Congratulations on your flight. But your video left much to be desired. It would have been nice to follow the flight of your bird and the deployment of the chutes. What the heck?
I launched mine (a latest-edition Estes) on the same date (7/16/2019). I recently built a 1972-era kit - and I don't know if I would EVER have the courage to launch it! You're a braver man than me! Glad that yours came back intact!
My best friend at the time built one of those in 69, he was 10. It was beautiful. His Dad took us out to launch it. Man it looked so good for a second. Flames shooting out of the bottom it slowly started to lift. Only two of the three clustered engines fired. It reached about 15 ft. and nose dived. We were all crushed including the rocket. He took it well. It did fly.
I could hear your excitement, yet concern to launch. Thanks for sharing your video and experience with us. Anyone who’s shot off a few rockets, knows the disappointment of losing one in a tree or for me . . a manure pond.
Nice rocket. I like the “guidance is internal”. Sorta tongue in cheek there. Kind of a nice vid. Got to see the take off. Nice big playfield or park. Green, very green. Lots of trees. Blue sky. A tad windy. Nice atmosphere.
Was my motto as a kid. Didn’t care about weather. Glue “dried” it had to fly. Most of my kits were Centuri and 1 time flights as I never saw where they landed ( I always used big engines although not the area for it. Trees gobbled them up. 😜
I love it, as a kid I’ve launched tons of these model rockets, in fact I probably kept Estes in business because except for a handful, I haven’t recovered many mostly one and done, I remember one of my first kits was a rocket called long john silver , was a tall one painted silver with black lettering, that one actually somehow lifted off about twenty feet and then blew apart, aaah the good old days, when launching model rockets meant spending a couple weeks building and painting it instead of just pressing the c button on your controller
Thanks for the memories! I was pretty heavy into it back in the 60's. Astron Alpha, Astron X-ray, Big Bertha, Astron Sprint..some others. My favorite and most successful one was my Orbital Transport. Flew it dozens of times. the detachable shuttle flew perfect circles. Then I built a Saturn 1B. Like you, it took many many hours. Four engine cluster. C6-5's if I remember correctly. First launch and recovery was successful. Second time a neighbors dog spotted it and destroyed it before we could get to it. I was devastated. I love dogs, but that one, not so much.
Same dog that ate my homework! I am 63 years young, one of my favorites back when, was the Estes Cherokee D. In my man cave I currently have an Estes Little Joe I, Little Joe II, and the Mercury Redstone. I will not fly these. I plan on buying the Cherokee D next, and potentially fly it. Great memories, thanks.
Herman Morales great post me too lots of memories of spending weeks building and running down to the nearest field and sending it up to never be seen again, or getting caught in a tree blocks away!
When I was in 5th grade I built 3 of the 4 estees level 5s. Saturn 5 , Saturn 1B and Mars lander. Saturn 5 and Mars lander were my favorites. I like the boxes they came in too
Four years since this one. Similar to a number of other model-builder guys - nothing posted in years. Sorry I missed out earlier. Hoping you are well out there and still building & launching. All the Best - Thank You for the videos.
I have the same kit still in the box . Great Flight! I hope to launch mine this coming July. IfI do I will video it and share it on my channel. Thanks again .
@@JMChladek do they still make them with multiple engine configuration or using the larger single motors? Been out of since I joined the Navy years ago and eyeing some of the old kits I had. ($$$$$) on eBay. Yikes.
JMC, nice tribute to the Apollo 11 50th Anniversary. I mail ordered and built Estes rockets back in the 60's. Couldn't wait to get my new rocket in the mail. I'd stay up all night on a Friday or Saturday night building and painting them and hoping the glue and paint would dry enough for a next day launch. Didn't know Estes was still around and making those things. Congrats on that Saturn 5 and thanks for bringing back some good old memories.
We all stay at some level kids forever, don't we? It's been many years since my model rocket days (bought a V2-ish rocket kit with three motors from an ad in the back of a 1969 Boy's Life magazine, for $2. The accessory kit (paint, etc) was 25 cents if I recollect correctly. Have often thought of showing my inner child and buying another one in my retirement LOL. Great fun it seems, can be had at any age.
Nice Saturn v!!! Looked wonderful. I build and fly giant scale gas rc planes and have always wanted to try an old apollo rocket. Even if I dont fly it I'll hang it up lol. Good job bud keep it up
I've gotten one from apogeerockets , they have so many videos on builds of particular builds , building tip, building supplies and so on, they even have a channel on here at UA-cam
In 1979 I build a Saturn five rocket and with help from my grandfather we built a liquid fueled rocket engine that carried it to almost 7000 feet into the air
I spent months building a 2 stage rocket. Of course, it "had to fly" so I launched it. The second stage parachute ejection charge didn't ignite. Needless to say, the the upper stage free fell until it hit the ground. All kinds of damage. I almost cried. So I know exactly how nervous he was.
My favorite was Big Bertha, 4 feet of rocket, about 5" in diameter, sit there and smoke for a second before moving, slow and loud. Low parachute pop, was a show horse of a rocket.
I built one in 1984. I used the single D12 sized engine and it gives it a nice slow lift-off that's very scale in speed. It worked great until the third launch. The engine mount blew out of the back because of the strain of popping four chutes at once. No chutes and it did a lawn dart into the field. The tubes folded into each other. It was done :(
Yeah. the original cardboard/paper wrapped Estes Saturn was light enough that you could get good D12-3 flights. These newer plastic wrapped ones are just a bit too marginal for my tastes, which is why I went E30 composite. An E15 might have worked, but the CATO potential I felt was too risky given the work I did building this.
Your Saturn V is a beauty. I know how hard it must be to send it up! I ordered mine today and not sure if I would launch it when I’m done, I’ve lost too many on the first flight!
