We need NC-20 Nose Cones!!!!

[Byron.A.Young]

Hi my name is Byron and I'm an Aerospace Engineering student at the University of Colorado. I recently started a rocket outreach program aimed towards elementary school students, but we've run into a few problems. After 6 outreaches (7 after tomorrow), and around 30 rockets, we've been having trouble finding a good source for materials.

The main problem is a good source of NC-20 nose cones, I've bought out every store within 60 miles of CU, and bought out an online store, and we might not have enough nose cones for tomorrow's outreach. Does anyone have a huge amount of these nose cones that they would be willing to donate or sell to our program?

It would be equally helpful is someone knew a good way to buy these nose cones in bulk. I'm really surprised how expensive these tiny pieces of plastic are. Anyway send me an email or give me a call, or just reply to this thread. Thanks for the help and I look forward to contributing to this forum! Eventually I'll post a few more pictures of our program.

[CharlaineC]

contact semroc (http://www.semroc.com/Store/Scripts/default.asp) they are not only wounderful people but they have great prices.
you could also buy the estes viking bulk packs here (http://www.esteseducator.com/content/search_details.php?id=EST%201755) or one or the quest bulk kits here (http://www.questaerospace.com/items.asp?Cc=EDUBASIC&iTpStatus=0&Tp=&Bc=) or switch to paper rockets like the ones form fliskits here (http://www.fliskits.com/products/free_stuff.htm) to help get them started. the caution is a great starter rocket for kids. hope this helps

[Peartree]

Welcome to TRF. There are a bunch of us here that work with youth through churches, scouts, 4-H, etc. Please feel free to ask questions and to explore out database. Sadly, due to a crash, much of our extensive archive was lost (although we still have a glimmer of hope for recovery) but the people are still here. Folks here have tried a lot of stuff and purchased from just about every known supplier. Good luck with the kids and I'm sure a few others will weigh in with answers and suggestions.

[UMRS]

Hi my name is Byron and I'm an Aerospace Engineering student at the University of Colorado. I recently started a rocket outreach program aimed towards elementary school students, but we've run into a few problems. After 6 outreaches (7 after tomorrow), and around 30 rockets, we've been having trouble finding a good source for materials.

The main problem is a good source of NC-20 nose cones, I've bought out every store within 60 miles of CU, and bought out an online store, and we might not have enough nose cones for tomorrow's outreach. Does anyone have a huge amount of these nose cones that they would be willing to donate or sell to our program?

It would be equally helpful is someone knew a good way to buy these nose cones in bulk. I'm really surprised how expensive these tiny pieces of plastic are. Anyway send me an email or give me a call, or just reply to this thread. Thanks for the help and I look forward to contributing to this forum! Eventually I'll post a few more pictures of our program.

Byron if you can send me your needs in an email or PM we will try to help you out.

[FROB]

If you can use BT-50 size NC's instead (24mm, or 'D' engine size), i have over 50 i'm prepared to give away to a worthy cause like yours.

[Micromeister]

Many of us who do individual as well as Club sponsered youth outreach programs like yours all have the same problem......Finding or creating inexpensive Nosecones.

If you really have to have a balsa or plastic NC, your gonna pay pretty big money for them even in bulk at any size, even in BT-5 sizes.

If on the other hand you can get away with a conical cone, or a roughly shaped cone it's possible to use SM Blue or pink Styrofoam, or a combination of Styrofoam shoulder with a cardstock or paper conical rolled cone for the job. Both work well and Cost pennies to produce. The Trade off is Time.

Hope this helps a little, Keep up the great work!

[jflis]

Byron,

FlisKits may be able to help, but you are right about the cost. The nose cone (balsa or plastic) is one of the most expensive parts of a model rocket...

You can reach me through our FlisKits site.

