Athena - History

[GregGleason]

Seeing the discussions related to Centuri's Orion, the Athena rocket came up. For some reason, I have never heard of this rocket.

Can someone clue me in to the history? Was this an Enerjet rocket? How did it fly?

Greg

[Doug Sams]

Seeing the discussions related to Centuri's Orion, the Athena rocket came up. For some reason, I have never heard of this rocket.

Can someone clue me in to the history? Was this an Enerjet rocket? How did it fly?I'm in even worse shape, not being a Centuri aficionado :rolleyes:

On the Semroc site, it mentions the bird was in production at Centuri from 72 to 76, but it was not to be found in the ninfinger Centuri catalogs. And the link on JimZ, under Centuri, was not there.

But, I finally found it at ninfinger, in the 1972 Enerjet catalog: http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/catalogs/enerjet72/72ejet12.html

Furthermore, it is at JimZ, but listed under Enerjet: http://www.spacemodeling.org/jimz/ke-5.htm

From looking at the pics, I'd describe it as a stretched Orion with four outboard tubes and fins instead of 3.

Doug

.

[rokitflite]

I saw one listed on Ebay a couple of years ago. I had never seen a kit before so I downloaded all of the pictures from the auction... Totally cool!

[sandman]

WOW, it looks like its mostly built for you.

Sort of an "Almost Ready to Fly"

Should we assume since it's an Enerjet that it's made for 24mm motors?

I just zoomed in on the plan pic from JimZ's. It's made for Enerjet E's and F's! Yikes!

Sure wish I had a decal scan. :rolleyes:

[stefanj]

WOW, it looks like its mostly built for you.

Sort of an "Almost Ready to Fly"

Centuri pre-built parts of many of its "large scale rocketry" models. Motor mounts and shock cord mounts and such.

This wasn't the case with my Enerjet Nike Ram, though.

It's hard to tell, but it looks like that Athena's plastic wraps are pre-mounted. Kind of an odd thing for the company to do for you.

[GregGleason]

... But, I finally found it at ninfinger, in the 1972 Enerjet catalog: http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/catalogs/enerjet72/72ejet12.html...



Wow! Is that a cool looking rocket or what! It's like a Super Orion. :cool:

I like the inset picture with the quote: "An Enerjet motor is placed in the Athena while a small crowd gathers to watch." Ya think!? :chuckle:



I saw one listed on Ebay a couple of years ago ...



Do you remember how much it went for?

Greg

[Royatl]

WOW, it looks like its mostly built for you.

Sort of an "Almost Ready to Fly"

Should we assume since it's an Enerjet that it's made for 24mm motors?

I just zoomed in on the plan pic from JimZ's. It's made for Enerjet E's and F's! Yikes!

Sure wish I had a decal scan. :rolleyes:


29mm. I'm also surprised about the pre-applied wraps.

[Mark II]

http://www.oldrocketforum.com/showthread.php?t=2719

http://www.oldrocketforum.com/showpost.php?p=55560&postcount=76

http://www.oldrocketforum.com/showthread.php?t=3642

Mark K.

[Royatl]

I saw one listed on Ebay a couple of years ago. I had never seen a kit before so I downloaded all of the pictures from the auction... Totally cool!

Hmm.. I have all the parts for one, many of them original! (nose, ST-20 tube, transition, wraps)
And I have a couple of Enerjet F motors! (yea, like I'd really use one!)

[Royatl]

Sure wish I had a decal scan. :rolleyes:

not exactly a scan, but should do.


http://www.oldrocketforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=9920

[Initiator001]

Centuri pre-built parts of many of its "large scale rocketry" models. Motor mounts and shock cord mounts and such.

This wasn't the case with my Enerjet Nike Ram, though.

It's hard to tell, but it looks like that Athena's plastic wraps are pre-mounted. Kind of an odd thing for the company to do for you.

I have two Enerjet kits still in the box.

Various decals/wraps for each are 'secured' around body tubes for display while in the box. None are attached to the body tubes..

Bob

[conleyt]

Do you remember how much it went for?

Greg

$11.95

http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/catalogs/enerjet72/72ejet12.html

Tom C.

[sandman]

not exactly a scan, but should do.


http://www.oldrocketforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=9920

That's perfect, thanks!

[GregGleason]

Do you remember how much it went for?

Greg



$11.95

http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/catalogs/enerjet72/72ejet12.html

Tom C.



:chuckle:

I meant the eBay price.

Greg

[ghrocketman]

I think that pristine Athena went for something north of $500 on ebay.

[GregGleason]

I think that pristine Athena went for something north of $500 on ebay.



