Downbelow Station

Welcome to my "virtual space." I was a big fan of Lee Piester's "Centuri" model rocket company during the 1970s, and "Centuri Guy" is now one of my monikers. In April 2000, I was laid off my job at a radio station in Twin Falls, Idaho after working there for 15 years. As a result, I had way too much time on my hands, even while I was looking for work, and that summer I did an internet search for "Centuri." Lee is still located in Phoenix, Arizona, and he now owns a small chain of hobby stores aptly named Hobby Bench. I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Lee in May 2002 for the article I wrote entitled "Lee Piester: An Unassuming Legend," which was published in the January/February 2003 issue of "Sport Rocketry."

I gradually drifted back into model rocketry, and even managed to "hook up" with other people who were just as nuts about Centuri as I am. While Mike Jerauld was between jobs as a draftsman, he put together clones of classic Centuri kits (including the NASA Space Shuttle and the Mach-10) for his "Blast from the Past Rocketry" business.

In 2003, Carl McLawhorn opened a webstore for his reorganized "Semroc" model rocket company. Semroc prominently features "Centuri-sized" parts, as well as 21st century recreations of many classic Centuri kits. Needless to say, I've become an incurable Semroc fan!

I also managed to find scans of original Centuri plans at Jim Zalewski's "JimZ Rocket Plans," as well as Scott D. Hansen's "Ye Olde Rocket Plans."

In November 2000, I became a TV news reporter, cameraman, and video editor at KMVT-TV (Channel 11, CBS) in Twin Falls. I tell people that I make apparent sense of nonsense every day.

My other interests include science fiction, rock music, reading, writing, MIDI composition, and audio theatre, also known as "radio drama." I dabbled in interactive fiction for about 5 years, because all of my MIDI software kept crashing under Windows 3.11. In July 1999, I upgraded to Windows 95 and a Sound Blaster! Live card, which solved my problems. In April 2004, I bought a Dell computer with Windows XP.

I could drone on at length, but as a newsperson, I appreciate the need for stating the facts briefly and clearly, and getting out of the way for the next story.

I hope you enjoy what you find here.

Jay Goemmer ("Centuri Guy")

 

"If you fly rockets, you need to be a rocket evangelist."

--Mike Jerauld, NAR National Sport Launch (NSL) 2001

 

Downbelow Station

Established October 1996.

Last updated November 23, 2006.