Hangin' Out With 'Mr. Cineroc', Part 10 - Wrappin' Things Up

Well, boys and girls, this is likely the final post in the main body of this series about Herb Desind. 

The final letter from Herb  I possess is from late 1978.  I am not sure why we lost touch.  It was probably because of some changes that were going on in my life at the time.  I had just purchased a home, was finishing up college and starting my career in electronics, and got married in early 1979.  Also, I had been appointed as Mountain States Regional Manager for the NAR around that time, so my primary focus in model rocketry shifted  to assisting other NAR rocketeers in getting some sections started, some activities going, as well as planning a large Regional contest (HOTROC-1) in August of 1979. 
 
Even though I had built  Mountaineer III and still had a Cineroc in my possession, I ceased doing any more flying for Herb.  I just had too many other irons in the fire.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed reading the small amount of information I was able to share here.  I certainly had fun, and a lot of good memories, as I pored through the correspondence and photographic material.

I also thank those of you who wrote responses, both here and on the forums.  There were a lot of folks who knew Herb and had more anecdotes and information to share.

Once I get the Cineroc films I have from Herb transferred to digital format, I may post some updates here on the blog.  Also, I may compile a listing of all the Cineroc flights that Herb mentioned throughout the letters I received from him.  He described a lot of locations and contests where he flew Cinerocs, along with a little info about how many he flew and some references to motor combinations used.  Some of this stuff could prove useful for anyone out there who might be cataloguing and/or researching his vast Cineroc  flight activities.

Quite a guy, methinks…..

Cheers.

It's Anniversary Day!

Just realized that today marks my 2nd anniversary as a BAR.  Happy birthday to me!

Hangin' Out With Mr. Cineroc, Part 9 - One more Anecdote...

In a letter dated September 13, 1978, Herb wrote the following:

"First, I think it is funny as hell how the Estes R&D guy saw your rocket bust.  I am glad the Cineroc is OK.  The reason the film is not thru is that it is too short a time.  The film I would bet still has well over 1/2 unused--so fly that same film pak again on a single stage.  I hope you complete the Mountaineer III soon so you can fly it for me.

I have no recollection of this flight incident, but I apparently described it in one of my letters to Maryland.
To my dismay, I no longer possess any flight logs or records spanning from March, 1978 through all of 1979.  Either I didn't keep the logs in the first place, or, somewhere along the line, I lost whatever notebook they might have resided in, so I have no way to corroborate this particular flight.
Anyway, this letter implied that I, indeed had another Omega rocket (Mountaineer II?) with which to continue flying Cinerocs for Herb after I had lost the original Mountaineer at Breckenridge.  I did not remember whether Herb built this one and mailed it to me or if I built it myself.

This last weekend, I scoured through all of my old-fleet model rocketry photo albums, scrapbooks, and issues of the Cosmic Steppingstone newsletter to see if I could find anything at all about this flight. 

To my surprise, I certainly did!

In the August/September 1978 issue of the newsletter, I found a write-up about a competition / demonstration meet that took place in July1978 at Penrose Stadium in Colorado Springs.  At the time, Skywatchers/ROMAR had ceased being a section of the NAR, so this event was a non-sanctioned contest.  The article says that several rocketeers drove down from Denver to participate.

Here is the news letter article excerpt that is pertinent to this post:

"About this time, the clouds burned off and the weather was turning hot, so Ed Mitton decided to prepare his Cineroc movie camera for flight.  When everything was ready, the countdown was started and the camera switched on. The engine in the booster happened to be one of those that Estes makes once in awhile just for fun...it exploded!  The force of the blast threw the Cineroc 20 feet into the air from which it free-fell.  Luckily it was not damaged."

A little further in the write-up:

As if that weren't enough, some club members had the nerve to suggest launching some more rockets for the benefit of having FUN !  PREPOSTEROUS!  One of the perpetrators of this outrage, Ed Mitton, launched his now very worn Cineroc booster (with static payload section in place of the Cineroc -ed) to test out another of the D12-5 engines from the same pack that nearly caused the demise of his Cineroc.  True to Murphy's Law, the flight went perfectly!"

And another interesting line at the end of the article:

"There were a moderate number of spectators during the course of the meet, including the distinguished Wayne Kellner, one of them fancy R&D guys from Estes."