Yep. I can see that. I don't know if it would go for that much in today's economy but it wouldn't surprise me.

Greg

[Robobud]

Yep. I can see that. I don't know if it would go for that much in today's economy but it wouldn't surprise me.

Greg

I wonder how much a cloned kit would cost.....

[stefanj]

I wonder how much a cloned kit would cost.....

The Orion is $42.50. Add another body tube and a transition and stand-offs and such . . . I would guess low fifties.

[Doug Sams]

I wonder how much a cloned kit would cost.....About 44 dollars for the tubes, balsa and rings: http://www.semroc.com/Store/Scripts/ClassicParts.asp?ID=561

Chute, wraps, decals, etc, will add to that.

Doug

.

[Robobud]

About 44 dollars for the tubes, balsa and rings: http://www.semroc.com/Store/Scripts/ClassicParts.asp?ID=561

Chute, wraps, decals, etc, will add to that.

Doug

.

Awesome...Thanks Doug!

[rokitflite]

Do you remember how much it went for?

Greg

I want to say around $600.

[mojo1986]

The only one I recorded was in 2008 and it went for $272.00.

Joe

[tbzep]

About 44 dollars for the tubes, balsa and rings: http://www.semroc.com/Store/Scripts/ClassicParts.asp?ID=561

Chute, wraps, decals, etc, will add to that.

Doug

.

I wish you hadn't said that. I told myself my Athena clone was cheap. :rolleyes:

I did make my own centering rings, decals, fins, etc., so my cost would be a bit lower.

[ghrocketman]

I think the one that sold in 2008 for $272.00 was a bagged, not boxed, Enerjet Athena.
I can see the bagged ones going a lot lower.
I remember a boxed one not too long ago going for a LOT more than that.

[timorley]

That's perfect, thanks!

Use this one instead, I had an error in that one where I mistakenly cropped off the front of the a in athena. I incorporated a version number in the image with this one too. Version 1.1 is the latest.

http://forums.rocketshoppe.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=10676

I also did them with red colored bands per request from Jetlag.

http://forums.rocketshoppe.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=10853

He used them and here is a link to the rocket with the decals. Jetlag did a great job on his Athena.

http://forums.rocketshoppe.com/showpost.php?p=55560&postcount=76

[sandman]

Use this one instead, I had an error in that one where I mistakenly cropped off the front of the a in athena. I incorporated a version number in the image with this one too. Version 1.1 is the latest.

http://forums.rocketshoppe.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=10676

I also did them with red colored bands per request from Jetlag.

http://forums.rocketshoppe.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=10853

He used them and here is a link to the rocket with the decals. Jetlag did a great job on his Athena.

http://forums.rocketshoppe.com/showpost.php?p=55560&postcount=76

Great, I won't print them but I will make a print ready file in case I'm asked.

[GregGleason]

Thanks all for the comments. I am much more educated than I was a few days ago on this rocket. Not many designs now-a-days make me go "Wow!", but that one does for sure. Maybe we might see a kit someday from ... a vendor. :D

Greg

[Gus]

Greg,

There is also another Orion lookalike, the MRC Iron Man, which comes up on eBay every couple months or so and can usually be had for $35 -$40. A very cool rocket. Instead of the corrugated plastic wraps it used embossed metalized wraps. If I remember right the Iron Man was actually named for MRC by a member of this forum, Rokitflite.

[tbzep]

Instead of the corrugated plastic wraps it used embossed metalized wraps. If I remember right the Iron Man was actually named for MRC by a member of this forum, Rokitflite.

With a name like "Iron Man", it better have metallized wraps! :D

[rokitflite]

With a name like "Iron Man", it better have metallized wraps! :D


The name came from an old Gregory Peck movie... Marooned. ;)

[Mark II]

The name came from an old Gregory Peck movie... Marooned. ;)Not Black Sabbath? :confused:

Mark K.

[Initiator001]

Greg,

There is also another Orion lookalike, the MRC Iron Man, which comes up on eBay every couple months or so and can usually be had for $35 -$40. A very cool rocket. Instead of the corrugated plastic wraps it used embossed metalized wraps. If I remember right the Iron Man was actually named for MRC by a member of this forum, Rokitflite.

Close...

History time! :D

Back in the Spring of 1988, Rockitflite and I were employed by Lee Piester at Enertek.

Our direct superior, Bill Stine, had wanted to get some ideas for some second generation kits. These kits would be smaller than the original series of Enertek models.

Scott, I mean Rockitflight, drew up some rough artist renderings of some kit ideas. One was called the Ironman and was an updated version of the Centuri Orion.

