Post #565907 by tikijackalope on Sun, Nov 21, 2010 3:09 AM

I happened upon this old thread and can offer two pieces of information that may or may not relate to the story Silverline's wife heard about a rocket in a field along a Missouri highway.

Near Lebanon, MO, the rocket part of a sign for the defunct Satellite Café lies in a field near route 66 (last I knew). See http://www.jmcnews.com/preservation_endangered.html for a photo.

Also, there was a Rocket Motel in Joplin back in the 60's or so. It's long gone, but the sign, a 15-20 ft. rocket, languished, partially disassembled and laying on its side out in the weather near a fireworks store. The owner simply didn't take care of it and the paint faded over the years to the point that it was almost invisible. I photographed it a few times and it was worse every time. It vanished a couple years ago and workers in the store told me it was hauled away for scrap. See it in its glory days, here: http://cdm.sos.mo.gov/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/jplnpstcrds&CISOPTR=911&CISOBOX=1&REC=20

Also in Joplin, the defunct H&L miniature golf course had four "rockets" that stood on the weed-overgrown course after it was abandoned. The larger ones were made from aircraft fuel tanks with fake fins welded on and were hauled away as scrap. They were too big for me to get, but in my infinite generosity, I did make the owner an offer to haul away the smaller ones for free. They are actually WWII practice bombs.

None of the above look like the Moonliner, but to a non-aficionado, a rocket may be a rocket like a tiki is a tiki. Also, details get garbled well before we hear stories. (As sure as I write this, the real Moonliner will rise from a prairie in Missouri.)

I've chased a Christmas flying saucer that sat atop a Joplin industry in the 1960's near my childhood home and have found about a half dozen red herrings over the years. Rockets, UFOs and tikis...those were the days!

On 2009-12-11 06:47, SilverLine wrote:

On 2009-12-10 12:55, 8FT Tiki wrote:
While we were standing there Silverline told me a really interesting story about the rocket and I will ask him to relate it here in this thread.

Well, I hate to admit it but it turns out the story I told you was incorrect; this is not the original rocket. I double-checked with a couple people and while I'm told the location of the original IS known, the building's owner could not, for one reason or another, obtain it for the restoration.

The story I heard was that in looking for someone to make them a replica they found the original in a public playground in or around Columbia, Missouri and bought it instead.

Now the story my wife remembers (and of course it differs from my recollection) is that they found the original in a field along the highway somewhere in mid-Missouri and while the owner didn't want to sell it back to them, he did allow them to use it to make the replica.

Here's what they say about it:

"Back in 1955, Howard Hughes built a 35-foot rocket and put it on the roof of the historic TWA building that we now call home. The rocket symbolized his dream to someday shoot passengers into space. The original rocket is long gone, but we've built a perfect replica. Because we like the idea of going where no one has gone before."

Oh well, it's a damn fine replica!

[ Edited by: SilverLine 2009-12-11 06:53 ]