Ain't that the truth. There was one day when I was younger when I lost three rockets or had damage. The Saturn V I heard horror stories about flying on black powder motors (Ds not enough oomph and Es liking to cato). If it weren't for the composite E, I doubt I would have flown her. But as nerve wracking as it was, the successful recovery made it all worth it.
Eric kienzie. How did you lose them? I lost my 1st estes riptide rocket. Due to the wind and small grass field launched from. Bummer. I bought another. But haven't assembled or launched yet in 2yrs lol. I'm thinking of buying the Saturn V?
Here is some clarification for viewers who might be inclined to comment on the cinematography of this video or make snarky comments on how that was "five minutes of my life I will never get back". Actually it is more like six or seven minutes if you took time and energy to write such a snarky post after watching the whole video but oh well. It was one camera on a single tripod. I was not using a hand held camera (or a camera phone) because the controller I use has an arming button and a firing button, requiring the use of two hands. Safe launch, flight and recovery of the rocket were the primary goals. Yes, after launch I suppose I could have grabbed a camera phone to record the coast phase and the chutes. But I decided I was going to chase the rocket and perhaps catch the main body due to details on it I didn't want damaged. Very difficult to do that with a camera in a hand. Fortunately the rocket body landed safely under two chutes with no damage to it, but it was touch and go for a bit. This was going to be the only flight of this rocket and after the many hours I spent building, accurizing and painting it, I wanted to do as much as I could to ensure its successful recovery. The next time I build a Saturn V to fly, it will likely have more than a single flight and potentially better video documentation. Thank you for watching.
I flew mine Tuesday as well. I recorded it live on FB. It flew beautiful but didn’t return well. The upper stage returned perfectly but the chutes in the lower stage failed to deploy.
I'm not a rocket enthusiast ..however just got an estes riptide to have a go .. watching this as a fellow modeler I can hear how passionate and personal that launch was for you ..loved the countdown and commentary 😎 excellent work my friend .. Greetings from uk 👍
Thank you Jeff. That is primarily down to all the work spent building that rocket, the hours spent on it. So at launch the feelings are in conflict; the need to see it fly versus the hope that it doesn't destroy all that work in the process.
@@JMChladek I know exactly the feeling .. I have maidend around 70 rc planes and that feeling on rotation .. the maiden jitters .. anything can happen in the first vital 5 seconds .. sink or swim .. money can't replace the mass hours that go into modeling whichever genre .. keep em flyin my friend 😎👍
@@highflying82 Eric kienzie. Hows your riptide flight. I lost my 1st estes riptide rocket. Due to the wind and small grass field launched from. Bummer. I bought another. But haven't assembled or launched yet in 2yrs lol. I'm thinking of buying the Saturn V?
@@kiwimon3204 Yes, it is the 1/100 scale kit. It is rated at Skill Level 4 and requires paint and decals. Time it took for me to do this one I estimate at about 40 hours spread out over five months. But I tend to take my time with projects. Minimum time to build I estimate would be about 20 hours.
When I was a teen, I spent hours and hours building the Estes "Mars Lander" (with the rubber bands that allowed the legs to flex). I launched it once, and (of course) the 'chute didn't deploy completely and it snapped a leg. I repaired it and retired it to be a shelf queen, but I was always kind of sorry that I attempted the launch.
I still want to kick in the jimmies whoever wrote up the recommendation for a B6-4 or some weak ass motor for the first flight of the Mars Lander. Went up all of about 25 feet, arced over, and crashed head first before the parachute could even deploy.
Now you see it, now you don't. Would have been nice to have "flight following" so we could have seen it past ignition. Nevertheless, it came back mostly unscathed, nothing that can't be fixed so you can display it. Model looked great. I have one of those sitting in its box, along with a Mercury-Redstone, Little Joe I and II's. looking for the Saturn 1B and Gemini-Titan kits now.
A 1990s vintage Estes Pro Series 2 controller. They can be powered by one or two 7.2V rechargeable packs for RC cars. I have also heard of people using LiPo packs with them. They can also be used to launch clusters as well.
My pleasure. My first rocket flights were in San Antonio in 1982, the first being a Space Shuttle. I have previous Saturn kit versions, but I also had to work up the nerve to build this beast. Glad I did.
I will always remember the day we landed on the moon! What an amazing accomplishment for mankind and the United States. One suggestion: could you please zoom out from the rocket or have someone video the flight to follow the flight so we can actually see the rocket flying?
@@electricfil I disagree, with a rocket that big you will see it, it will be quick but with two large parachutes we would have also seen those deploy that would have been cool. I agree with you if it had been a smaller rocket and yes nothing would beat being there in person. But a talented second cameraman to catch the rocket in sky would have been awesome.
I am currently building the Saturn V Limited Edition Skylab @1/100 scale. I got many questions about the paint. Is this just a guessing game. What did you use, I am wondering. Cause your rocket looks like it's painted good.
I used a good quality primer (Tamiya normal gray primer) to help fill the spiral windings of the body tube and Tamiya fine white primer over the model after construction was done. I used Tamiya gloss white spray and airbrushed the black on (Tamiya acrylic gloss black I believe) and had to do touch-ups with Tamiya X-2 gloss white as even though I masked things as best as I could, I still had areas of bleed. Tamiya Silver Leaf was used in spots and Tamiya yellow tape was used for the majority of the masking. I know several modelers like using Krylon or Rust-Oleum spray for rockets because they are relatively cheap and plentiful. But I had a bad experience with Krylon primer wrecking the vac wraps on a Saturn 1B about 30 years back and have seen Rust-Oleum wreck paintjobs. So for a model like this, I made sure to use high quality model paints. If done right, the Estes Saturn V will be the queen of your fleet. So minimize the risk of wrecking it by not trying to save a few bucks. The Tamiya sprays are hobby lacquers with great fast drying properties and Tamiya acrylics are chemically inert to most everything else out there.
BTW, if you are on FB, look for the "space modelers" group. I am but one of a world wide community that builds space and rocket models who try to take them to a higher standard. If you have questions, we can direct you to additional resources.
