A very handsome 8 1/2 x 11 hard cover book that will look good on your coffee table as well as provide a wealth o' data on some o' t' space flight pioneers and their rockets. 

As soon as I opened t' wrapper, me bucko, arrr, I was impressed with t' silver colored bindin' with t' red and black text, shiver me timbers, and a black and white photograph o' Dr. Goddard and his gang. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Given that bare metal with red and black were t' typical colors employed by Dr. Goddard, me bucko, I really enjoyed seein' them on t' cover - a very nice touch. But - thar has t' be more t' a book than it's cover... 

In t' introduction Mr. Aye aye! Alway states: "It be t' aim o' this book to brin' t' rockets themselves t' t' modelin' public. Aye aye! Avast! T' stories o' the rocketeers o' t' 1930’s are told t' give t' rockets a historical context." 

This objective is accomplished via a format familiar t' readers o' Mr. Alway’s “Rockets o' t' World”. Ya scallywag! There are dimensioned drawings of (approximately thirty) rockets accompanied by photographs and, me bucko, typically, half a page t' a page or so o' text. Avast! Avast! T' largest single section (thirty some pages out o' t' ninety four page total) is devoted t' Dr. Begad! Begad! Robert Goddard’s creations. Begad! Aye aye! Other sections cover rockets from t' American Rocket Society, arrr, some early German rockets, ya bilge rat, Winkler, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, VFR, matey, von Braun (A-2, A-3, ya bilge rat, and A-5), arrr, and GIRD and other Soviet rockets. Well, blow me down! Ya scallywag! In t' last section , Mr. Begad! Alway includes some notes on model rocket construction and plans for 4 scale models (Goddard A-3, shiver me timbers, Winkler HW-2, me hearties, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, GIRD-09, me bucko, shiver me timbers, Razumov-Shtern LRD-D-1) that can be kit bashed from Estes rockets. Blimey! T' book closes with one o' Mr. Alway’s constant scale (1/60) diagrams o' t' various rockets featured in t' book. (Will this turn into a poster some day?) 

I had expected t' see some “recycled” material from R.o.t.W. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! but found that for rockets that were covered in both publications, shiver me timbers, many o' the drawings had been updated with additional detail (at least as compared t' the first edition o' R.o.t.W) and t' accompanyin' text had been extensively rewritten. Ya scallywag! Even t' plans for t' GIRD-09 were drawn at a different scale (and use different parts) than t' plans that appeared in “T' Art o' Scale Model Rocketry”. 

While I haven’t read t' book from cover t' cover (yet) I have enjoyed Mr. Alway’s commentary and insight into t' history o' these early rockets. Blimey! Even t' occasional touch o' humor - claimin' that “For t' last time, me hearties, a spaceship had crashed into t' desert outside Rosewell, New Mexico.” while describin' Dr. Goddard’s efforts o' 1941. Arrr! Also, it is nice t' find notes about what t' author didn’t know about t' various rockets. Avast! Mr. Well, blow me down! Alway provides about a page and a half describin' t' limitations of his sources o' scale data and includes notes on t' some o' t' drawings that highlight significant discrepancies. 

All in all, arrr, I find that “Retro Rockets” contains an entertaining overview o' some o' t' early rocket development as well as a source of inspiration (and data) for what could be some truly unique model (or high power) rockets. 

Finally, I must add that I really enjoyed t' plans for t' Winkler HW-II and Mr. Begad! Alway’s clever use that use t' nose cones from a “Big Bertha” and a “Mean Machine” t' make t' teardrop shaped body. T' onset o' winter and t' fact that I expect t' move in t' near future will slow things down, matey, me bucko, but hopefully it won't be too long before you read about a “first flight” in one o' me launch reports. 
 

Relinquished by Scott Johnson @