When the premiere issue appeared in my mailbox, I couldn't wait to get a look at the latest hobby rocketry publication. Upon opening the envelope, I have to admit I was extremely impressed with the slick, glossy cover, professional binding and overall appearance. And this was just from the outside!

Click to enlarge

Knowing the proof of the pudding would be inside, I eagerly turned to the first page and was again impressed with the thick, glossy card stock thickness of the covers. Combined with the professional binding, these magazines won't be falling apart in the years ahead. This should really please the collectors.

When you start to browse through this magazine, it's easy to be overwhelmed with the beautiful layout and the wonderful array of pictures. Did I mention pictures? There are pictures everywhere! Of things I had never seen before. But beyond the professional layout lies the thing that sets this magazine in a totally different realm from other hobby rocketry publications — depth.

Vern & Gleda Estes, founders of the Estes legacy that spawned an industry Click to enlarge

The articles, the way they are presented, it's more than just a professional appearance. There is some real meat here. Interesting story lines, in-depth research, and truly interesting content that will make you feel you are holding a Popular Science instead of a hobby rocketry magazine. Too many other hobby magazines present a launch report with who did what, or here is the latest product information we've received. You get the impression that someone actually worked at this.

Some of you might say, "Yeah, but this is the premier issue — they had time to work at this." True, but that's an awfully high bar to be setting for yourself to overcome each issue if you are the publisher. I get the impression that Mark Mayfield knows the magazine publishing business, and more importantly, knows what sells in magazine publishing. I just kept getting the impression while reading it that this magazine is so much better than anything else I've seen in the hobby that it just didn't seem real. This magazine is more of a coffee table collectible than any other magazine in the hobby, from either yesterday or today.

When I sat down to read it, I knew that I would have to read it straight through. I just couldn't get enough. I learned more in the time it took me to absorb this magazine about the birth of this hobby than I ever imagined.

One of the Estes postcards from back in the day

The lead feature article is entitled "A Special Report on Model Rocketry Pioneers," and was written by the publisher, Mark Mayfield.

Now Mark is blessed with being a packrat, and blessed with a mother who supported his habit. Mark's article is filled with copies of the original orders he placed with Estes and Centuri, beginning with an order for an Estes Mars Snooper on February 5, 1968. Back in those days, companies used your order form as a packing slip and you got your order form back when the order was shipped. What a neat thing to have saved all your old model rocketry memorabilia from such a unique time in the hobby. Reading his article brought back many, many fond memories for me as it appears we progressed through the early days of the hobby on an almost simultaneous timeline.

Writing a report on the pioneers of model rocketry must have been such an exciting expose into the history of our sport. And what report on the history of the hobby would be complete without in-depth interviews with Vern and Gleda Estes, Lee and Betty Piester along with an informative article about the inventions and contributions of Orville and Bob Carlisle?

One wonders how many people have actually even seen a Rock-A-Chute motor? Click to enlarge

I have read a lot of articles on model rocketry, but I have never read such an emotion-generating story as the interview with Vern and Gleda Estes. How exciting to read the stories and fond memories being retold about how the company got started, the move to Penrose, Colorado and the explosive growth the company experienced before being sold to Damon in 1969. You get the feeling reading this interview that you are sitting right there at Vern's knee, hanging on to every word. Mark Mayfield did a great job in capturing the very essence of the hobby in this classic interview.

I have to wonder after reading Orville Carlisle's story about the Rock-A-Chute how history would have changed if he hadn't had such an appetite for pyrotechnics and rockets in general. I even wonder how many people have even seen a Rock-A-Chute motor or rocket kit? It was quite an accomplishment to create an actual working, flyable model rocket, and to go on and have a United States patent issued for it.

Lee Piester of Centuri Engineering fame

And none of this would have ever culminated into what model rocketry has become today had it not been for the energy and stamina of G. Harry Stine and his timely firing from the Martin Company for his statements about American shortcomings in relation to the Sputnik program. That chain of events positioned Stine to take the Rock-A-Chute idea from the basement of Carlisle's house to the mass marketplace, and ultimately led to the founding of the National Association of Rocketry via the Model Missiles Association in late 1957.