When scanning through flight logs for early 1978, I found also this footnote to a February 5th Skywatchers sport meet:

"Besides flying my own models, I launched Herb Desind's Cineroc model for a very nice flight."

Also, while looking through my old photo album I found two interesting prints:

These pix are of some displays that were set up as part of a model hobby show at the Citadel Mall in Colorado Springs which Skywatchers/ ROMAR participated in over the weekend of  July 7-8, 1978.  Placed side by side in panoramic fashion, it can clearly be seen that there is a Cineroc/Omega rocket hanging right there as part of the display.

Since I designed and constructed those particular display boards, I am 100% sure that this rocket is the Mountaineer II !  The very same model described in Herb's letter and the news letter article.   The odd thing is I still possess lists of all the models in my old fleet, but this Omega is not mentioned.   Mysterious. That leads me to believe that the model was actually built by Herb, otherwise it would have been recorded in my rocket list along with an assigned fleet number.

Another little gem I found while researching in the ol' model rocket archives is this:

Probably acquired from Wayne at that 1978 rocketry event.

Gee, wonder if the phone number is still any good.....

Launch Date: 28 April, 2018

 

A check of the wind and weather websites revealed that today would be a warm day in Colorado with a minimal-wind launch window between 9:00 a.m. and noon.  It has been well over three months since I have had an opportunity to launch rockets, so I am long overdue for getting in a good flyin’ ‘fix’.

For today’s launch session, I would be flying at nearby Douglas County High School, so smaller power rockets would be the rule.  Off the shelf came the Hornet, the Generic E2X, the newly-built Star Seeker for its maiden flight, and….the Mosquito.
Arriving at the field at 11:00 a.m., I quickly got things set up and ready to go.  Wind speeds were estimated at around 5mph with no overhead clouds, and plenty of sunlight.
The first model prepped was the old familiar Hornet for flight #39. The old bird turned in yet another great flight on an A3-4T engine with recovery by a 10” parachute equipped with a spill hole.  Again, the model was returned with no damage.

Next bird to poke a hole in the sky was the freshly-built Estes Star Seeker. Not wanting to fly this bird in tumble recovery mode as specified by Estes, I equipped it with a 1”x 12” plastic streamer.
The model boosted high and straight on a 1/2A3-4T. 

 Following ejection, I saw no streamer, but observed the model falling in one piece. The cel phone video I took of the flight recorded me saying, “There’s gonna be some damage here”, as the bird was rapidly falling.  Reaching the crash site, I found that the Star Seeker was intact.  The streamer had ejected, but tangled along with the shock cord around one of the fin assemblies. The only damage to the model was a crack in the paint on the rear body tube, probably from engine heat.

I quickly prepped the model for a second flight.  Again it boosted straight and high.  This time at ejection, I completely lost sight of the model- no streamer again.

Spying the model lying on the turf a short distance away, I found it in this condition:

The motor casing had ejected instead of the recovery system. The fin damage was the result of,essentially, tumble recovery.  Easy fixes, though, and the Star Seeker will fly another day!

Next bird to be prepped for flight was the tiny Mosquito.  
The model performed its usual straight, high boost on a 1/4A motor.  The ejection cloud was highly visible against the clear blue sky, after which I caught a flash of sunlight off the model’s silver Monokote wrap.  To my great surprise, I actually detected the model descending in stable trajectory all the way to the ground, where it impacted, hopped in the air a couple of feet and fell back to the turf.  This is the first time I’ve ever witnessed an entire flight of one of these elusive birds.  Up until now, I didn’t think it could be done.  Needless to say, recovery was quite easy.

I quickly had an igniter installed in a new ¼A engine, and the Mosquito on the pad for flight number two.  Again, a nice boost was followed by a highly visible ejection cloud.  This time, I lost sight of the model, but walked in the direction of where I had seen the ejection charge.  I easily located the bird on the ground.  I counted 40 paces back to the launch pad.

 

Flight #2

Well, now, I was having so much fun launching and recovering this little bird, I figured I might as well have another go.  This would be flight #10 overall for this Mosquito.

Flight #3

Again the model flew nicely, and again, I was able to catch sight of its descent and follow it all the way to the ground, where it stuck in the turf ‘lawn dart style’.  Another short, leisurely walk to pick it up.
I had intended to stop at 3 flights, but I still had one more ¼A motor left.  Why not?

