RCS celebrates legacy of propulsion with installation of 30-foot model rocket replica in Cedar City

Written by Jeff Richards
October 28, 2023

CEDAR CITY — A giant replica of a model rocket was erected this week in front of the new headquarters building of RCS Rocket Motor Components.

Workers with Funder Welding and Design install a 30-foot replica of a model rocket in front of RCS Rocket Motor Components, Inc., Cedar City, Utah, Oct. 23, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

The 30-foot-tall metal sculpture is scaled at 9.2 times the size of the Initiator, one of the company’s top-selling model rockets, said executive vice president Dane Boles. The iconic Initiator has been popular among hobbyists for more than three decades, ever since it was first designed by Bob Sanford back in 1987.

The installation process began on Monday afternoon, when metal craftsman Andy Funderburk and his crew at Funder Welding and Design offloaded the pieces of the rocket and secured them onto metal brackets anchored into the ground. 

Then, on Wednesday, after all of the installation work had been finished, RCS employees gathered out front by the rocket to celebrate and take some group photos.

“This is a very important day for our business, RCS Rocket Motor Components, and our AeroTech and ISP (Industrial Solid Propulsion) divisions,” said company founder and CEO Gary Rosenfield. 

Rosenfield called the milestone “a major step in the establishment of our new facility here in Cedar City.”

“This is a result of over 40 years of work and planning, and more recently, the last 20 years here with our team,” he added, noting that it had been due to “the power of persistence, with an idea and a business.”

Employees of RCS Rocket Motor Components pose alongside a newly installed 30-foot replica of a model rocket in front of the company’s new headquarters building, Cedar City, Utah, Oct. 25, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Boles echoed those sentiments in his remarks, saying, “I think this is living proof that a huge vision and dream can come true.”

Boles lauded the company’s newly constructed headquarters building located at 2053 W. 850 North, with Shawn Ekker and Rick Szurgot of NovaBuilt serving as general contractors.

“We’ve got the existing facilities squared away with even more room and some nice upgrades,” Boles said. “But now, with the raising of the Initiator, it’s really the frosting on the cake.”

Boles said that new signage on the main building is expected to be installed within the next month or two, “so that everybody in town will really know who we are.”

“Already the rocket has really created a lot of interest,” Boles said, adding that a public open house is being tentatively planned for next spring, after a small rocketry museum and retail outlet have been finished inside the building’s main lobby.

“On behalf of RCS, AeroTech/Quest and ISP, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, for sticking with us,” Boles told the employees, adding, “For all your hard, diligent work, and for helping to make this dream come true, and to be able to realize Gary’s vision that started about 42 years ago.”

On Thursday morning, Rosenfield, who is currently teaching a rocket propulsion course at Southern Utah University, had his students come visit the facility for a field trip. Toward the end of the tour, the students witnessed the testing of a large rocket motor measuring 30 inches long and 3.875 inches in diameter. The impressive motor burned nearly 11 pounds of propellant in 4.0 seconds, providing 500 pounds of thrust.

For more information about RCS, visit its Facebook page or website.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons and one granddaughter. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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