Stine's early fascination started a national trend in youngsters across the country that the U.S. Space Program only fueled further. Model rocketry fever was spreading and spreading fast. It caught the attention of Lee Piester, an experimental rocketeer from Arizona, after he attended a National Association of Rocketry NARAM event. After writing an undergraduate thesis on forming a model rocketry company, which his professors accepted on the terms that he follow through and allow them to be investors, Piester went on to form the Centuri Engineering Company in 1962. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Piester built one of the powerhouses of model rocketry concentrating on scale models and created some of the most loved model rocket kits in history. At the height of their popularity, Centuri employed 160 employees in a 40,000 square foot company complex. Like Estes, Centuri was eventually acquired by Damon as well, making the two formal rival companies corporate brethren.

Team America Rocketry Challenge Champions Myles Dunlap, Will Cobb and Michael Goetz representing the Statesville Christian School of NC Click to enlarge

The magazine also had other more recent hobby information to share as well, highlighting this year's Team America Rocketry Challenge held in The Plains, Virginia. Special recognition goes out to this year's winning team: Myles Dunlap, Will Cobb and Michael Goetz representing the Statesville Christian School of Statesville, North Carolina.

While this issue focused on the roots of the hobby, future issues are slated to be composed of low-power, mid-power, high power and experimental rocketry content from around the world. It was extremely interesting reading this issue's narrative, seeing history being unfolded before your eyes about the hobby you love so dearly. And yet, history might be making itself again. LAUNCH Magazine may well be the next model rocketry success story if this premier issue is indicative of the quality of their publication. Certainly the premier issue will hold an extremely high resale value at auction some time in the distant future.

If you haven't ordered your subscription, do so now. Do not delay. In fact, ask them if they still have copies of this issue, and if they do, buy and put it up. The LAUNCH Magazine website where you can sign up for subscriptions is at: http://www.launchmagonline.com/.

The premier issue price is US $7.95 (Shipping: Canadian +$2.00, International +$5.00). One year subscription rates (6 issues) are US $29.95 (Shipping: Canadian +$7.00, International +$11.00). Two year subscription rates (12 issues) are US $49.95 (Shipping: Canadian +$14.00, International +$22.00). Payments accepted online via PayPal or you may mail in your order to:

MM Publishing Inc.
ATTN: LAUNCH Subscription Dept.
350 Fifth Avenue
Suite 5410
New York, NY 10118

11-15-2006 10:51 PM  #1
Rocketaholic Certified Level Three   Joined: Nov 2006 Posts: 15	Launch Magazine is great The people of Launch Magazine are doing a great job. I read all of the articles from the first issue. It is really good. I even e-mailed Vern Estes letting him know it was a really nice interview. Mr. Estes e-mailed me back to personally say thank you. That is what I like about the hobby. It is fun, educational and very personable. Keep up the great work. From a Diehard Rocketaholic currntly deployed in Iraq (4th tour)

11-16-2006 08:20 AM  #2
Verna Certified Level One   Joined: Oct 2006 Posts: 23	Rocketaholic, My oldest daughter is a Marine pilot and about to go back for her 4th deployment too. Thank you for your service! Ooo RAH!

11-16-2006 03:30 PM  #3
ddmobley Administrator   Joined: Jul 2006 Posts: 2548	Quote: From a Diehard Rocketaholic currntly deployed in Iraq (4th tour) Nice to know that you are able to stay personally involved in the hobby from half-way around the world. Thanks for putting Rocketry Planet on your list of activities when there are so many other things you could be doing. Most of all, thanks for making the world a better place for all of us. Thanks for serving.

11-19-2006 05:03 PM  #4
Rocketaholic Certified Level Three   Joined: Nov 2006 Posts: 15	I try to stay informed about he hobby as much as I can I think the hobby keeps me grounded in a sense. I will have 30 months of accumulated time overe here since 2003. I have a blog site: http://rocketaholic.blogspot.com/ where I post items once in a while. Specfically about the hobby and what is going on with space ventures. I hope your daughter who will be back here has a safe tour. I know that the longer we are here, it becomes more tedious and frustrating. I hope that the hobby gets to maintain the freedoms it currenty has and that the BATF does continue to work with us. I even wrote to the BATF while being deployed as well. I know the more we continue to write and have a voice it will make a difference.