Oh, and thank you for working this program! :) It is good to see another rocketeer taking the time to bring rocketry to the kids :) Keep it up!

jim

[Pem Tech]

If they haven't been mentioned BMS has a rather broad selection NC 's.

http://www.balsamachining.com/

[Byron.A.Young]

Wow! This is huge amount of response for a thread started 8 hours ago. Thanks a lot for all of the suggestions I'll talk them over with all of the other volunteers.

We've got another one this morning I'll post some pictures in the next day or so.

[Pippen]

If on the other hand you can get away with a conical cone, or a roughly shaped cone it's possible to use SM Blue or pink Styrofoam, or a combination of Styrofoam shoulder with a cardstock or paper conical rolled cone for the job. Both work well and Cost pennies to produce. The Trade off is Time.
!

Could plastic Easter eggs work? They're readily available this time of year, cheap, and come in a variety of sizes.

Welcome to TRF Byron. Loved seeing the pictures of your classes!

[Micromeister]

Could plastic Easter eggs work? They're readily available this time of year, cheap, and come in a variety of sizes.

Welcome to TRF Byron. Loved seeing the pictures of your classes!

Absolutely; if you can find eggs in about the right size. We Scrounge the Dollar Stores all the time looking for 1/2" (Bt-5) or 3/4" (Bt-20) diameter size eggs, These smaller sizes have often been hard to come by, most are larger, but do work for larger bodied Bt-50/55 egglofters with Standoff launch lugs;) Styrofoam Shoulders can work will on easter eggs as well.

So do some Bottle tops or bottoms and other things like plastic party glass stems, finger bowls and such...Searching the Craft and Dollar Store isles can turn up all kinds of funny things that'll work, but again they tend to be most fitting for larger model bodies.

[bob jablonski]

What timing! Starlight has PNC7's (same as Estes PNC20 But I like Centuri's numbering system BT7=0.75 BT20=?) for the month of March. Check out our Super Special page on our web site
Mr. Bob
Starlightski
www.starlightrocketry.com

[maricopasem]

If you can use BT-50 size NC's instead (24mm, or 'D' engine size), i have over 50 i'm prepared to give away to a worthy cause like yours.
I'm doing rockets with a Cub Scout Pack next month and would be grateful beyond expression if you would be willing to help out. PM on the way.

[evil ed]

PM sent

[Byron.A.Young]

Could plastic Easter eggs work? They're readily available this time of year, cheap, and come in a variety of sizes.

Welcome to TRF Byron. Loved seeing the pictures of your classes!

That's brilliant! Thanks for the tip I'll go get some tomorrow.

[Byron.A.Young]

Absolutely; if you can find eggs in about the right size. We Scrounge the Dollar Stores all the time looking for 1/2" (Bt-5) or 3/4" (Bt-20) diameter size eggs, These smaller sizes have often been hard to come by, most are larger, but do work for larger bodied Bt-50/55 egglofters with Standoff launch lugs;) Styrofoam Shoulders can work will on easter eggs as well.

So do some Bottle tops or bottoms and other things like plastic party glass stems, finger bowls and such...Searching the Craft and Dollar Store isles can turn up all kinds of funny things that'll work, but again they tend to be most fitting for larger model bodies.

I think eventually I'll just make a rocket made completely out of dollar store merchandise. I could call it Macgyver.

[Byron.A.Young]

Many of us who do individual as well as Club sponsered youth outreach programs like yours all have the same problem......Finding or creating inexpensive Nosecones.

If you really have to have a balsa or plastic NC, your gonna pay pretty big money for them even in bulk at any size, even in BT-5 sizes.

If on the other hand you can get away with a conical cone, or a roughly shaped cone it's possible to use SM Blue or pink Styrofoam, or a combination of Styrofoam shoulder with a cardstock or paper conical rolled cone for the job. Both work well and Cost pennies to produce. The Trade off is Time.

Hope this helps a little, Keep up the great work!

We might be able to do this before every outreach. We try to fit the entire process, from design to launch, into around 2-2.5 hours. Thanks for the tip!