Up went the Mosquito again, and for the third time I caught sight of it streaking in for another ‘bounce-on-the-grass’ impact right in front of the soccer net. 








Had the model bounced a little further in the right direction, it might have scored a goal!




I had brought along the Generic E2X model to fly today as well, but found that the low-wind weather window was coming to an end.  Judging from my marker streamer I estimated that wind speeds had picked up to over 7mph, so I opted out on flying the GE2X.

As I was packing up the gear, I noticed this:

First time I have ever seen a starter plug land on the launcher!

7 flights on the day with no lost models and only one real mishap.  I’ll roll with that.

Hangin' Out With 'Mr. Cineroc' Part 8 - I Found 'Em !!

After much moving boxes around, rummaging, and sustaining a cut on my finger, I found two 8mm film reels containing some Cineroc flight footage I had taken for Herb Desind.  These were processed by Herb and sent to me.  The pieces of tape identifying the reels are his hand writing. 

The next step is to get them to one of those outfits that can convert 8mm film to digital and throw them on a CD Rom.
I haven't viewed these films since the late 70s, so I have no recollection of their content. 

The one labeled Bear Creek Park makes sense because that was the location of an annual demonstration launch that the Skywatchers Club put on for the Skyway Homeowner's Association in northwest Colorado Springs.  Bear Creek Park is a lovely location - a well manicured park nestled in the foothills against a scenic mountain backdrop of Colorado Springs' Rampart Range.

Copies of these same flights may reside in Herb's vast collection of Cineroc films, wherever that may be.

Once I get digital copies made, I'll see if I can post any interesting still frames here.

Cheers!

Hangin' Out With 'Mr. Cineroc', Part 7 - Herb, The Science Teacher

In a short letter dated February 24, 1978, Herb enclosed a newspaper clipping with a photo.  This was a rocket demonstration launch conducted at Eisenhower Junior High School , presumably the school where he taught science.  According to the article, the launch was put on by the Eisenhower Rocket Club as part of a science fair on February 16, 1978.

 

Also enclosed with the letter was a super 8mm film roll, the first of which Herb had processed which contained some of the Cineroc flights I had flown for him here in Colorado.

Hangin' Out With Mr. Cineroc, Part 6 - Us Guys Here In Colorado

At the time that I was corresponding with Herb Desind starting in 1976, the local rocket club I belonged to (Skywatchers/ROMAR) had dwindled to only five or six regular members.  We had lost our ability to maintain NAR Section status because we didn't have the required 10 NAR members.
Also, at the time, there were no other active clubs or sections in the vicinity. Organized model rocketry was pretty dead along the Colorado front range.
In one letter I sent to Herb, I lamented this state of affairs, but enclosed some pictures of some of my own models, some club sport launches, and a copy of our newsletter, the Cosmic Steppingstone.
Herb and his fellow Marylanders were delighted to hear from a rocketeer in Colorado, but were very surprised at the lack of activity in the place where model rocketry virtually began.
They were all really impressed with the wide-open flying fields we enjoyed here, as suitable large open spaces in the D.C. area are few and far between.
Here is an excerpt from Herb's April 4th, 1977 letter:

"I enjoyed looking at the photo material you sent and your publication is very good. I am sending you a number of items here.  I am sending along some copies of ZOG which is the NARHAM publication, and the Nike-Larc, which is the Laurel area publication.  This is all I could get as of now.  All here were very interested in your publication, especially since your club is on Estes' doorstep.
Yesterday, when I delivered one of your copies to NARHAM, the president took it and ran to his car with it amidst objections from others, but all will get to see it at our next meeting."

Herb was also amazed when I wrote him that, to date, I had only visited Estes on two occasions.  He thought that, being so nearby, I would have been down there bugging them quite often.  I did mention that I was loosely acquainted with Wayne Kellner and Dane Boles.  In a February 6th, 1978 letter, Herb wrote:

"Please tell Mr. Kellner, whom I do not know, that many here want the Cineroc and Camroc put back on the market, not Star Wars toys!"

I never passed this on, but I sensed there was a lot of frustration out on the East Coast over the unavailability of Cinerocs at the time.

Ya think?