Ye Olde Rocket Forum

Go Back   Ye Olde Rocket Forum > The Golden Age of Model Rocketry > Model Rocket History
User Name
Password
Auctions Register FAQ Members List Calendar Today's Posts Search Mark Forums Read


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old 11-19-2018, 08:58 AM
Blastfromthepast Blastfromthepast is offline
'nother Old Fart BAR....
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Castle Rock, Colorado
Posts: 381
Default An Old Pic of Bill Roe

Hi, All, I posted this on my blog this past Saturday, but I figured it might be a good subject to throw in the 'history' forum here on YORF, as well. Enjoy....

I have this old photo which I took in April, 1978 of none other than NAR pioneer Bill Roe (NAR #13).
Sorry for the bad image – at the time, I had a really cheap camera, and did not possess much in the way of photography skills.
The club I belonged to – Skywatchers / ROMAR, held an annual Spring demonstration launch at a shopping center at one of the busiest intersections in Colorado Springs. The demos were sponsored by the Ru-Jan Party and Hobby Shop, located in the strip mall.
Bill would occasionally make a rare appearance at some of our club launches, but we were particularly delighted when he showed up at this public demo.
Sporting his familiar grey jumpsuit and red NAR cap, Bill had a great time, hanging around and enjoying watching the model rocket demo flights.

For this photo, I caught Bill being Bill – kneeling down and helping a young club member with prepping one of the demo birds. Mr. Roe was all about that – making sure that rocketeers young and old alike, did things the proper way. He was such a great guy to know and be around, as he exuded such a huge love for the hobby and sport of model rocketry.

I never saw Bill again after this demo event. In fact, I am reasonably sure that this demo launch may have been the very last rocketry event Bill attended before he passed in 1980.
I feel very privileged at having been there.
And, I’m very glad I still possess an old blurry photograph of Bill to share with the model rocket community….
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:  Bill roe 78.png
Views: 141
Size:  218.4 KB  
__________________
Just remember...G. Harry Stine's first ever model rocket was an RTF !

Check out my wonderful model rocketry blog here:
https://castlerocketeer.blogspot.com/
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 11-19-2018, 12:43 PM
tbzep's Avatar
tbzep tbzep is offline
Dazed and Confused
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: TN
Posts: 11,610
Default

I love this kind of stuff with posts and pics of the pioneers I've only read about after I was grown. I had no access to clubs as a kid, therefore I was a rocketry loner in the 70's. I couldn't afford NAR membership so I didn't get to read anything other than the flyers that Estes and Centuri sent out. (I grew up on a farm so I didn't have an allowance or an outside job.) I barely scraped up enough to buy a few rockets and motors. Thanks to the internet, I've at least been able to read some of the old club publications. Posts like these fill in the gaps.
__________________
I love sanding.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 11-19-2018, 02:07 PM
Chas Russell's Avatar
Chas Russell Chas Russell is offline
Retired Missile Technician
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Fort Worth, TX
Posts: 1,076
Default

Bill was the contest director for NARAM-11 in 1969 at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. It was my first NARAM and they sent contestant pictures to their local newspapers. I had just graduated from high school. Later served over 21 years in the Air Force.

Chas
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:  Bill_Roe_and_Charles_Russell_1969[1].JPG
Views: 94
Size:  519.4 KB  
__________________
Charles Russell, MSgt,USAF (ret.)
NAR 9790, Lvl 1
SAM "Balls Three"
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 11-20-2018, 05:46 AM
mycrofte's Avatar
mycrofte mycrofte is offline
Trust me, it'll work!
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Illinois
Posts: 1,840
Default

Growing up in a small town, we didn't know such things existed. Guess my friends and I were our own rocket club for a few years. Had to learn everything from trial & error.
_______________________
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 11-20-2018, 08:21 AM
rocketguy101's Avatar
rocketguy101 rocketguy101 is offline
frustrated aero
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Duncan, OK
Posts: 832
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by mycrofte
Growing up in a small town, we didn't know such things existed. Guess my friends and I were our own rocket club for a few years. Had to learn everything from trial & error.
_______________________

Yeah, we were the same way. Our LHS started carrying Model Rocketry magazine and that opened up a whole new world for us. Our shop only carried Centuri rockets and motors, so reading about Estes and FSI was pretty amazing.

Later I moved to larger town, and my Jr High library had GHS's Handbook of Model Rocketry. Mr Roe appears in those pages frequently.
__________________
David Stribling
NAR 18402 SR
But it is rocket science!
Get yer Barrowmans here
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 11-20-2018, 02:02 PM
Blastfromthepast Blastfromthepast is offline
'nother Old Fart BAR....
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Castle Rock, Colorado
Posts: 381
Default

A little more local history on Bill Roe -

In early 1973, the Skywatchers/ ROMAR club was formed in Colorado Springs. Bill Roe came by to one of our launches and made us an offer we couldn't refuse - he donated to us the entire set of range equipment that had belonged to the Peak City Section, the 2nd NAR club in the U.S. This included launch racks, a large metal-cased firing panel with big switches and lamps, a PA system, a phone system for communicating with tracking stations, and a pair of tracking theodolites. These were the same tracking scopes that were used at NARAM-11 - the ones that were too difficult for most folks to use, and were replaced after day one of the meet.

I also recall the club acquiring a tall flag pole which also might have been part of the same equipment lot.

Skywatchers/ROMAR used most of this equipment for several years before it was eventually retired and replaced by more updated, compact and efficient units. The launch racks were still used well into the 80s for most club demo launches.

I do not know whatever became of all this equipment, other than it went into storage at the home of one of the senior club members.

Even though I didn't think any thing about it at the time, all of my earliest model rockets were flown from what has turned out to be some very historic range equipment!
__________________
Just remember...G. Harry Stine's first ever model rocket was an RTF !

Check out my wonderful model rocketry blog here:
https://castlerocketeer.blogspot.com/
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 11-20-2018, 02:26 PM
tbzep's Avatar
tbzep tbzep is offline
Dazed and Confused
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: TN
Posts: 11,610
Default

Friends to fly with? Hobby shops? Ya'll didn't live in a small town. You lived in a real city!
I grew up 30 miles from the nearest traffic light!

BTW, we finally got one a few years ago. One.
__________________
I love sanding.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 11-20-2018, 03:54 PM
Blastfromthepast Blastfromthepast is offline
'nother Old Fart BAR....
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Castle Rock, Colorado
Posts: 381
Default

Yes, I was pretty lucky in that regard. Even more so with Colorado Springs being right in the middle of where the whole hobby got its start, as well as having Estes Industries very close by. I really wish I had discovered model rocketry a little bit earlier than 1969, though.
I'm very glad to hear that you got a good start in the hobby, despite being in a small town - and that you got bitten hard enough by the rocket bug to keep it up all these years!
__________________
Just remember...G. Harry Stine's first ever model rocket was an RTF !

Check out my wonderful model rocketry blog here:
https://castlerocketeer.blogspot.com/
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:00 AM.


Powered by: vBulletin Version 3.0.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Ye Olde Rocket Shoppe © 1998-2024