[Pippen]

I think eventually I'll just make a rocket made completely out of dollar store merchandise. I could call it Macgyver.

I can see you're going to be right at home around here. :)

[El Cheapo]

You can do alot with paper towel tube & toilet paper tubes w/easter egg nose cones. My kids, their friends and myself have built quite a few. They go together quickly providing you have the centering rings (cardboard) & tubes pre-cut and engine tubes pre-rolled (110lb cardstock). Nose cone shoulders can also be made with cardstock. For shock cords I use 1/8" elastic with simple tri-fold mounts in the egg and body tube. I've even made baffles for them as well since it takes alot of wadding to protect the chutes. Speaking of chutes, I use white kitchen or black trash bags cut in 14"x14" squares and kite string for shroud lines on the kits I've put together for the neighborhood kids and rocket parties we've done. Total cost per rocket is about $1.00 including glue and a swivel for the chute, unfinished ofcourse.

A couple tips that I do is:

Take a 75/25 mixture of white glue and water and brush out the tubes prior and let them dry. I use an old 6D Maglight wapped in paper to build up the diameter and then wax paper on the outer layer so it doesn't stick. I use and old 1" wide bristle paint brush for application. It makes a geat mandrel for reshaping the tubes since they are rarely without dings. It also stiffens up the tubes a little.

Make sure the inside of the nose cone is sanded otherwise plastic cement won't adhere. I prefer to use epoxy as some of the easter eggs don't react as well as one would think they would to Testors plastic cement. Also sand the outside of the egg for proper paint adhesion.

Maricopasem has done a ton of TP tube rockets. I'm sure he'd be glad to show off a few. We need to get together at an SSS event and have some Poop Tube races....lol

Here are a couple pics of the ones we've done as well as a link (http://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?t=1020) to a recent kit I've assembled for my boy's 6th birthday present.

I'm also a big fan of the Fliskits Caution Rocket. I still haven't been able to get the Nebula to fly right after two different attempts. The Art Applewhite 13mm Saucers are great as well as the many different cardstock models available, all for FREE.

I think "using what you've got" helps develop creativity and lets the kids learn that they don't always have to spend money to make neat crafts.

[maricopasem]

Maricopasem has done a ton of TP tube rockets. I'm sure he'd be glad to show off a few. We need to get together at an SSS event and have some Poop Tube races....lol
Poop tube races -- that's classic. It sounds like the featured event at a proctologist convention. :D

Almost all of my builds are scratch using El Cheapo's same materials. With a little creativity you can make some great rockets for pennies. Attached are just a few of mine.

[bob jablonski]

thats the best recycling I've seen in a while.
Mr. Bob
Starlighter

[Pippen]

The Art Applewhite 13mm Saucers are great as well as the many different cardstock models available, all for FREE.



One summer we made some saucers from Art's free patterns (both the cardstock and the Hefty plate kinds) and took them along to the 4-H launch at the fair. The kids were all over those--they loved 'em! It's obviously not the same building experience but it's fun and it's cheap. At the advice from someone here we snazzed the cardstock saucers up by using some heavy cardstock folders. One of the folders was silver holographic and it made a really cool looking saucer. They would make a fun demo if nothing else.

Did you wind up having enough nosecones for last week's outreach?

[Green Arrow]

PM sent

He strikes again! :D:)

[Micromeister]

Bryon and Pippen;
To expand just a little on what we were talking about earlier. "Easter Egg nose cones"

After a visit to Micheals and the dollar store this afternoon.
We came up with a bag of small rubberish easter eggs the are just about 3/4" in diameter. 2.00 a dozen:)

razor sawing up an spent 18mm motor casting I made 3/8" shoulders added a little piece of nylon cord as an attachment anchor and connected all this with a tiny bit of 5minute epoxy to create some very nice little "soft-tip" BT-to nosecone.
Total cost about .33 each including the devcon epoxy tube. They aren't as pretty as some of el cheapo's creations but they sure could be something done pretty quickly for a mass project;)
I have some pics but haven't gotten them out of the camera yet. If anyones intrested I'll post them later.