I built mine 24 yrs ago and never launched it. It would have been nice to see the actual flight and not just the lift off. Looks like your escape tower broke.
It happened on landing since the chute was a streamer. The tower went through boost and ejection fine and this new tower is more robust than the previous ones. If it was old Estes, it would have busted in four places. This one just popped at the glue joints attaching it to the capsule.
Hey what a beautiful rocket! I believe or I could fly as well. I live in Louisville I love to get together sometime and fly Rockets. I’m starting to get bigger rockets and I have no experience with them. Once again great job what a beautiful rocket
That was pretty cool. IT was GREAT that the launch was successful and your hours of work were worth it and gratifying. It was nice of you to film it and share it. I have launched a few rockets in my time but nothing that big. I am an Apollo program fanatic; that being said, that was an extremely fast escape from the launch tower! Can you imagine if the real Saturn V were to escape the tower that fast. The G-forces coming that immediate would have been overbearing on the astronauts. It was very cool that you did this on the anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11. The only thing that would have been better would be if you have a second person filming the rocket in the sky and the parachute deployment. SO I only say this because if you decide to do a Columbia Shuttle model and launch on the 40th Anniversary of STS-1 on April 12, 2021 or the 50th anniversay 10 years later keep that in mind......LOL
LOL! Like a Little Joe 2 launch. Those left the pad in a hurry. That is one inescapable contradiction of scale model rocketry. A slow takeoff is more realistic, but a fast takeoff to higher altitude helps with safe recovery of the work done. Thanks for the good words.
I've got one of these that I built a couple of years ago from an actual late 60s kit. I built it in honor of the one I built in 1970 as a 14-year-old kid. I have to say that my new one will never fly. My God, the hours it took to build this thing properly. I have several others like the full-size Comanche and the Orbital Transport and the Centuri Space Shuttle. A company called Semroc seems to make all the old kits: www.erockets.biz/semroc-rocket-kits/ I've got a bunch that I haven't even built yet. Very reluctant to fly them though. When I was a kid, I had a friend who used to just slap them together in record time, and then launch them sideways into a building or a tree. Even then, I cringed.
That is a beautiful rocket. I am glad it flew successfully and that it landed in almost perfect shape. I am old enough to actually remember the real flight of Apollo 11, so I can relate to how you can get emotionally worked up. By the way, your park looks beautiful. Here in Los Angeles, if you launched in a park you would be surrounded by the tents, filth, and danger of many, many mentally ill and drug addicted homeless people. I just wish you had footage of the Saturn V rising to the heavens, and wow it shot up fast considering how big a rocket that thing is.
Tamiya chrome silver (or aircraft aluminum) spray. I am pretty sure it was aircraft aluminum in the Aircraft Spray line and I also used it for the service module.
Very nice..next time bring someone to man the camera. Is this really a 1969 kit, left from 1969. I have the 30 anniversary kit from 1999 still waiting to be build.
The kit is Estes kit #1969, issued in 2019. They got clever with the title. I did obtain an Estes K-35 Saturn V kit from the early 70s and I hope to build it, just not sure when exactly.
No pan possible because the camera is on a tripod filming remotely. I'm standing nearby with two hands on the launch controller holding the arming button down and pressing the fire button. I had no assistant to film and my focus that day was to launch, track (with my eyes, not a handheld camera) and recover the rocket safely. Filming was secondary and mostly to document a launch for the attempted record of most rockets to fly within a 24 hour period on the anniversary date of Apollo 11s flight. This is the first time I had ever done a camera setup. Next time if I film a launch, things might be better.
Mid 60's here with Estes, a couple of years ago got to thinking about building some again. Estes has made it more like snap together, not interested at all now.
Many of the rockets are like that, but the current Estes Saturn V Skylab (my Apollo Saturn from 2019) and Saturn 1B are pretty "old school" in construction. They build much like the Centuri kits given they use plastic vaccuformed wraps for the stage details and those are not easy even for experienced rocket builders. The only real update they did was using one piece injection tooled fins to glue on instead of the old two piece vaccuformed fins. But while I didn't have to fill and sand balsa fins on my Apollo Saturn, I still had to fill and sand the spiral winding on the BT-101 tube. I would say while the three 1/100 Saturns from Estes are no longer Skill level 5, I would put them on par with a low skill level 4 or even a very high level 3 in terms of complexity of build.
@@JMChladek I was looking forward to working with balsa wood nose, fins... I put a lot of work into building those, so much so, like you, i hated to ignite the engine. I know built the V2, some others there and maybe the Saturn. I used small blocks of steel to keep everything lined up while the glue dried.
@@nicoradv3923 if you can find it, Semroc did a clone of the old Estes 1/70 Saturn 1B which has a balsa nose cone and the fins that have to be built. It hasn't been available for awhile, but they have other rockets of the old skill level 5 class.
Local fire codes dictate that. When I flew this in 2019 ground conditions were fine and it rained an hour before. There is a safety code we have to follow before flying to make sure we fly safe and we follow federal and state laws. As for Hawaii, doubtful. At last check the prevailing thought was sparking power lines due to high wind gusts from a nearby Hurricane.
I really respect your decision to stick to the plan and fly it. I'm about to get back in to it during this virus lock down and I wanna start out at the highest level, but I guess I'll go beginner level just to be sure lol
Nice flight, any idea on how high it flew on the F. I, still have the thirty anniversary kit (1998), un-built in its box. Estes used to say disconnected the escape tower before launch. No way it will stay on when it lands.
It was a composite E actually. Altitude I estimate over 300, likely close to 400. I flew it on this motor since I didn't trust a D12-3 to be able to pop the chute in time after a 100 ft altitude flight. I had flown an up engined 1/100 Little Joe 2 years ago (was designed for mini motors, I converted it for 18mm A to C motors) and yes the Estes escape tower could be prone to damage since the struts had so little gluing surface. The new tower though, which appears partly based on Centuri part architecture is A LOT better designed. So the tower is much more sturdy, especially if you use plastic weld glue to assemble. The only weak links are the spots where they attach to the capsule. On my bird, the upper section's chute was more a streamer, but it still came down sideways and the tower only popped off when it hit the ground. It survived ascent just fine. If the chute had opened properly, I believe it would have stayed on.
