Ben and I have been listening to rumors about construction of a gigantic Saturn V in the local rocketry circles. At Red Glare IV we met Steve Eves as he demonstrated his locking mechanism for attaching the 2 halves together to the MDRA officers. Just the size of the locking mechanism proved that the rumors were true. The 1/10 scale, 36-foot Saturn V was a reality. Not only did Steve build it, he wants to fly it! Eight “N” motors and one central “P” motor will be required to send this behemoth rocket close to a  mile into the sky. This is expected to be largest amateur built and flown rocket, one for the record books.

The Saturn V and Apollo capsule hold fond memories. I grew up during the excitement of the Gemini and Apollo missions and followed the moon landings in newspapers and on the family’s single 19-inch black and white TV religiously. Joseph and I collaborated on a 20-page Race for Space report for an eighth grade project and received an “A”. The excitement of these early space missions contributed to my current enjoyment and challenges of flying hobby rockets today. When an opportunity presented itself to become part of Steve’s historical event, Ben and I jumped. Ben and I are sponsoring one of the eight “N” motors for the project. While this might seem like a trivial contribution, we are still very excited to be involved in any way. To fully understand the significance of this project, please visit Rocket's Magazine.

The Saturn V was successfully flown on April 25, 2009. Read the flight report here.