event was NARAM - 11 !

We spent the entire afternoon there watching competition models and sport birds being launched into the blue Colorado Sky. 
Needless to say, I was hooked.

I didn't really get started into the hobby until 1973, so in the intervening four years, I was content with watching Marc fly his models.

Marc lived in the house right across the street from mine, so we pretty much hung out on a daily basis throughout our junior high and high school years.

I remember many evenings and weekends spent in Marc's basement workshop building model rockets and plotting about how we would soon become Masters of the Universe in parachute duration competition.

OK, we were both total nerds.....

Marc and I were both charter members of the Rocky Mountain Association of Rocketry in Colorado Springs (NAR section 331) in 1973, and spent many a Sunday morning over the following years flying rockets in the club's sport and contest meets.

Incidentally, Marc is the guy who introduced me to the first rocket of my fleet, an Estes Mini-Brute Hornet that was already built and on display at 'Custom Hobbies' hobby store in Colorado Springs. He suggested I buy the model to get my feet wet with rocket flying before I built one.
This Hornet is the very same model that I recently restored and is now my BAR-era fleet flagship. All of you who have been following this blog are quite familiar with this bird by now.

In the late 1970s, Marc and I went our own ways to pursue our various education and career endeavors.  We were out of touch for all of the intervening decades until Marc found this blog last year and established contact.  

Our meeting up here in Pueblo at the NAR reunion was first time we've seen each other in nearly 40 years!

And we're both still nerds!  But these days, of course, nerds are cool (at least according to the Internet).

So, here is an interesting aside that Marc brought to my attention...

This is the photo from the front cover of the October 1969 issue of Model Rocketry Magazine which carried coverage of NARAM-11.  The photo shows Mr. Doug Malewicki launching his R/C glider.

I would like to direct your attention to the two young lads in the near background observing the launch.

After much study and discussion, Marc and I are convinced that those two young men in the photo are us.  I was 13 and he was 11.  Our relative sizes, hair color and clothing 'styles' are dead on as well.

Nice to think that us two old buddies might be immortalized on the cover of MRm !

Cheers!










.

NAR 60 Year Reunion, Part 1 - Like A Kid In A Candy Store

Saturday, August 4th, 2018, I made the 80 mile trip from Castle Rock to Pueblo to attend a much anticipated event - the NAR 60 year anniversary Rocketeer Reunion.  Despite traffic delays on I-25 just south of Castle Rock because of the big Renaissance Festival at Larkspur, I made it to the Pueblo Convention Center by 4:30 p.m.

(A little aside - I was actually born in Pueblo in 1956, but was there for only a very brief period before being moved to Colorado Springs.  I have absolutely no memories of living in Pueblo, so I really claim to be a Springs native.)

After checking in at the door, I proceeded into the big room and found Pat Fitzpatrick, who showed me to the table where I could set up my small NARAM 11 ephemera display. By the time I had everything arranged, a lot of reunion attendees had arrived.

Another little bit of background about me. During the time I was involved in model rocketry back in the 70s and early 80s, I never got out to attend a single NARAM, or even any other large model rocketry event outside of Colorado.  The only NAR rocketeers I knew were those who were part of local NAR sections in Colorado and the rest of the mountain states, plus a handful of people who were employed at Estes Industries, or through a bit of letter correspondence with other NAR rocketeers outside of Colorado.

As a result, I had never before met any of the old-timer model rocketeers that would be here at the reunion this night.

The thing is, I knew ALL of their names! 

Because I had a nearly complete sets of Model Rocketry Magazine and The Model Rocketeer in my possession that I knew well cover to cover by virtue of reading them so many hundreds of times.

In effect, it blew my mind when I began circulating about the room and talking with all of these model rocketry hobby stalwarts that I knew only through the pages of magazines. 

Like a kid in a candy store.....

Anyway, this man's blog is going to be populated over the next couple of weeks with my personal observations of this wonderful event, complete with as many photos as I can cram in.

As I write this post this morning, I am still overwhelmed and euphoric over the event, so it's going to be a lot of fun sharing with the rest of you.

Please enjoy.....

An addendum - For those of you who were also in attendance at the re-union, please don't hesitate to post replies about your experiences here.  It would be fun to make this whole blog series into  a comprehensive archive of sorts about the event!