[El Cheapo]

They aren't as pretty as some of el cheapo's creations but they sure could be something done pretty quickly for a mass project;)

Awww, shucks.....you're makin' me blush. That's quite a compliment from a Lifer like yourself.

BTW, the first version I built (like the black/pink striped one) flies great on A3-4T's and A10-3T's. The black and pink verson and the Y-wing fly on 18mm. In retrospect, we had a drag race between the 13mm and 18mm models and the 13mm got a bit more height than the 18mm version with an A8-3.

[CharlaineC]

not sure about other states but here our party stores sell easter stuff year round and you can specl order too

[Micromeister]

Heres one of the packs and end result (unpainted)

[maricopasem]

Here's a link to EMRR that shows how I did scratch rockets with a local Scout troop.

http://www.rocketreviews.com/featured/story_featured20.shtml

[Pippen]

I have some pics but haven't gotten them out of the camera yet. If anyones intrested I'll post them later.

Really, Micromeister, as if we wouldn't want pictures. ;)

This is all Very Impressive Cheap!

I'm surprised that the cardstock shoulders hold up well but it sounds like there's no problem with that. I have some nifty hard plastic eggs (that strangely enough came filled with slime) tucked into the rocketry boxes because I thought they'd work well provided I could find a way to fit them. But those will have to wait because I've already chosen my next project: a bunny Cloud Hopper. Pink!

[maricopasem]

Really, Micromeister, as if we wouldn't want pictures. ;)

This is all Very Impressive Cheap!

I'm surprised that the cardstock shoulders hold up well but it sounds like there's no problem with that. I have some nifty hard plastic eggs (that strangely enough came filled with slime) tucked into the rocketry boxes because I thought they'd work well provided I could find a way to fit them. But those will have to wait because I've already chosen my next project: a bunny Cloud Hopper. Pink!
Cardboard has worked great for me. I typically make my own from several layers of cardstock and they hold up just fine.

[Byron.A.Young]

You can do alot with paper towel tube & toilet paper tubes w/easter egg nose cones. My kids, their friends and myself have built quite a few. They go together quickly providing you have the centering rings (cardboard) & tubes pre-cut and engine tubes pre-rolled (110lb cardstock). Nose cone shoulders can also be made with cardstock. For shock cords I use 1/8" elastic with simple tri-fold mounts in the egg and body tube. I've even made baffles for them as well since it takes alot of wadding to protect the chutes. Speaking of chutes, I use white kitchen or black trash bags cut in 14"x14" squares and kite string for shroud lines on the kits I've put together for the neighborhood kids and rocket parties we've done. Total cost per rocket is about $1.00 including glue and a swivel for the chute, unfinished ofcourse.

A couple tips that I do is:

Take a 75/25 mixture of white glue and water and brush out the tubes prior and let them dry. I use an old 6D Maglight wapped in paper to build up the diameter and then wax paper on the outer layer so it doesn't stick. I use and old 1" wide bristle paint brush for application. It makes a geat mandrel for reshaping the tubes since they are rarely without dings. It also stiffens up the tubes a little.

Make sure the inside of the nose cone is sanded otherwise plastic cement won't adhere. I prefer to use epoxy as some of the easter eggs don't react as well as one would think they would to Testors plastic cement. Also sand the outside of the egg for proper paint adhesion.

Maricopasem has done a ton of TP tube rockets. I'm sure he'd be glad to show off a few. We need to get together at an SSS event and have some Poop Tube races....lol

Here are a couple pics of the ones we've done as well as a link (http://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?t=1020) to a recent kit I've assembled for my boy's 6th birthday present.

