Model Rocketry (magazine)

Model Rocketry

September 1969 issue of Model Rocketry.
Managing Editor	Gordon Mandell
Categories	Hobby magazines
Frequency	Monthly
Circulation	15,000
Publisher	George Flynn
First issue	October 1968
Final issue — Number	February 1972 Vol. 4 No. 4
Company	Model Rocketry, Inc.
Country	USA
Based in	Cambridge, Massachusetts
Language	English

Model Rocketry was an American hobbyist magazine published from October 1968 to February 1972. The Editor and Publisher was George J. Flynn and the Managing Editor was Gordon K. Mandell. Other members of the editorial and business staffs, some of whom held several positions at various times during the years the magazine was published, were Assistant Editors Robert B. Singer (November 1969 to November 1971) and Robert Parks (July 1970 to February 1972); Technical Editor Douglas J. Malewicki (November 1969 to February 1972); Business Managers George J. Caporaso (October 1968 to August 1969), Jerome Apt, III (Jay Apt) (September 1969 to December 1970), Thomas T. Milkie (January to November 1971), and Arthur H. (Trip) Barber (December 1971 to February 1972); Technical Correspondent George J. Caporaso (September 1969 to February 1972); Distribution Managers Thomas T. Milkie (October 1968 to October 1969), Kevin P. Brown (November 1969 to December 1970), and Steven Glines (January 1971 to February 1972); and Art Director Thomas T. Milkie (November and December 1969). The magazine was published by Model Rocketry, Inc., a closely held corporation owned by founding staff members George J. Flynn, Gordon K. Mandell, George J. Caporaso, and Thomas T. Milkie and members of their families. Its paid circulation reached 15,000 by 1970.

The launch of Sputnik in 1957 and the space race to the moon made model rocketry a popular hobby. Model Rocketry magazine was started at the height of the Apollo program. Each issue had plans and instructions for constructing rockets typically powered by black powder rocket motors such as those made by Estes Industries. There were also technical articles on model rocket design that would include several pages of theory and equations. There was a series of articles starting in October 1969 on writing FORTRAN programs to calculate flight parameters. The magazine also covered model rocketry clubs' launch meets and contests.

From August 1969 to February 1972 Model Rocketry incorporated The Model Rocketeer, the official journal of the National Association of Rocketry.

The September 1969 issue of Model Rocketry shown at the right has a typical cover design and contents. The cover photo shows the launch of a model rocket approximately 2 feet (61 cm) tall with a small camera as the payload. The camera will take a photo after the rocket reaches its apogee and starts its descent with a parachute. This issue also has construction plans for an egg lofting rocket, a type of rocket used in competitions to see how high an egg could be launched and recovered without cracking. The topics on the cover include Apollo 11 and the issue includes a 6 page article by the Managing Editor, Gordon Mandell, about the first manned mission to land on the moon.