random memes }

Jetex - random memory

For no obvious reason an old memory - a vivid image and smell - came to mind along with a name "Jetex".

As a kid I had acquired an interest in model airplanes from my father.

Now this wasn't a very fulfilling hobby in dense-suburban southern California. Lack of nearby open fields meant that models that flew well were generally lost, and most models died in unfortunate encounters with hard surfaces (streets, houses, power poles). Lots of time spent in fabrication, and not much time flying...

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One of my more successful models was a simple balsa glider powered by a small Jetex rocket motor. I did manage to recover the model and make an unusual number of flights (and a few repairs). Eventually - as with all the other successful efforts - this model too was lost when it flew off out of sight.