@@JMChladek Centuri still rocked in its days and all I bought (few Estes locally in store). So bummed seeing Centuri phase out and their design and technology in the Estes kits. Love to get back into flying here in Charleston. Gotta find place. Time and well time (honey do list)
Believe me when I say the best elements of Centuri is still a shining point of the Estes production line. The most recent Saturn V and Saturn 1B kits use plastic wraps like Centuri, even though the details are better. The Centuri Little Joe 2 was also repopped a couple years back with some refinements (and the Centuri Redstone has been in production from Estes since the mid 1980s). My pathfinder Viking rocket is a Centuri design as well, fibre fins and all. BTW, the Saturn V Skylab that just got issued has a 29mm motor mount. So it can fly on an F motor. I hope to have mine built and ready to fly by the 48th anniversary in May.
I was late from the launch time at KSC by about two hours. Some patches of light rain moved through so I thought it better to wait for that to pass first rather than trying to force the issue. It was a good idea as sky conditions were perfect and even the wind had died down a little.
@@JMChladek Oh. Cool anyway. You did a great job building it. I remember as a kid I was intimidated by the complexity of the kit, so I didn't buy it. I did buy and build the Mars Snooper. If I was going to build one today, my choice would be to recreate my Mars Snooper from back in rhe day. Thanks for the nice video!
Now after I built this I did obtain an original Estes K-36 kit from the early 70s. I'm still working up the nerve to build it since it is more challenging in spots with cardstock wraps instead of vac plastic ones. It is definitely Skill Level 5 while the one I built is closer to old Skill Level 4.
Score!!! I got the same kit. I have wanted to build one of these since I was 9 years old in 1976. My teacher had one for the Bicentennial (early, he shot it off the last day of school) That thing was the coolest. I pray mine flies as well as yours. btw: I got the Mercury one as well to have a regular user I can shoot anytime.
@@JMChladek oh, I forgot all all about the Skylab rocket. That would be really cool. I got some actual training manuals for Skylab. That same teacher had an address at Langley that would send any publication you requested for free. I still have a stack of stuff she sent me. Voyager, Pioneer, Skylab, etc, lots of 8x10 photos too.
Oh how I agree, I have had a couple that blew up, one blew a huge hole right threw the side of the rocket, like it was an M-80 firecracker instead of a solid rocket motor that was in it. I found out later that I had really old engines and they were prone to do that. Never made that mistake again.
Not true. The Saturn V F-1 engine was/is a marvel of LOX/Kerosene combustion power. We could indeed build them. But we went on to harness liquid hydrogen resulting in development of more powerful first stage engines such as the Space Shuttle Main Engine and the derivative being used on the SLS. Studies have been done and we "could" do an equivalent engine to the F-1 engine. But we don't have a current need for exactly the same application at this time.
Launch was cool but looking at an empty pad for the remainder of the flight was a waste of time. I was hoping you had more than 1 camera and we’d see the flight and landing next but, nope. Can’t give it a thumbs up or subscribe. Viewers want to see flights not empty pads.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I wish we could have seen it.
Ya
Charles Holliday disliked the video because of it
@@SamuelH No he did not.
Charles Holliday what?
@@charlesholliday1013 he was saying HE disliked the video, confused me at first too though
Congratulations on your flight. But your video left much to be desired. It would have been nice to follow the flight of your bird and the deployment of the chutes. What the heck?
Hey we got a nice view of grass, trees, and soccer nets. So quit your damn complaining!
DICK TRICKLE 🤣 facs
I launched mine (a latest-edition Estes) on the same date (7/16/2019). I recently built a 1972-era kit - and I don't know if I would EVER have the courage to launch it! You're a braver man than me! Glad that yours came back intact!
My best friend at the time built one of those in 69, he was 10. It was beautiful. His Dad took us out to launch it. Man it looked so good for a second. Flames shooting out of the bottom it slowly started to lift. Only two of the three clustered engines fired. It reached about 15 ft. and nose dived. We were all crushed including the rocket. He took it well. It did fly.
I have one here in my garage I never finished building. It’s nice to see yours fly👍
Awesome, I’m getting my first model rocket tomorrow.
Same
You’ll get hooked easily.
I could hear your excitement, yet concern to launch. Thanks for sharing your video and experience with us. Anyone who’s shot off a few rockets, knows the disappointment of losing one in a tree or for me . . a manure pond.
I think you need a couple of more cameras. It was more like a radio broadcast.
Nice rocket. I like the “guidance is internal”. Sorta tongue in cheek there. Kind of a nice vid. Got to see the take off. Nice big playfield or park. Green, very green. Lots of trees. Blue sky. A tad windy. Nice atmosphere.
"It's still a rocket; needs to fly" I get that, totally get that.
Was my motto as a kid. Didn’t care about weather. Glue “dried” it had to fly. Most of my kits were Centuri and 1 time flights as I never saw where they landed ( I always used big engines although not the area for it. Trees gobbled them up. 😜
Yep. Just finished up one i bought years ago. Going to fly it before I put too much more effort into the paint and decals.
It applies to everything in life.
I love it, as a kid I’ve launched tons of these model rockets, in fact I probably kept Estes in business because except for a handful, I haven’t recovered many mostly one and done, I remember one of my first kits was a rocket called long john silver , was a tall one painted silver with black lettering, that one actually somehow lifted off about twenty feet and then blew apart, aaah the good old days, when launching model rockets meant spending a couple weeks building and painting it instead of just pressing the c button on your controller
Thanks for the memories! I was pretty heavy into it back in the 60's. Astron Alpha, Astron X-ray, Big Bertha, Astron Sprint..some others. My favorite and most successful one was my Orbital Transport. Flew it dozens of times. the detachable shuttle flew perfect circles. Then I built a Saturn 1B. Like you, it took many many hours. Four engine cluster. C6-5's if I remember correctly. First launch and recovery was successful. Second time a neighbors dog spotted it and destroyed it before we could get to it. I was devastated. I love dogs, but that one, not so much.
