General Rocketry Discussion!

Weldo

Weldo

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Hey there! I just found this forum with only a pair of threads almost 2 years old! So I'm attempting to bring a little more life back to this forum.

I just recently got back into model rockets after a many year hiatus. I fooled around with a few kits years ago in my teens. Just last summer my sister, cousin and I took a road trip from PA to Key West and on the way back home we stopped at Kennedy Space Center and later at Wallops Flight Center.

Needless to say the spark was reignited in me and upon return home I found an old kit in my attic from The Launch Pad! Years ago I found it a bit too challenging for my skill set but now I couldn't wait to get crackin'!

I've since built several kits from a few different makers, Estes had an awesome Black Friday sale! I've found a pretty good launch site at a nearby park (for up to C motors at least...) and I'm having a blast building rockets!

I've yet to build one completely from scratch or just from a set of plans but I'd like to in the future.

Here's a pic of some of the stuff on my desk at the moment...

EM520187.JPG

So far the only piece I've machined for a rocket is the white nose cone on the small red missile on the right. It was turned from basswood on my Atlas lathe. The Estes kit was missing its balsa nose cone.

I hope there's still a little life left in this forum, rocketry is a super fun hobby! Anyone else out there got anything to share?
 
All I have are stories. There was the all-steel one we launched from a dry lake bed in the desert (way before 9/11). That one used 30-lbs of zinc/sulfur, and was completely spent by the time it was 30 feet in the air. Coasted the other 9,930 feet straight up, it did, and it was epic.

The other one that sticks with me is one I saw at the Apple Valley rocket meet in California. This was a 1/3-scale V2, something like 15 feet tall, with five engines. The excitement began when one of the five engines (on the perimeter of the rocket body) misfired, applying an off-axis load to it. As it shot up its launch rail, it was jammed slightly sideways, such that when it reached the top of its 15-ft launch tube, it jammed solid into it. Not stopping, it proceeded to take the launch rail with it.

Meantime, about 1000 feet away, we didn't know any of this. As it rose into the air, the first hint of something odd was being able to see the top of the nosecone the entire way. Only then did I realize why, that it was arcing toward the crowd. It pass overhead at several hundred feet, just about horizontal, before crashing into the parked cars behind us. My wife, who'd experienced rockets hitting the runway as their airline was taking off out of Saigon, said she wanted to go home. I agreed, as I'd see all the excitement I wanted for the day.

FWIW, there are some really awesome videos on YouTube of some really incredibly high altitudes they're reaching, with onboard cameras. Oh, and that V2 rocket, turns out that someone recorded the excitement, but I've been unable to locate it again on YouTube.

Who's next?
 
Wow, that's quite a story! The first one sounds incredible! To use up 30lbs of fuel in 30 feet and then coast to over 9,000 almost sounds more like an explosion than a controlled burn! I bet that was sight to behold.

The second one sounds pretty terrifying. Just a few weeks ago a similar thing happened to one of my rockets but it was just a cardboard tube about 28" long! I had just built the Estes Mercury kit and on the second launch it went up about 20 feet and listed into a ballistic trajectory toward a playground with a few small kids! The feeling you get from something like that is hard to describe. Luckily it got caught up in a large tree, doing no harm.

Honestly, not knowing exactly what's going to happen with a launch is one of the most exciting aspects of this hobby. I mean you do everything you can to make it a success but you still don't know for sure until it's too late to scrub.

SmokeWalker said:
Hey, that's great! Is that a Bullpup in the center?
Click to expand...

Yea it is! That was an old kit from the company called The Launch Pad. I got it over 15 years ago for Christmas but just built it a few months ago. The Launch Pad specialized in scale missile replicas but they are no longer in business...
 
I am not a rocket builder but I have been to several high power launches in MD and DE. They are very impressive and a lot of fun. I suggest everyone check it out if you have a chance. It's pretty cool to see a P motor fly! You really have to be there in person to appreciate it.
Robert
 
Neat! We visited the salt flats a few years ago, it’s an incredible place. If I ever go back I’d love to bring a rocket to launch, recovery is guaranteed! Round here there’s so many trees and such.

I’ve never attended any organized launches but I’ve just been into rocketry for a few months so far.
 
I'm planning on attending LDRS this year on the flats. If you stop by, we can talk rockets and machining. :)

Biggest motor I've flown is "just" an M900. :)
 
I've never even heard of that one! So far my biggest motor flown is an Estes C6!

Just how big is an M900? Sounds impressive!
 
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