Pratt Hobbies, Inc.
Rocketry Catalog
 Innovative Launch Systems and Accessories
for Model Hobbyists
www.pratt-hobbies.com

HOME
PRODUCTS
SEARCH
CHECKOUT
CONTACT
ABOUT US
CALENDAR
INFO PAGES


Doug Pratt's other hobby is narrating audiobooks!

 Check out some of his  narrations available on Audible.com!

 


Still Crazy after 18 years...

 

Pratt Hobbies will celebrate 20 years of operation this summer. Not bad for one crazy old guy in his basement.

I've been flying model rockets since 1960. In the late Seventies I worked for FSI, a rocket company based in Missouri. In between at least ten other careers, I wrote a book entitled "Basics of Model Rocketry," which was published in 1980 and became a best-seller by hobby standards. That led to writing eight other hobby books, while working as a magazine editor and association executive.

For some strange reason I was inspired to ruin my hobby by making a business out of it. The fact is, I get the same pleasure out of assembling a batch of gadgets that I used to get out of building model planes and rockets. There is a real thrill in exploring new ideas, cobbling something together, figuring out why it didn't work, and figuring out the best way to make 20 of them at a time.

Pratt Hobbies is a family business even though our principal source of child slave labor has left to go to school. Son Brian did a year and a half at Lassen College in Susanville, California, in the oldest and most-respected gunsmithing program in the country, and is now developing a career as a machinist. Daughter Valerie graduated this year from Randolph-Macon Academy, a 120-year old military college prep school in Front Royal, VA. She will be attending Messiah College in Grantham, PA in the fall, majoring in Politics, appropriately enough for a kid who was Captain of the Debate Team and won five national events. High school debate is amazing and Val ran a great team. We even did a talk show on a radio station in Front Royal; you can find podcasts at rmadebate.blogspot.com.

       

 Dad still has his day job, but dreams of doing this nonsense full time when the kids are through school. The way both the kids and the business are growing, it could happen.

Looking back, I can say it's been a pure pleasure to work with so many enthusiastic people over the years. We have the finest customers in any business I can imagine, and we're all here for the same reason: to have fun.  I have boxes with hundreds of letters from teachers, Scoutmasters, school kids, 4-H clubs, every group you can imagine, all excited about their rockets.  On the other side of things, NASA is using an RTLS launch system to fire hybrid motors at Wallops Island. Life is good.

Thanks to you all.

Doug Pratt

 

Guy Help!
Are you clueless when it comes to finding gifts for your Significant Other? Welcome to the club. We found professional help, from a rocket wife who offers Avon® products!

 

For the best in rocketry simulation software, building supplies, and excellent kits, we recommend
Apogee Components!

 

Pratt Hobbies
11556 Platten Rd
Lyndonville, NY 14098
571-221-5820

E-mail 

 

 


HOME ] PRODUCTS ] SEARCH ] CHECKOUT ] CONTACT ] [ ABOUT US ] CALENDAR ] INFO PAGES ]