Ur neighbor’s dog destroyed ur rocket?!
:C
Same dog that ate my homework! I am 63 years young, one of my favorites back when, was the Estes Cherokee D. In my man cave I currently have an Estes Little Joe I, Little Joe II, and the Mercury Redstone. I will not fly these. I plan on buying the Cherokee D next, and potentially fly it. Great memories, thanks.
Jojo Diver love it man I didn’t scroll down but just posted a similar post, same memories!
Herman Morales great post me too lots of memories of spending weeks building and running down to the nearest field and sending it up to never be seen again, or getting caught in a tree blocks away!
When I was in 5th grade I built 3 of the 4 estees level 5s. Saturn 5 , Saturn 1B and Mars lander. Saturn 5 and Mars lander were my favorites. I like the boxes they came in too
Four years since this one. Similar to a number of other model-builder guys - nothing posted in years. Sorry I missed out earlier. Hoping you are well out there and still building & launching. All the Best - Thank You for the videos.
Just real life matters. I still build, but haven't really had a project with a desire to document online yet. But it will happen eventually.
I have the same kit still in the box . Great Flight! I hope to launch mine this coming July. IfI do I will video it and share it on my channel. Thanks again .
Thanks. I am currently working on the Estes Saturn 1B kit that just came out.
@@JMChladek do they still make them with multiple engine configuration or using the larger single motors? Been out of since I joined the Navy years ago and eyeing some of the old kits I had. ($$$$$) on eBay. Yikes.
Excellent flight on this 50 Anniversary! Congratulations.
Thanks!
Thank you for sharing it brings back memories....
@king darey No, I was heavily into model rockets as a kid
JMC, nice tribute to the Apollo 11 50th Anniversary. I mail ordered and built Estes rockets back in the 60's. Couldn't wait to get my new rocket in the mail. I'd stay up all night on a Friday or Saturday night building and painting them and hoping the glue and paint would dry enough for a next day launch. Didn't know Estes was still around and making those things. Congrats on that Saturn 5 and thanks for bringing back some good old memories.
We all stay at some level kids forever, don't we? It's been many years since my model rocket days (bought a V2-ish rocket kit with three motors from an ad in the back of a 1969 Boy's Life magazine, for $2. The accessory kit (paint, etc) was 25 cents if I recollect correctly. Have often thought of showing my inner child and buying another one in my retirement LOL. Great fun it seems, can be had at any age.
Nice Saturn v!!! Looked wonderful. I build and fly giant scale gas rc planes and have always wanted to try an old apollo rocket. Even if I dont fly it I'll hang it up lol. Good job bud keep it up
Cool!.. I saw Buzz Aldrin speak for an hour here in NZ in 2010.. thanks from down under. 👍🇳🇿
probably the coolest thing i have ever seen , congrats man :)
Glad to see it was returned safely.. :)
Nicely built,,, I built this beauty when I was younger. I would love to build it again if anyone knows if it's available.
I've gotten one from apogeerockets , they have so many videos on builds of particular builds , building tip, building supplies and so on, they even have a channel on here at UA-cam
In 1979 I build a Saturn five rocket and with help from my grandfather we built a liquid fueled rocket engine that carried it to almost 7000 feet into the air
I spent months building a 2 stage rocket. Of course, it "had to fly" so I launched it. The second stage parachute ejection charge didn't ignite. Needless to say, the the upper stage free fell until it hit the ground. All kinds of damage. I almost cried. So I know exactly how nervous he was.
My favorite was Big Bertha, 4 feet of rocket, about 5" in diameter, sit there and smoke for a second before moving, slow and loud. Low parachute pop, was a show horse of a rocket.
The Bertha is a well known favorite. Estes had a winner on their hands with that one.
I built one in 1984. I used the single D12 sized engine and it gives it a nice slow lift-off that's very scale in speed. It worked great until the third launch. The engine mount blew out of the back because of the strain of popping four chutes at once. No chutes and it did a lawn dart into the field. The tubes folded into each other. It was done :(
Yeah. the original cardboard/paper wrapped Estes Saturn was light enough that you could get good D12-3 flights. These newer plastic wrapped ones are just a bit too marginal for my tastes, which is why I went E30 composite. An E15 might have worked, but the CATO potential I felt was too risky given the work I did building this.
Your Saturn V is a beauty. I know how hard it must be to send it up! I ordered mine today and not sure if I would launch it when I’m done, I’ve lost too many on the first flight!
Ain't that the truth. There was one day when I was younger when I lost three rockets or had damage. The Saturn V I heard horror stories about flying on black powder motors (Ds not enough oomph and Es liking to cato). If it weren't for the composite E, I doubt I would have flown her. But as nerve wracking as it was, the successful recovery made it all worth it.
Eric kienzie. How did you lose them? I lost my 1st estes riptide rocket. Due to the wind and small grass field launched from. Bummer. I bought another. But haven't assembled or launched yet in 2yrs lol. I'm thinking of buying the Saturn V?
Here is some clarification for viewers who might be inclined to comment on the cinematography of this video or make snarky comments on how that was "five minutes of my life I will never get back". Actually it is more like six or seven minutes if you took time and energy to write such a snarky post after watching the whole video but oh well.
It was one camera on a single tripod. I was not using a hand held camera (or a camera phone) because the controller I use has an arming button and a firing button, requiring the use of two hands. Safe launch, flight and recovery of the rocket were the primary goals. Yes, after launch I suppose I could have grabbed a camera phone to record the coast phase and the chutes. But I decided I was going to chase the rocket and perhaps catch the main body due to details on it I didn't want damaged. Very difficult to do that with a camera in a hand.
