The DARS Fall Classic XII
Classic Starships
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Past, Present and Future
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September 20,
2025 In Gunter Texas |
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The Fall
Classic is The Dallas Area Rocket Society’s annual contest that is part air
show, museum visit, and science lesson all rolled into one! The contests are simple and fun... The
rockets are classic and cool... Did we
mention that there are prizes?
This years
theme is Classic Starships. In
this category Saturn V’s compete against SpaceX Starships and Star Wars
X-Wings. If you haven’t competed
before, fear not! There are plenty
of opportunities to get your Classic on in the Classic Classic and Classic
Upscale events. All the details for
each event can be found in the overviews below and in the guidelines
document.
All of the
fun can be found in Gunter,
on September 20 from 11am to 4pm. Registration
starts at 10:30. If you are new to the
event, please take a look around and be sure to check out the articles and
pictures from past events at the bottom of the page.
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News
and Updates
Prizes – We welcome Red River Rocketry to the sponsor line up for more
years than I can count.
Additions – 2/16 Adding a link to Vintage Estes Rockets site create by
Eric Higgins. I would love to know more
about the site but Eric provides no contacts.
Great Pre Damon K-kit information.
T-Shirts – Still in design, but
we can’t have a Classic without commemorative T-shirts…
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This
Year’s Event Sponsors (Click
on the logos to link to their sites)
See your companies name here and be a part of
Fall Classic history
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This
Year’s Event Line Up
Classic Starships
Any NASA or commercial orbital space craft and anything that
has been imagined to go orbital and beyond is in! Real, Sci-Fi, or just your imagination. That includes commercial kits, clones,
scratch builds and plastic model conversions. Plastic model conversion to
flying rocket will be allowed in this category with certain stipulations (see
the guidlines).
The Classic Classic
Rockets
qualify for this category if the original design of this rocket was introduced
in the 60s, 70s, 80s or 90s. This category
is open to originals, clones, and re-issue versions of the rockets from these
eras. Ninfinger.org can be
an invaluable resource here, as they have lists of all Estes, Centuri, and
other rockets made, as well as many of the catalogs they appeared in. Rockets are judged by the public, so
sometimes it pays to match the original, and sometimes not. Bonus points apply to this category for
providing vintage catalogs of the same year as your rocket. Flight points also apply.
Classic
Upscale
Kit based or scratch built models of classic rocket models
that are scaled up –or- scaled down.
Always hard fought, and generally the category that generates the Best
in Show winner.
Best in Show
This award goes to the rocket judged best in show by the
voting public. All rockets in all
categories are eligible to win best in show.
The Doug Sams Commemorative Mass Launch
Doug
Sams left us for the big rocket launch in the sky in 2022. He co-founded the Fall Classic event and was
a huge part of DARS for many years. He
loved clusters, multi-stagers, and classics.
And man, could he paint! He had a
particular afection for the Astron Midget which he
flew in more configuration than you can concieve, but mostly upscales. As he moved toward bigger motors, the Astron Avenger became a
favorite. The Squirrle Works imortilzed
one of his designs with the Tuber. At this event we plan to fly all 3, at
once! Well at least as many as we have
pads for. Build one and join the fun.
Young Rocketeers Prize Drawings
Once again this year we will be holding drawings for the
young rocketeers for some great prizes.
Rocketeers 14 and under are eligible.
You must be present to win.
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What’s
a Classic?
Much of this
is in the eye of the beholder. Generally
Classic rockets are considered to be those designs that appeared early in the
hobby when everything was new and anything was possible. That certainly includes the 60’s when Vern
Estes, G. Harry Stine, Lee Piester, and others created kits, motors, and
components to build safe and reliable hobby rockets. It includes the 70’s, since that is the
decade where the competition between Estes and Centuri was the fiercest and
when other constructors began to come on line.
We include the 80’s and 90’s in our competition as there were still many
great designs that appeared in that decade that would be a shame not to
represent.
These Classic
designs continue to be popular with the old timers in the hobby that grew up
with them, as well as those that came into the hobby beyond these decades. The evidence for this shows up with events
like Estes re-release of Classics like the Orbital Transport, Red Max, Long
Tom, Interceptor, and the Super Mars Snooper.
The fact that the Big Bertha has been made continuously since at least
1965 (the original shape appeared as the Ranger in 1962) probably says it all.
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Helpful
Links
Guidelines/Rules for
all the events Guidelines (If you are going to compete, YOU NEED TO READ THE RULES!)
Map and directions to
the site Gunter Field
Tips for building your own Classic Cloning the Classics by James Gartrell Doug Sams Painting Guide
Three Classic
must-have sites (maybe 4!) Ninfinger.org JimZ’s
Rocket Plans Ye Olde Rocket
Plans Vintage Estes Rocket
Parts is parts eRockts Balsa Machining Service
The Hall of Fame
winners of past events The
Hall of Fame
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Past
Classics Pictures and Reports:
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Event Year |
Picture Gallery |
Articles |
Links |
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2017 |
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2014 |
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2013 |
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2012 |
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2011 |
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2010 |
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2009 |
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2008 |
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2007 |
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2006 |
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2006 NSL |
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2005 |
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