{"id":23,"date":"2013-07-08T16:15:27","date_gmt":"2013-07-08T20:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.payloadbay.com\/?p=23"},"modified":"2024-05-26T22:35:34","modified_gmt":"2024-05-27T02:35:34","slug":"university-high-schools-140-scale-space-shuttle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.payloadbay.com\/?p=23","title":{"rendered":"University High School’s 1\/40 Scale Space Shuttle"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sport<\/a><\/p>\n

Shortly after moving to Orlando in 1994, I visited a local hobby shop where I bought a copy of Sport Rocketry magazine. A large model of the Space Shuttle adorned the front cover.\u00a0 Reading the article, I discovered that the rocket had been built and flown by students of University High School, close to where I worked.<\/p>\n

I wasn’t yet back “into” rocketry at the time, but I was intrigued.\u00a0 So, I called the teacher, Rob Catto, and he invited me to come see some parts of the rocket.<\/p>\n

What\u00a0I found most surprising, other than the idea of an I motor (the largest I had seen up to that time was a D), was how lightweight the parts of the\u00a0shuttle model are.\u00a0 Rob handed me one of the SRBs to hold.\u00a0 It\u00a0weighed just a few ounces.\u00a0 The secret to such light weight is that the model was constructed more like a model aircraft than a typical rocket.\u00a0 Instead of building things in and around a central body tube, the rocket was constructed using lightweight spars and ribs covered by a thin film.<\/p>\n

Shortly after reading the magazine article and meeting Mr. Catto, I purchased an\u00a0Estes Saturn V kit.\u00a0 That was when I really got back into the rocketry hobby.<\/p>\n

I was reminded of the magazine article and meeting Mr. Catto when I came across a page on the Internet with\u00a0information about the UHS Space Shuttle and videos of\u00a0some of its flights<\/a> – including one at Walt Disney World.<\/p>\n