Rocketeer to speak Feb. 8 at West Holmes High School
February 1, 2010
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Starting in fourth grade, Steve Eves became interested in rockets when Eves and his father watched with admiration as the original Saturn V and its crew made history on July 20, 1969. Eves decided to make amateur high-power rocketry his main hobby, and in 2007, he finally took his skills and ambition to a new level. He built a one-tenth scale replica of the Saturn V and made his own history with it by setting a world record for the tallest and heaviest scale model rocket ever to be launched successfully. Weighing in at 1,648 pounds and standing 36 1/2 feet tall, Eves rocket was launched on April 25, 2009, in Maryland. Eves himself invested nearly 1,500 hours of work into building his rocket and the total cost of the project was about $25,000.
The road to launching the rocket was not an easy one. Eves slowly lost his interest in rocketry in the 70s when he became fascinated with cars. He moved to Nebraska and lived there until 1988. He started working in an auto body shop there and got married and had three children. The marriage ended and Eves moved back to Ohio with his children. He regained his interest in rockets in the early 1990s and started his hobby again. His father, Donald, who took interest in Evess rocketry throughout his life, passed away in late 2008. Eves, now 51 years old, lives in Ohio near Akron with his wife, Waneda, and has continued working in the auto body business.
The 1990s were a busy and testing time for Eves. Since his renewed activity with rockets, he started his plans for the Saturn V replica. In 1994 he and two of his friends, Mark Rogers and Jamie Shark, made a 135-pound upscale version of the LOC Iroc, which at that time was one of the largest rockets east of the Mississippi. Stories of their Iroc appeared in High Power Rocketry magazine. Their second launch in 1995 was a success. Tragedy came soon after when Mark Rogers, who was a hemophiliac, contracted AIDS from a tainted blood sample and passed away later the same year. Eves took the Iroc to LDRS - the biggest high-power rocket launch in the country, where it crashed into a nearby forest. These events led Eves to give up his high-power rocketry. Fortunately, in 2007, he was informed about a warehouse full of rocket parts that were being sold. Eves decided to go check out the merchandise and was amazed at how much equipment was there. The owner only wanted $1,000 for it all so Eves made the purchase and knew it was time to build the Saturn V. He used his plans from the 1990s and started working in May of 2007 in a 30-by-60 foot garage near his home.
Steve Evess story is fascinating and inspiring. The West Holmes Science Club has invited him to the area to help spread his story on Monday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m., in the West Holmes High School Theater. This event is open to everyone who is intrigued and is free to attend. Steve Eves will be telling his story and how he accomplished his dream of flying his very own Saturn V.
