LarryBAR99

When I was a kid we used to drive from Phoenix to visit my Uncle Larry in Pasadena, California, and our family would go to Disneyland.  Back then, there was a "futuristic" rocket in Tomorrow Land, based on a design by Dr. Verner von Braun.  I'd forgotten about it until we visited my best friend in Kansas City and saw this on the roof of the old TWA headquarters in downtown KC: Old pictures I've seen showed the TWA logo on either side of this Moonliner rocket. When we got back, I started looking for ways to build this rocket!  There was a company offering a model of the Moonliner, but they stopped producing them because of family health issues.  Then I heard about the Washington Aerospace Club's 2025 Moonliner project to build a 30 inch diameter, 22 foot tall Moonliner!  They successfully launched their monster in September 2025.  They also built a 4" diameter model for club members, but I missed a chance to buy one ($125).  A couple of weeks ago they ...

Estes surprised everyone (at least me) when they announced at the end of July that they were selling a 4" diameter  Pro Series II™ Mega Der Red Max™ Model Rocket , using a 3-Engine Cluster.  I anguished for a couple of weeks about whether to buy one and they sold out before I decided to buy one.  I should have recognized the "Limit 2" next to the order button meant they hadn't made a lot of them. After a month or so had passed, I saw someone on The Rocketry Forum  discussing 3D printing the Mega DRM so I reached out to "frogglicker" (David Fey) who generously shared the STL files he'd developed.  He designed a custom 2 piece nose cone for me, based on a file I made with OpenRocket.  Estes was selling the 4" body tube used in the Mega DRM so I bought two (just for fun). OpenRocket simulation of my Mega Der Red Max in flight with three engines. I started printing the nose cone he provided, then stopped mid print when he emailed to say they were desi...