TAYE

It was shortly after the space shuttle Challenger exploded in 1986 when I had an idea. Would it be possible to build a space shuttle out of paper and launch it with bottle rockets? So I began designing my own version of the space shuttle, but on a much smaller scale.

Harry and I were very much into model rockets, space, and astronomy. So experimenting with our own home-made rocket designs was right up our alley. I soon had a prototype built and we launched it with some bottle rockets. Well, we attempted to launch it. I don't exactly remember the results of that first launch, but I know they weren't good. I built more shuttles and we had more launches. The launches usually ended up in the shuttles burning, just falling over on the launch pad, or lifting a couple of inches and exploding.

Soon a few friends joined in on the designing and launches. So we considered it our own aerospace club and called it TAYE. By 1988-1989 TAYE was in full swing with no fewer than five full-time designers. I had tested more than a dozen designs myself and the others probably another dozen collectively. We branched out from shuttles to rockets.

Then in October of 1988, TAYE had a breakthrough when a rocket designed by one of our friends actually lifted off the launch pad and flew about 15' in the air! That cranked up the excitement because now we knew it was possible to get one off the ground.

Many of these launches were recorded to audio cassette. And some (including the historical Oct '88 launch) were videotaped. Some day I would like to organize all of the TAYE footage (audio and video) and get all the launches catalogued. We kept records of every launch.

After high school graduation in 1989, the club slowly disbanded. There was a resurgence in the early 90's using Estes model rockets, but TAYE was soon shut down to inactivity and now just remains a part of aeronautical history.