I think the Ironman design was the favorite one of all the kit ideas presented.

Well, Enertek folded and nothing became of these second generation Enertek kit ideas.

Bill Stine went to work for MRC and wanted to include the Ironman kit as one of the Concept II kit designs. Bill reached an agreement/understanding with the owner(s) of the Enertek properties and developed the Ironman kit.

So, even though Enertek itself never produced any kits, two of it's designs have been released: Initiator and Ironman. ;)

Bob

[GregGleason]

History time! :D



Cool history lesson Bob! Thanks for sharing that bit of information. I think Scott's Iron Man is a pretty good Orion "homage". And I do remember that movie!

I think the Orion/Athena are some designs I do want to build in the future, maybe even as an upscale ... someday.

Hmmm ...

Greg

[rokitflite]

Back in the Spring of 1988, Rockitflite and I were employed by Lee Piester at Enertek.

Bob

Scott, I mean Rockitflight, drew up some rough artist renderings of some kit ideas. One was called the Ironman and was an updated version of the Centuri Orion.

Bob


I-N-I-T-I-A-T-O-R-0-0-1... I can spell your handle correctly Bob.

[Initiator001]

I-N-I-T-I-A-T-O-R-0-0-1... I can spell your handle correctly Bob.

Mea culpa! :o

I apologize, Scott.

As my penitence for my misdeed, I will now type "rokitflite" one-hundred times:

rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite,
rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite,
rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite,
rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite,
rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite,
rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite,
rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite,
rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite,
rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite,
rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite, rokitflite.

;)

Bob

[jetlag]

Use this one instead, I had an error in that one where I mistakenly cropped off the front of the a in athena. I incorporated a version number in the image with this one too. Version 1.1 is the latest.

http://forums.rocketshoppe.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=10676

I also did them with red colored bands per request from Jetlag.

http://forums.rocketshoppe.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=10853

He used them and here is a link to the rocket with the decals. Jetlag did a great job on his Athena.

http://forums.rocketshoppe.com/showpost.php?p=55560&postcount=76


I'm blushing!
Could not have done it without your and GHRocketman's help, Tim!
It all got started with my amazement at the boxed kit price on Ebay, which was at least $600 or more, as Scott said. I just thought that was an awful lot of $ for such a thing. I was politely chided that the boxed kit could have gone for much more, so I made my own!
Here is the link to that whole thread:

http://www.oldrocketforum.com/showthread.php?t=3642&page=1&highlight=Athena

Kudos, also, to Carl and Semroc for making the component-gathering process much more simple!

I really liked the red decals; they seemed to resemble the picture/drawing better as there seemed to be red decals on that bird along with the black ones. My decals are nowhere near as nice as what I'm sure Gordy can put together, but I did not really have that option then. HP inks work alright sometimes!
Allen

[ScrapDaddy]

I think the one that sold in 2008 for $272.00 was a bagged, not boxed, Enerjet Athena.
I can see the bagged ones going a lot lower.
I remember a boxed one not too long ago going for a LOT more than that.
The extents people will go thru to get a Box, simply incredible, but I can reconize most peoples usernames from TRF

[Initiator001]

Carl is up to something... ;) :D

http://www.semroc.com/Store/scripts/RocketKits.asp?SKU=KV-75

Bob

[Doug Sams]

http://www.semroc.com/Store/scripts/RocketKits.asp?SKU=KV-75
What's the diff between KV-75 and KE-5? http://www.semroc.com/Store/Scripts/ClassicParts.asp?ID=561

Doug

.

[tbzep]

Carl is up to something... ;) :D

http://www.semroc.com/Store/scripts/RocketKits.asp?SKU=KV-75

Bob


Of course he is. I've already cloned one. :rolleyes: ;)

[Carl@Semroc]

Carl is up to something... ;) :D

http://www.semroc.com/Store/scripts/RocketKits.asp?SKU=KV-75

BobOooooops.......... :D

[Robobud]

Oooooops.......... :D


Carl, IM READY!

[GregGleason]

Oooooops.......... :D



This thread just keeps getting better and better!

:)

Greg

[ghrocketman]

I'm ordering one of those Athenas as soon as they are released pronto !

[LeeR]

I'm in for both. I like the Athena design a little better, and since I have so much to build now Iwill only order both when the Athena is out ....

With my luck that means (hopefully for the rest of you) that the Athena is out soon, and I'll be buying more kits I have no hope of completing anytime soon.

[snaquin]

Oooooops.......... :D

Sweet!

:D

.