I'm also a big fan of the Fliskits Caution Rocket. I still haven't been able to get the Nebula to fly right after two different attempts. The Art Applewhite 13mm Saucers are great as well as the many different cardstock models available, all for FREE.

I think "using what you've got" helps develop creativity and lets the kids learn that they don't always have to spend money to make neat crafts.

Thanks for the tips! I might ask some of the teachers to tell the students to bring in materials a few weeks prior to the outreach. Seeing materials they found at home fly would help out a lot. Thanks again!

[Byron.A.Young]

Poop tube races -- that's classic. It sounds like the featured event at a proctologist convention. :D

Almost all of my builds are scratch using El Cheapo's same materials. With a little creativity you can make some great rockets for pennies. Attached are just a few of mine.

That pirate rocket is pretty sweet. I never thought of using household materials when I was a kid, so I never made that progression when helping kids make rockets, but I'm definately going to start using some of these materials. Thanks for the response!

[Byron.A.Young]

One summer we made some saucers from Art's free patterns (both the cardstock and the Hefty plate kinds) and took them along to the 4-H launch at the fair. The kids were all over those--they loved 'em! It's obviously not the same building experience but it's fun and it's cheap. At the advice from someone here we snazzed the cardstock saucers up by using some heavy cardstock folders. One of the folders was silver holographic and it made a really cool looking saucer. They would make a fun demo if nothing else.

Did you wind up having enough nosecones for last week's outreach?

We have been thinking about having some demo rockets if we have extra time. I'll definately look into this. Thanks!

[Byron.A.Young]

Heres one of the packs and end result (unpainted)

That's really cool. I never thought of using a spent motor as an adapter. Thanks again!

[poke44]

Couldnt you use the bigger eggs and just epoxy on an adapter like Micromax did or even some paper cardstock to use as an adapter... Have a big nose rocket anyhow with a rainbow of colors. OH OH perhaps even put some candy in em for a mass launch and have the kids scramble to get em.

[Byron.A.Young]

Couldnt you use the bigger eggs and just epoxy on an adapter like Micromax did or even some paper cardstock to use as an adapter... Have a big nose rocket anyhow with a rainbow of colors. OH OH perhaps even put some candy in em for a mass launch and have the kids scramble to get em.

The candy would be awesome. I may have to do that on our next outreach.

[Pippen]

There's so many good ideas in this thread that I'm linking it in the Educator Resources area of the Beginner's forum. Any other ideas for low budget rocketry (low power) you want to add?

For those who have a Hobby Lobby in the area, they have 40% off coupons online fairly often and it's a great way to pick up a kit, starter set with lauch pad, or engines. I also believe that Michael's and JoAnne Fabrics coupons are interchangable.
http://hobbylobby.com/weekly/weekly.cfm

[Byron.A.Young]

There's so many good ideas in this thread that I'm linking it in the Educator Resources area of the Beginner's forum. Any other ideas for low budget rocketry (low power) you want to add?

http://hobbylobby.com/weekly/weekly.cfm

I would like to add that from my experiences doing this program, it is impossible to do an activity like this with purely Estes or Quest products. The resources available at this forum enable this sort of program to be performed much more inexpensively. Send me a PM if you need a good source of cheap inexpensive nose cones, or simply make them out of random materials, but don't buy from Estes.

Parachutes and streamers, which can also be expensive, are also fairly useless for low power rocketry with A or B engines. Just attach the nose cone to the body tube with some elastic and you should be fine. Buy elastic at Michaels or Hobby Lobby.

Balsa is fairly cheap, but it's even cheaper to use thick paperboard which also seems to take impacts better, which is good for landing, but also for kids bumping into the rocket.

In terms of the motor mount, using a BC20 sized tube means that all is needed is a stopper at the top of the motor, which you can make out of old spent rocket motor casings, and then hold in the rocket with a piece of tape around the outside by letting the motor come out of the engine slightly.