Fortunately the rocket body landed safely under two chutes with no damage to it, but it was touch and go for a bit. This was going to be the only flight of this rocket and after the many hours I spent building, accurizing and painting it, I wanted to do as much as I could to ensure its successful recovery. The next time I build a Saturn V to fly, it will likely have more than a single flight and potentially better video documentation. Thank you for watching.
I flew mine Tuesday as well. I recorded it live on FB. It flew beautiful but didn’t return well. The upper stage returned perfectly but the chutes in the lower stage failed to deploy.
Ouch... Hopefully it can be rebuilt.
Good flight, it is almost impossible to avoid the escape tower popping off.
Every Saturn V should fly at least once.
At least the new escape tower separates in one piece. The old one typically would not only come off, but also break into three pieces.
would have liked to saw the rocket in flight
Great video and an absolute beauty of a rocket. For folks who don't know, there's not much to see in the air by video.
Not true
@@Hoodooboiiii the ground spinning really really fast. That's not much to me.
Awesome! I love the launch site as well.
I'm not a rocket enthusiast ..however just got an estes riptide to have a go .. watching this as a fellow modeler I can hear how passionate and personal that launch was for you ..loved the countdown and commentary 😎 excellent work my friend .. Greetings from uk 👍
Thank you Jeff. That is primarily down to all the work spent building that rocket, the hours spent on it. So at launch the feelings are in conflict; the need to see it fly versus the hope that it doesn't destroy all that work in the process.
@@JMChladek I know exactly the feeling .. I have maidend around 70 rc planes and that feeling on rotation .. the maiden jitters .. anything can happen in the first vital 5 seconds .. sink or swim .. money can't replace the mass hours that go into modeling whichever genre .. keep em flyin my friend 😎👍
@@highflying82 Eric kienzie. Hows your riptide flight. I lost my 1st estes riptide rocket. Due to the wind and small grass field launched from. Bummer. I bought another. But haven't assembled or launched yet in 2yrs lol. I'm thinking of buying the Saturn V?
@@JMChladek is your Saturn V a estes model. Is it hard to assemble? Is their painting to do. How long does it take to do??
@@kiwimon3204 Yes, it is the 1/100 scale kit. It is rated at Skill Level 4 and requires paint and decals. Time it took for me to do this one I estimate at about 40 hours spread out over five months. But I tend to take my time with projects. Minimum time to build I estimate would be about 20 hours.
When I was a teen, I spent hours and hours building the Estes "Mars Lander" (with the rubber bands that allowed the legs to flex). I launched it once, and (of course) the 'chute didn't deploy completely and it snapped a leg. I repaired it and retired it to be a shelf queen, but I was always kind of sorry that I attempted the launch.
That is always the risk we take with the projects that are labors of love. But we like seeing them fly too, especially when things go right.
I still want to kick in the jimmies whoever wrote up the recommendation for a B6-4 or some weak ass motor for the first flight of the Mars Lander. Went up all of about 25 feet, arced over, and crashed head first before the parachute could even deploy.
Now you see it, now you don't. Would have been nice to have "flight following" so we could have seen it past ignition. Nevertheless, it came back mostly unscathed, nothing that can't be fixed so you can display it. Model looked great. I have one of those sitting in its box, along with a Mercury-Redstone, Little Joe I and II's. looking for the Saturn 1B and Gemini-Titan kits now.
Great flight! A shame we didn't get to see it.
What Launch Controller was used? Good Launch!
A 1990s vintage Estes Pro Series 2 controller. They can be powered by one or two 7.2V rechargeable packs for RC cars. I have also heard of people using LiPo packs with them. They can also be used to launch clusters as well.
That count down was bad ass!
Congrats on a successful launch and landing.
Great launch! Greetings from San Antonio! I had one as a boy but never launched it. It was an intimidating build for me lol
My pleasure. My first rocket flights were in San Antonio in 1982, the first being a Space Shuttle. I have previous Saturn kit versions, but I also had to work up the nerve to build this beast. Glad I did.
Greetings as well from San Antonio. I found a Saturn v Estes. I’m going to buy it. Good video!
I’m from San Antonio
Sweet! I know the feeling. I'm like that with my Estes V2!
I will always remember the day we landed on the moon! What an amazing accomplishment for mankind and the United States. One suggestion: could you please zoom out from the rocket or have someone video the flight to follow the flight so we can actually see the rocket flying?
You will only see one second of a smoke trail. Not much on video. Gotta be there in person.
@@electricfil I disagree, with a rocket that big you will see it, it will be quick but with two large parachutes we would have also seen those deploy that would have been cool. I agree with you if it had been a smaller rocket and yes nothing would beat being there in person. But a talented second cameraman to catch the rocket in sky would have been awesome.
I am currently building the Saturn V Limited Edition Skylab @1/100 scale. I got many questions about the paint. Is this just a guessing game. What did you use, I am wondering. Cause your rocket looks like it's painted good.
I used a good quality primer (Tamiya normal gray primer) to help fill the spiral windings of the body tube and Tamiya fine white primer over the model after construction was done. I used Tamiya gloss white spray and airbrushed the black on (Tamiya acrylic gloss black I believe) and had to do touch-ups with Tamiya X-2 gloss white as even though I masked things as best as I could, I still had areas of bleed. Tamiya Silver Leaf was used in spots and Tamiya yellow tape was used for the majority of the masking.
I know several modelers like using Krylon or Rust-Oleum spray for rockets because they are relatively cheap and plentiful. But I had a bad experience with Krylon primer wrecking the vac wraps on a Saturn 1B about 30 years back and have seen Rust-Oleum wreck paintjobs. So for a model like this, I made sure to use high quality model paints. If done right, the Estes Saturn V will be the queen of your fleet. So minimize the risk of wrecking it by not trying to save a few bucks. The Tamiya sprays are hobby lacquers with great fast drying properties and Tamiya acrylics are chemically inert to most everything else out there.
