My lovely enabler, Melanie

Somewhere along the line, I owned an Estes Mercury Redstone model rocket. I distinctly remember building that red egress tower out of 1/16" wooden dowels. There was a lot of work involved; not as much, however, as the Estes Saturn V model required. I cannot recall what happened to my Estes Mercury Redstone, but I do not think I ever actually launched it. I probably got lost after I went into the U.S. Air Force (1978-1982).

To the left are pages 44 and 45 out of the 1971 edition of the 1971 Estes Model Rocketry Catalog that featured the Saturn V and Saturn 1B models.

Specifications:            Building Instructions
Price = $3.95
Length = 23.5" (59.7 cm)
Body Diameter = 1.637" (41.6 mm)
Weight = 2.1 oz (60 grams)

On May 5, 1961, astronaut Alan Shepard piloted a 15-minute suborbital flight in the Freedom 7 spacecraft, which was launched atop the Mercury Redstone booster, to become the first American in space.

Here is the Estes Mercury Redstone model rocket that I purchased on eBay. As you can see in the picture to the right, this version of the kit has a lot of plastic parts, which surely will make it much simpler to build than the original one mentioned above.