Most of these tips aren't my ideas, but have become common practice for our outreaches, and have a proven safety record. We haven't had a single mishap in the 40 or so launches we've done so far.

If the launch electrics provided by Estes aren't working, just put a few 9V batteries (or other large battery) in series and connect the wires to the positive and negative ends manually. There's no risk of shock and we've never had a single failure. The launch electronics are also the most expensive components to buy initially for a starter kit, so showing this method might be useful.

Send me a PM if you have any questions, and thanks for all the tips provided so far! Your help has been invaluable to our program. I'll post some more pictures as soon as I can.

[CharlaineC]

you can cut your own streamers and chutes out of thin mylar emergancy blankets. a 1.00 blanket can make a ton.

[Pippen]

Charlaine, where can you find those cheap mylar emergency blankets? The last time I looked for them in a store the price was higher.

We have used a mylar balloon before.

[powderburner]

Yeah, from what I've seen, those mylar sheets are more like $3-4-5 when sold in sporting goods stores. You can often find space blankets at Wmart (sporting goods), Academy, etc.

But you can still cut a buzillion streamers from one sheet.

Another streamer idea (not mine, but I don't remember where I saw it first); go to Home Depot/Lowes/etc and buy a roll of plastic surveyor's tape. It comes in many bright colors. The plastic is durable enough for beginnner kit that is probably only going to be launched once or twice (and then taken home and stuffed in the back of a closet).

I would strongly encourage anyone involved with "school" rocket projects to check out the new Quest product line. They are now selling simple NCs, appropriate for school rockets or make-n-take, at very economical prices. In my experience, the NC has been the expensive part of the deal, and can price these simple kits out of reach of teachers, students, or sponsors. With 30 or 40 cent NCs you can create a complete school rocket kit for well under a buck. At those kinds of prices, I just go ahead and donate; it makes it so much easier to get things started, the teacher doesn't have to go through the hassle of collecting money from each kid, etc. Donate to the school PTA and it is all tax deductible.

[Pippen]

Here's the link to the nose cones Powderburner mentioned. Thanks, there are some low cost ones in there.
http://www.questaerospace.com/items.asp?Cc=nosecones&iTpStatus=0&Tp=&Bc=

editted to add: probably worth mentioning that those Quest nosecones will only fit Quest sized body tubes or other odd sized tubes.

I was actually looking for one of those blankets for my mom's older cat, who is getting older and always seeking heat. They sell smaller pet versions and of course jack up the prices. I'd remembered mention of the blankets for parachutes but don't bother looking at the pet stores. :rolleyes:

[Micromeister]

Partchutes can be make from all kinds of "around the house" junk and throw-aways.

Canopies can easily be fashioned from: Old Clear Laundry bags, just about any thin plastic shopping bag, mylar ballons. mylar gift wrap, Some dollar store plastic table cloths though you may have trouble with some holding any kind of tape shroudline attachment, space blanket type materials already mentioned or very thin scrap cloth you might have laying around.
I like to buy 5 sheet packs of 18"x30" sheets of mylar gift wrap for streamers or 24"x 30" sheets for chutes. most any Party supply or Micheals will have these giftwrap packs.

1/2" and 1" Surveyor's tape in various day-glo colors can be purchased from most any home improvement store wit makes very good streamers single or double strand. Don't overlook rolls of 2" wide Yellow Caution tape for streamer use while your there. Sheets and Rolls of crepe paper are very cheap, make excellent streamer material that is already flame retardent, available at most any Party supply and some dollar stores.
I picked up a roll of 3-1/2" wide ribbon that has worked OK for sport streamers, It's a bit on the heavy side compared to mylar but works well:)

Shroud lines can be made from just about any heavy carpet thread, Nylon thread or 2 strand 13lb kevlar thread. just depends on your resourses and time to accumulate the material.

Mylar package wrap tapes, silver adhesive backed mylar or Monokote, or plain old clear packing tape make great shroud line tape strips or discs.