BTW, if you are on FB, look for the "space modelers" group. I am but one of a world wide community that builds space and rocket models who try to take them to a higher standard. If you have questions, we can direct you to additional resources.
Glad you launched it congrats
I built mine 24 yrs ago and never launched it. It would have been nice to see the actual flight and not just the lift off. Looks like your escape tower broke.
It happened on landing since the chute was a streamer. The tower went through boost and ejection fine and this new tower is more robust than the previous ones. If it was old Estes, it would have busted in four places. This one just popped at the glue joints attaching it to the capsule.
Hey what a beautiful rocket! I believe or I could fly as well. I live in Louisville I love to get together sometime and fly Rockets. I’m starting to get bigger rockets and I have no experience with them.
Once again great job what a beautiful rocket
Really awesome! I’m glad you were able to recover it without any damage
That was pretty cool. IT was GREAT that the launch was successful and your hours of work were worth it and gratifying. It was nice of you to film it and share it. I have launched a few rockets in my time but nothing that big. I am an Apollo program fanatic; that being said, that was an extremely fast escape from the launch tower! Can you imagine if the real Saturn V were to escape the tower that fast. The G-forces coming that immediate would have been overbearing on the astronauts. It was very cool that you did this on the anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11. The only thing that would have been better would be if you have a second person filming the rocket in the sky and the parachute deployment. SO I only say this because if you decide to do a Columbia Shuttle model and launch on the 40th Anniversary of STS-1 on April 12, 2021 or the 50th anniversay 10 years later keep that in mind......LOL
LOL! Like a Little Joe 2 launch. Those left the pad in a hurry. That is one inescapable contradiction of scale model rocketry. A slow takeoff is more realistic, but a fast takeoff to higher altitude helps with safe recovery of the work done. Thanks for the good words.
I've got one of these that I built a couple of years ago from an actual late 60s kit. I built it in honor of the one I built in 1970 as a 14-year-old kid. I have to say that my new one will never fly. My God, the hours it took to build this thing properly. I have several others like the full-size Comanche and the Orbital Transport and the Centuri Space Shuttle. A company called Semroc seems to make all the old kits: www.erockets.biz/semroc-rocket-kits/ I've got a bunch that I haven't even built yet. Very reluctant to fly them though. When I was a kid, I had a friend who used to just slap them together in record time, and then launch them sideways into a building or a tree. Even then, I cringed.
That is a beautiful rocket. I am glad it flew successfully and that it landed in almost perfect shape. I am old enough to actually remember the real flight of Apollo 11, so I can relate to how you can get emotionally worked up. By the way, your park looks beautiful. Here in Los Angeles, if you launched in a park you would be surrounded by the tents, filth, and danger of many, many mentally ill and drug addicted homeless people. I just wish you had footage of the Saturn V rising to the heavens, and wow it shot up fast considering how big a rocket that thing is.
Great video. Do you remember what paint you used for they gray fins??
Tamiya chrome silver (or aircraft aluminum) spray. I am pretty sure it was aircraft aluminum in the Aircraft Spray line and I also used it for the service module.
@@JMChladek Thank you so much!
That look of complete joy at 3:16 made my day
Very nice..next time bring someone to man the camera. Is this really a 1969 kit, left from 1969. I have the 30 anniversary kit from 1999 still waiting to be build.
The kit is Estes kit #1969, issued in 2019. They got clever with the title. I did obtain an Estes K-35 Saturn V kit from the early 70s and I hope to build it, just not sure when exactly.
A 1/2 second of launch from the pad? You couldn’t even pan up?
No pan possible because the camera is on a tripod filming remotely. I'm standing nearby with two hands on the launch controller holding the arming button down and pressing the fire button. I had no assistant to film and my focus that day was to launch, track (with my eyes, not a handheld camera) and recover the rocket safely. Filming was secondary and mostly to document a launch for the attempted record of most rockets to fly within a 24 hour period on the anniversary date of Apollo 11s flight.
This is the first time I had ever done a camera setup. Next time if I film a launch, things might be better.
Beautiful rocket.
Mid 60's here with Estes, a couple of years ago got to thinking about building some again.
Estes has made it more like snap together, not interested at all now.
Many of the rockets are like that, but the current Estes Saturn V Skylab (my Apollo Saturn from 2019) and Saturn 1B are pretty "old school" in construction. They build much like the Centuri kits given they use plastic vaccuformed wraps for the stage details and those are not easy even for experienced rocket builders. The only real update they did was using one piece injection tooled fins to glue on instead of the old two piece vaccuformed fins. But while I didn't have to fill and sand balsa fins on my Apollo Saturn, I still had to fill and sand the spiral winding on the BT-101 tube.
I would say while the three 1/100 Saturns from Estes are no longer Skill level 5, I would put them on par with a low skill level 4 or even a very high level 3 in terms of complexity of build.
@@JMChladek I was looking forward to working with balsa wood nose, fins...
I put a lot of work into building those, so much so, like you, i hated to ignite the engine.
I know built the V2, some others there and maybe the Saturn. I used small blocks of steel to keep everything lined up while the glue dried.
@@nicoradv3923 if you can find it, Semroc did a clone of the old Estes 1/70 Saturn 1B which has a balsa nose cone and the fins that have to be built. It hasn't been available for awhile, but they have other rockets of the old skill level 5 class.
Are those even legal with the dry season and fire hazard. Might have been what started those Hawaii fires.
Local fire codes dictate that. When I flew this in 2019 ground conditions were fine and it rained an hour before. There is a safety code we have to follow before flying to make sure we fly safe and we follow federal and state laws.
As for Hawaii, doubtful. At last check the prevailing thought was sparking power lines due to high wind gusts from a nearby Hurricane.
