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Model Rocketry?
- Thread starter majordude
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I take it you never flew competition either. That is fun... boost gliding, parachute duration, egg lofting... cool stuff. (BTW, who is the chick in your avatar?)
When I was younger I was really into them. Started out building Estes stuff, but quickly moved onto designing and building my own from scratch. Finally some lady threatened to call the cops on me for launching them, and that kind of scared me off. Now I realize she was full of it, but too late. I want to get back into it. The Bonneville Salt Flats are a prime rocket-launching location and they're close by. I should go out to one of the big launches they have out there sometime...
I think Estes is the gateway drug to high power rocketry.
You should head out to the flats some time. Some of those larger rockets are INSANE! You can stick your hand inside of the nozzle! That's big.
It's wild to see something twice as tall as you DISAPPEAR with a crackle and a roar.
I got into model rockets this past year. My 10 year old daughter is in 4-H and she took rocketry for a project. So far she has built two rockets, Wizard and Baby Bertha. Her two younger sisters are also interested now. We have a total of 6 rockets now and will gain at least 4 a year for the next couple at least. We also have a launcher because twice a year with the club is not enough!
The last two times we took the rockets out, we went over to the neighborhood middle school and used their athletic field. We launched a rocket and it went up, the chute deployed and it started to drift...and drift and drift. It went across the fields, over the roof of the business next door, across the street, the roof of the business across the street, and landed in the lot behind it. The total drift was about a block and a half. The last time, we launched a little Wizard rocket with a B engine; it went up perfectly, and we lost sight of it in the sun! We spent the next hour searching the grounds but could not find it. This was Sunday of Labor day weekend. Tuesday, we called the school and the lawn guy found it while mowing. It was stuck nose first into the ground! It looks like the nose cone did not pop and it was like an arrow drilling into the ground. Both of these rockets were my daughter's and I do not know if she will launch another one that she put serious time into. Looks like we need to get some quick assembly ones so that she will launch!
All our rockets are Estes brand and use engines ranging from 1/2A3-2T up to C6-5. Considering how we almost lost two rockets already, I don't think we will be getting any that use larger engines and fly higher into the sky.
Do you have any experience with Quest rockets?
At the local hobby shop they have some very nice large rockets with plastic tubes and fins, large stuff.
The REALLY large rocket hangs from their ceiling. I think it's about a foot in diameter and eight to ten feet long. The old guy there told me one of the things you have to do prior to flight is notify the FAA because it will show up on radar.
Don't know if it's true but the rocket strikes me high on the "jeez man, look at that thing go!" scale.
I used to fly a rocket that used D-12's but I don't see them for sale in the stores anymore. The big stuff looks like they use reusable engines. Wow.
The REALLY large rocket hangs from their ceiling. I think it's about a foot in diameter and eight to ten feet long. The old guy there told me one of the things you have to do prior to flight is notify the FAA because it will show up on radar.
Don't know if it's true but the rocket strikes me high on the "jeez man, look at that thing go!" scale.
I used to fly a rocket that used D-12's but I don't see them for sale in the stores anymore. The big stuff looks like they use reusable engines. Wow.
You can always use a longer delay or a streamer so that it comes back to earth a bit quicker.
Quest only makes pre-made rockets, right? No, I never flew them but I used their motors back when they made their own.
I was introduced to model rocketry 12 years ago in my 6th grade science class. My first rocket was the HeliCat (which came in one of those "everything you'll need" kits). The nosecone was seperate (it had propeller blades that folded into the tube and came down on its own while the rocket floated on its own parachute). That lasted about 5 launches until the nosecone spun off in a different direction than the rocket, never to be seen again.
I've had several different rockets since then, but the second coolest (to the Helicat) was the Astrocam (which took photos from in the air on 110 film). I've been meaning to find a way to put a small digital camera in it so that I can get better quality pictures. Might just be wiser to design my own rocket around the small digital camera, though...
Thanks for starting this thread. Its sure brought back great memories!
I've had several different rockets since then, but the second coolest (to the Helicat) was the Astrocam (which took photos from in the air on 110 film). I've been meaning to find a way to put a small digital camera in it so that I can get better quality pictures. Might just be wiser to design my own rocket around the small digital camera, though...
Thanks for starting this thread. Its sure brought back great memories!
I remember that!
Actually, I remember the Cineroc which was an 8mm video camera that came out 5-10 years before the Astrocam.
Those were the HOT TICKET!
Nowadays you can probably do something much better for a whole lot less.
I cut the center out of the parachute one so it won't float as far next time.
Quest now makes rockets for you to assemble, but they seem to have a large line of premade or quick assembly rockets for education. I was just wondering how interchangable the motors are between Quest and Estes.
I am looking at some of their skill level 2 rockets for my daughter. She has four choices for this next year. Rocket to fly or not fly, made from a kit or home-designed. For the judging she prefers not to fly them, but I want her to be able to fly them later if she wants.
The reason she doesn't want to fly it at judging is that you are judged on the flight as well as the looks. There was a great looking rocket that had a pink ribbon (lowest ranking). We asked why it was given a pink and they said that it was a blue (top rank) on looks but when launched, it went up about 12 feet, turned over and skimmed the heads of the onlookers. It was considered an "unsafe flight" and dropped to the lowest rank. The owner said he was never going to fly it again.
They are interchangeable.
You may want to join the NAR or look for a club near you: nar.org
There aren't many girls in rocketry so she can break everyones' hearts in a few years.
Have you considered writing a phone number on the parachute/streamer?
Quite a few years ago I decided to get into model rockets. I bought kits, assembled 'em, bought the launch equipment and motors, and... never launched a damn thing.
Just never got around to it I suppose.
I haven't flown any in a years but I've got this one left, it was so beautiful I didn't want to launch it but I just went ahead and did it, used a D engine, it can use E engines as well.
The parachute tore off the main body but a cousin caught it, the capusule and upper part floated down safely. It's on display on my desk but here it is before launch.
The parachute tore off the main body but a cousin caught it, the capusule and upper part floated down safely. It's on display on my desk but here it is before launch.
Attachments
It was an Estes Mercury Atlas rocket kit, Masters Series, 1/35 scale. The body was wrapped in a kind of foil mylar tape that makes it look like metal. It's a very complex kit, lots of plastic detail parts, I'm surprised it survived it's first and only flight.