Some of the photos below are of making competition type chutes & streamers, but the process is the same for sport use.

[Pippen]

Micro, I found some rolls of Hallmark mylar banners at a thrift shop for really cheap awhile back. I thought they might have potential but so far no takers on streamers that say "Good Luck" and "Congratulations". ;) The guys would probably like the Caution plastic strips better.

[Byron.A.Young]

Hi everybody sorry for disappearing for a while, but I've had an interesting couple of weeks. We've also had a break from rocket outreaches because of CSAPs (the elementary standardized tests). Thanks again for all the great advice and I'll post some pictures as soon as I can.

[Byron.A.Young]

Here's some more pictures of another one of our outreaches. Thanks again for all the help guys.

[Byron.A.Young]

Everybody,

We're going to try to have a rocket meet in Boulder, CO on May 1st at 1:00 PM at Superior Elementary. The school doesn't have enough time for a full outreach, so we're going to try to just launch off some rockets for them. It would be great if some more hobbyists could come and show off their handiwork. Go this thread for more info:

Thanks again for all the help guys!

http://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?p=21833#post21833

Byron

[gpoehlein]

I'm coming in a little late on this party, but thought I'd pass along a tip for making nearly free parachutes - Target shopping bags. Target uses a different plastic for their shopping bags (it is a lot like the plastic used for Estes chutes) and even the smaller ones are big enough to get a 12 to 15" chute out of - maybe two. The only cash outlay is some cotton carpet thread for the shroud lines. Make a 12" hexagon template from cardboard and you can make a lot of 12" chutes for a couple cents apiece.

[Byron.A.Young]

Everybody,

We now have a google calendar for all of our outreaches. If anyone's from Boulder and wants to help out, send me an email. We're always looking for more volunteers! Thanks for all the comments so far they've been extremely helpful.

http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=b699umbr6m2u2ksc3u0bpi4f14%40group.calen dar.google.com&ctz=America/Denver

[n5wd]

I would like to add that from my experiences doing this program, it is impossible to do an activity like this with purely Estes or Quest products.

I've found that both Quest and Apogee are very willing to work with folks doing outreach and educational programs - very willing! I've used both in the program I run with my engineering students who start out scratch building rockets just like the elementary kids.


Parachutes and streamers, which can also be expensive, are also fairly useless for low power rocketry with A or B engines. Just attach the nose cone to the body tube with some elastic and you should be fine.

OK, here are my contributions specifically on the above - go to Home Depot or Lowe's and buy a couple of rolls of surveyor's plastic tape... bright fluorescent colors. I usually have the kids do long streamers (3-4') so they can see them when they finally get to launch their rockets on C's (they can usually keep an eye on them with A's and B's).

And, forget the elastic - while you're at HD or Lowe's, get a couple of rolls of the fluorescent string. While not 100% flameproof, I've yet to see one burn through from the four or five launches that we put our students through - and then we recycle the ones that were discarded by my students and turn 'em into give-aways for the urchins at the DARS launches!

Great ideas, folks!

[Byron.A.Young]

go to Home Depot or Lowe's and buy a couple of rolls of surveyor's plastic tape... bright fluorescent colors. I usually have the kids do long streamers (3-4') so they can see them when they finally get to launch their rockets on C's (they can usually keep an eye on them with A's and B's).


I've actually got a roll of that neon material and it works perfectly. Plus it's really cheap.

[Byron.A.Young]

Hey everybody. Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but we haven't had a lot of activity over the summer. We should be starting our rocket outreaches again, so I'll try to post some pictures when I get the change. Again, thanks for all your help so far.

[nukemmcssret]

I know about finding things in a hurry. I read the thread about making your own so I offer this web-site I found on scratch building a rocket. This may help. http://www.jamesyawn.com/modelrocket/intro/index.html Let me know what you think. NUKEMMCSSRET