That was very cool!
Thanks amigo! Love your recent creations as well old friend.
great view henry
Good for you to fly at least once. Now hangar queen as inspiration for the young ones.
Thanks for sharing. In my youth, I had the plastic “Vampire”.
I really respect your decision to stick to the plan and fly it. I'm about to get back in to it during this virus lock down and I wanna start out at the highest level, but I guess I'll go beginner level just to be sure lol
Nice flight, any idea on how high it flew on the F. I, still have the thirty anniversary kit (1998), un-built in its box. Estes used to say disconnected the escape tower before launch. No way it will stay on when it lands.
It was a composite E actually. Altitude I estimate over 300, likely close to 400. I flew it on this motor since I didn't trust a D12-3 to be able to pop the chute in time after a 100 ft altitude flight.
I had flown an up engined 1/100 Little Joe 2 years ago (was designed for mini motors, I converted it for 18mm A to C motors) and yes the Estes escape tower could be prone to damage since the struts had so little gluing surface. The new tower though, which appears partly based on Centuri part architecture is A LOT better designed. So the tower is much more sturdy, especially if you use plastic weld glue to assemble. The only weak links are the spots where they attach to the capsule.
On my bird, the upper section's chute was more a streamer, but it still came down sideways and the tower only popped off when it hit the ground. It survived ascent just fine. If the chute had opened properly, I believe it would have stayed on.
@@JMChladek Centuri still rocked in its days and all I bought (few Estes locally in store). So bummed seeing Centuri phase out and their design and technology in the Estes kits. Love to get back into flying here in Charleston. Gotta find place. Time and well time (honey do list)
Believe me when I say the best elements of Centuri is still a shining point of the Estes production line. The most recent Saturn V and Saturn 1B kits use plastic wraps like Centuri, even though the details are better. The Centuri Little Joe 2 was also repopped a couple years back with some refinements (and the Centuri Redstone has been in production from Estes since the mid 1980s). My pathfinder Viking rocket is a Centuri design as well, fibre fins and all.
BTW, the Saturn V Skylab that just got issued has a 29mm motor mount. So it can fly on an F motor. I hope to have mine built and ready to fly by the 48th anniversary in May.
Well didn't see it if you were here to watch a soccer field your at the right spot
Great job! You had balls to launch that beauty.
Did you launch precisely at 11:32 AM (10:32 AM in Nebraska)? I was a 9 year old boy that morning on July 16, 1969 watching a dream come true.
I was late from the launch time at KSC by about two hours. Some patches of light rain moved through so I thought it better to wait for that to pass first rather than trying to force the issue. It was a good idea as sky conditions were perfect and even the wind had died down a little.
So that was a vintage 1969 Estes Saturn V? And if so, did you build it when you were a kid?
No, it is Estes kit #1969, issued in 2019 for the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11.
@@JMChladek Oh. Cool anyway. You did a great job building it. I remember as a kid I was intimidated by the complexity of the kit, so I didn't buy it. I did buy and build the Mars Snooper. If I was going to build one today, my choice would be to recreate my Mars Snooper from back in rhe day. Thanks for the nice video!
Now after I built this I did obtain an original Estes K-36 kit from the early 70s. I'm still working up the nerve to build it since it is more challenging in spots with cardstock wraps instead of vac plastic ones. It is definitely Skill Level 5 while the one I built is closer to old Skill Level 4.
Nice launch pad.
lifting the Saturn V is fast.
Damn I wanted to see it go into the sky
Score!!! I got the same kit. I have wanted to build one of these since I was 9 years old in 1976. My teacher had one for the Bicentennial (early, he shot it off the last day of school) That thing was the coolest. I pray mine flies as well as yours. btw: I got the Mercury one as well to have a regular user I can shoot anytime.
Most excellent. I plan to do the Mercury Redstone and Atlas next. I would also love to do a Saturn V Skylab.
@@JMChladek oh, I forgot all all about the Skylab rocket. That would be really cool. I got some actual training manuals for Skylab.
That same teacher had an address at Langley that would send any publication you requested for free. I still have a stack of stuff she sent me. Voyager, Pioneer, Skylab, etc, lots of 8x10 photos too.
now, i have seen it all
It’s always nice when they don’t blow up💥
Oh how I agree, I have had a couple that blew up, one blew a huge hole right threw the side of the rocket, like it was an M-80 firecracker instead of a solid rocket motor that was in it. I found out later that I had really old engines and they were prone to do that. Never made that mistake again.
Nice
Take someone with you to control the camera so we can see...
Awesome
That’s awesome 😎
Oh man you look like my high school math teacher who was a horrible teacher
Attaboy, Jay!!
More of a podcast than a video really.
that was great, thanks
Stock parachutes??? Smh
Saturn 5 engine was a marvel of engineering. So much so no one alive today can build them
Not true. The Saturn V F-1 engine was/is a marvel of LOX/Kerosene combustion power. We could indeed build them. But we went on to harness liquid hydrogen resulting in development of more powerful first stage engines such as the Space Shuttle Main Engine and the derivative being used on the SLS.
Studies have been done and we "could" do an equivalent engine to the F-1 engine. But we don't have a current need for exactly the same application at this time.
Is this why a rocket crashed into my house...................
Nice view of the trees. Damn show the fucking thing next time
Ok thanks
Nice grass
If you're fligbt.has a fi ne sequence start and lift off , no collisions or engine fires , and not one person injured then you are a success.
Nice i thats a highly engineered beutty
Great....
I want one!
Take it out of retirement and launch it with a full view of launch please.
Nope. It is too happy on display.
Fire the cameraman.
awesome clip
Launch was cool but looking at an empty pad for the remainder of the flight was a waste of time. I was hoping you had more than 1 camera and we’d see the flight and landing next but, nope. Can’t give it a thumbs up or subscribe. Viewers want to see flights not empty pads.
A-OK
❤️❤️❤️💟💟💟💟💟