Model of the Month - January, 2008

Adult honors were split between Marty Schrader with his unfinished Water Boy and Marc Mitchell with his ultra slick Shadow Cruiser. Marty's Water Boy is a crude test bed for testing the viability of using water as a disposable nose cone weight for otherwise unstable rockets.
Marc's Shadow Cruiser is built on a Fliskits US Tog, with many fine details added to refine the model's appearance. The Shadow Cruiser abounds with instrument pods, antenna fairings, and weapon blisters. The painting and general finish are as nice on this rocket as you will find anywhere in this gallery. Check this piece out up close at the next launch.
Youth went to Jon Mitchell with his Fat Cat, a Fat Boy decorated in custom Garfield imagery.

Model of the Month - February, 2008

Adult fell to Marc Mitchell with his Chief, an Advance Rocketry Corporation 2418 PSR. This is a "parallel staged" cluster rocket using four 18mm engines around a central 24.8mm sustainer. All five engines are fired at boost, but the outer pods drop away once they burn out.
Youth went to Katie Mitchell and her StarFire 17, built on an Estes Sizzler. Katie scoured the web looking for Teen Titans images with which to decorate her rocket.

Model of the Month - March, 2008

Adult was a shoe-in for Don Kennedy and his ultra-clean Estes Interceptor re-release. Estes has turned this model into a real challenge, with dozens of waterslide decals requiring precise placement. Don did an exceptional job on this rocket, which has to be seen up close to be appreciated. Absolutely magazine quality.
Junior was taken by Angel Cooper with her unpainted High Flyer.
Youth was a tie between siblings Jon Mitchell and Katie Mitchell. Jon's Edmonds Geminee Thunder was simple, yet large enough to be impressive. Katie's Fruit Loop, an Estes Baby Bertha, had all the detail lacking in her brother's rocket.
By the way, Katie's rocket was one she had received in a Youth Rocket Model Challenge last year and then used in the Baby Bertha Drag Race, taking second overall to Bob Kaplow.

Model of the Month - April, 2008

Adult honors went to Don Kennedy for his very nicely turned out, upscaled Evil Knivel Sky Cycle.
Junior was a tie between Angel Cooper and Joey Charaska. Angel had her Watermellon colored Mean Machine, having painted it up since her win in October of last year with the same rocket. Joey had his Edmonds Tinee ready as a comeback to Angel. It looks to be a long season of back- and-forth between these two.
Youth went to Jimmy Basile for his V-1, a nicely done rocket regardless of competition.

Model of the Month - May, 2008

NIRA Scale night! Adult was another win by Tony Lentini with his scratch built Vostok scale.
Angel Cooper took Junior with her SR-71 in scale black. There were no Youth entries.

Model of the Month - June, 2008

Tony Lentini did it again with his flawless, scratch-built, fully scale Talos. This rocket has been an on-again, off-again project over a twenty year period. Tony had a variety of scale support documents and also had a variety of other support info to back up his rocket. This is scale modeling at its best!
In Youth we had Angel Cooper showing off her Scissor Wing Transport to good effect.
For Youth we had Ilaisaane Summers (sure hope I got the spelling right) showing us her nice Dragonite, with all the stickers in the right place.

Model of the Month - July, 2008

Tony Lentini won Adult with his scratch built, fully scale Tin Tin. Once again, Tony provided plenty of scale documentation to back up a really fine model.
In Junior Joey Charaska showed up with a rocket he built for A streamer duration. It was a little worse for wear, but he had it there.

Model of the Month - August, 2008

Youth was captured once again by Katie Mitchell (with a little help from her dad) displaying her Danger Zone.

The Adult winner was Marty Schrader, who used a very untraditional approach with his rear engine, pod ejecting Songbird boost glider. This rocket has no moving parts on the airframe. Instead, the engine tube is mounted off camber in the ejecting pod to counteract the pitch-up properties of the horizontal stabilizer.

Model of the Month - September, 2008

In Youth Jon Mitchell took honors with his United IV.
In the Adult category it was Adam Elliot showing off his his Baby T.

Model of the Month - October, 2008

Junior class was taken by Joey Charaska and his Grappler.
In Youth it was Ilaisaane Summers again, this time with her Explosion 5.
The Adult winner was Tony Lentini displaying his UFO Invader.

Model of the Month - November, 2008

Joe Charaska took the Adult category with his M.M.M.D.I. (Marty Made Me Do It). [Editor's note: No, I didn't]
In Junior Angel Cooper showed off her Corona.

Model of the Month - December, 2008

Tony Lentini took Adult honors with his Semroc clone of the original Centuri Space Shuttle.
Youth fell to Jon Mitchell, showing his Hot Spot 1/2 A altitude competition rocket.