!Im New! First launch this saturday!

Im new to the hobby, got my first rocket the other day and going launch it this saturday! Its a max trax the one with the digital counter thing on!
do i have to peg the port pad 2 down or is it ok on its own?

Can anyone give me any tips?

Im from Staffordshire UK does anyone know of a club at all in the surrounding area or people local??

Im looking to get a couple more cheap rockets think the launcher in the kits a port pad 2, can anyone give me adv what i would need to buy and what sort of upgrades are available?


Thanks any help would be greatful

First of all,

Welcome to rocketry, and welcome to The Rocketry Forum!

Lots of very nice and helpful folks around here, and more information than you can digest in a year.

As for your questions: The Estes porta-pad should do just fine on its own. They are pretty stable for the little things they are designed to launch.

Since I'm not from the UK, I can't really speak for what is available over on your side of the pond. There are, however, quite a few regulars on here who can certainly steer you in the right direction.

Again, Welcome!

WW

Welcome aboard!
Look around TheRocketry Forum, it is a wealth of knowlege!

Take some photos Sturday we would love to see them.

As to your second question, I have a couple of suggestions. One is to join the NAR and find the nearest local chapter. Do you have a local hobby shop that sells rockets? If so, you might see if they have a bulletin board where you can post a card with your name and number on it so other rocketeers can contact you. And, of course, you can always convince a couple of your non-rocketeering friends to come along for a launch. Chances are good that they will catch the bug. I like to keep a couple of inexpensive starter kits around that I can give to a newbie to get them started (the Quest Antari, Estes Alpha III, or Estes Gnome are good ones for this - they don't cost a lot and they can be built in an hour or so).

Greg

Welcome to the hobby and to TRF. You're going to love both! We have several folks here from the UK. It is my hope that they can help point you to a club in your area. If not, get some like minded friends together and *start* one

good luck!
jim

Welcome!

Enjoy your journey into rocketry

Welcome, Welcome Welcome!

Originally posted by Parrot
Im new to the hobby, got my first rocket the other day and going launch it this saturday! Its a max trax the one with the digital counter thing on!
do i have to peg the port pad 2 down or is it ok on its own?

Click to expand...

For small to medium size model rockets, it should be fine on its own. But with a heavier rod, it can be used to launch larger models such as the Estes Mean Machine or Shadow, and for those the pad needs to be pegged down.

Im from Staffordshire UK does anyone know of a club at all in the surrounding area or people local??

Click to expand...

Your next Internet stop should be the UKRA website: https://www.ukra.org.uk/
Go to the UK Groups section and see if there's a club that's near enough to you. Also see the Launch Events for a list of major events - be sure to attend at least one!

Im looking to get a couple more cheap rockets think the launcher in the kits a port pad 2, can anyone give me adv what i would need to buy and what sort of upgrades are available?

Click to expand...

Yes, Jim Flis ought to be able to advise you on what kits to buy. Take a look at Fliskits. These are available from Rocket Store. Other reputable UK vendors are Apollo 11 and Rockets And Things.

Look after your Porta Pad and it will serve you well. I still use mine to launch large models such as my scratch-built Hermes - all it needs is a 5mm rod and the legs staked down. A larger blast deflector is also useful.

You may want to buy or build a better control box than the basic Estes one, though, especially if you start flying models with clusters (multiple motors firing at once).

Hi Parrot, I'm fairly new to this too.

Read Adrian's comments above and join a local club.



I'm still using the porta pad and its great for most rockets. If you join a club you'll meet plenty of people that will let you use their larger pads for launching bigger stuff.....
I'm planning on using everyone else's pads for the whole of next year


Have fun

Originally posted by Parrot


Im looking to get a couple more cheap rockets think the launcher in the kits a port pad 2, can anyone give me adv what i would need to buy and what sort of upgrades are available?


Thanks any help would be greatful

Click to expand...

Well since it's been mentioned

We (FlisKits) have a nice selection of creative kits and you should be able to find something you like in the set. We have sport models, futuristic models, cluster and multi-staged rockets plus a few Odd-Rocs to boot.

You can either start at the main page and click on PRODUCTS to begin checking them out or go to our detailed index which shows all of our kits with little thumbnails. clicking on a thumb will bring you to the detailed section on that rocket. You can find that index by Clicking Here

(to get to that page manually, start at our main page. In the upper right corner click the link "The Complete FlisKits" (which is a text only list) then click the link in the grey header on the table.)

have fun!
jim

You're going to have a great time. Added bonus if you catch the rocket.