honest john

For sale, vintage Cox Honest John RTF Launch Set, in box. Straight from 1972 to your living room, this set is guaranteed to take you back. Looks like the original rocketeer never even flew it. The yellow "launch pad" is brand new, even the blast defector and brass launch rod is clean as a...

The first recorded test launch of America's first nuclear capable missile, the M31 Honest John took place on June 29, 1951 at the White Sands Testing Grounds in New Mexico. If you can, celebrate by flying your favorite HoJo rocket model today or this weekend. The example below is a static...

I'm on a quest to document and detail all known paint schemes for the Honest John missile, including variations in test rounds at White Sands Missile Range, weapons in active inventory in the US Military, National Guard versions, and those sold to foreign forces for use overseas. Here is a...

One of the less known variants of the Honest John free-flight missile was the "Father John" which was developed to lift a heavier payload. It featured the main JATO rocket motor, and six or eight smaller rocket motors strapped outside of the main motor for more lift. I've been attempting to...

Looking for the Estes 1919 Honest John rocket which was sold from 1984-1988. 18mm with parachute recovery. One of the few times that a company chose to model the M50 version of this famous missile, rather than the more popular M31 with the larger fins. Would prefer an unbuilt kit but would...

Happy HoJo Day! 69 years ago today on June 29, 1951 Test Round #1 was launched at the New Mexico Joint Guided Missile Test Range (now called the White Sands Missile Range). The Honest John was a free-flight (unguided) missile and also America's first tactical nuclear weapon delivery device...

Not sure if these would be useful for anyone, but I thought I'd post them. I have an unbuilt K-27 kit from the late 1960s. The bag is nearly gone, so I opened it in order to transfer everything into new acid-free bags for safe keeping. While I had it opened, I scanned the decal sheet with a...

Great news for fans of America's first nuclear-capable missile: Scott Binder not only upgraded his 4/5.5" Honest John kit with a even more detailed nose cone, he also created a new line of 18mm low-power kits that mirror his larger models. Among these is the "Lil Honest John" and the detailing...

Seeking a copy of a mimeographed book from noted historian Mary T. Cagle. Mary documented the development and testing of many US Army rockets and missile systems in the 1950's and 60's--contributing some amazing information of interest to scale modelers. The book or file that I'm seeking is...

Just got off the phone with John Boren (JumpJet), the designer of the 1/14th scale Honest John kit. I was talking to him about Part L (the Laser cut index stock (Part Number 030106)). In our discussion, he mentioned that the holes are not centered on the strip. I asked him if the narrow side...

If anyone has contact e-mail or phone number for Tripoli Central California member, Bruce Rohn could you send it to me via a reply or PM? I want to discuss his L3 project, a 1/2 scale Honest John. Wow!

Searching on ebay today using the search engine for "Centuri Rocketry" and a new listing popped up. A old Centuri mail order shipping box that looks to be an estate sale find for someone. Not much in the box except for two built rockets. The picture didn't give away much, but the shape was very...

I'm seeking additional data on a variant of the Douglas Honest John missile called the "Demi John." Minimum range for the Honest John was about 10,000 yards. In an effort to reduce this to just 5,000 yards, and give field commanders greater flexibility in using the rocket, a project that...

I'm a big fan of the square rocket designs from New Way Space Models. https://www.newwayspacemodels.com I've always enjoyed building their kits. In fact, I just ordered their new MMX offering. But I've always been disappointed that they haven't produced a kit of the most wonderful rocket of...

I'm a huge collector/builder of anything related to the Honest John Missile. While my collection of these rockets is pretty large, there are still several that I'm looking for. Willing to pay any reasonable price, and perhaps some that are not reasonable--just don't tell my wife. Centuri...

Wow! Has everyone seen the new BT-80 29mm 3-D printed Honest John Kit? I may be the most devoted lover of the HoJo design in the rocketry hobby--and clearly have a problem with over a dozen of them in my fleet. But this one is going to make a great edition. It has amazing detail, and fits...

Saturday at the club launch, had my first opportunity to fly some of the Q-Jet motors from Aerotech. Decided to test fly them in a Boyce Aerospace 3-D printed Honest John. I had previously flown this rocket without any issues using Estes C6-7 black powder motors. First flight (pictured above)...

I'm looking for sources of scale data related to the Honest John missile. I've gathered a lot of easy-to-find stuff including Harry Stine's drawings, photos, etc. but still have a lot of questions that are unanswered. Recently, I saw a 2.6" HoJo that was beautiful. Painted olive drab, and the...

All - I need your help, please. I am restoring an Estes Maxi-Brute Honest John (#2166). The model used two balsa "launch rail shoes" as the launch lug standoff on one side of the nose cone. The rail shoes were glued to the nose cone, but were broken off and lost long ago. I need to reproduce...

All - I need your help, please. I am restoring an Estes Maxi-Brute Honest John (#2166). The model used two balsa "launch rail shoes" as the launch lug standoff on one side of the nose cone. The rail shoes were glued to the nose cone, but were broken off and lost long ago. I need to...