It's been 17 years.....

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csp1971

csp1971

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Hello, as the title starts out, it has been 17 years since I have launched a model rocket. I am now 35 and have all of my model rockets in my garage in a couple of boxes and some just kind of laying on top of some shelves. Lots of Estes rockets! I have a Scrambler, Der Red Max, V3, V2, Dragonfly....and those are just some of the names I can recall. The rest I would have to look at. I even have my very first rocket built sometime in 83/84 in Jr. High, just a homegrown one built in a manufacturing class. Good times.

Anyway, I was out in my garage tonight and thought I would look around later to see what was going on in model rocketry and found this forum! Very cool, I have to say I'm very impressed by the rockets that you all have built and seeing the pictures of launches, etc.

I look at mine and some are in really bad shape and many are poorly built. But I'm still glad I have kept them. I'm going to go through them this week and see what I have. I also have a box of index cards specific to model rockets and each type of rocket and its name. I even believe I kept a record of how many times each rocket was launched.

I might post some pics of these if anyone would be interested in seeing them, regardless of the bad paint jobs and broken fins!

I'm thinking I kind of have the fever to launch a few again after I have a look at them. I have a 2 year old (and another on the way) that I'm hoping will someday enjoy the same hobbies (model rockets, large scale rc cars, small scale rc, etc.).

I'll be lurking around the forum on occasion to see what is going on in the world of rockets!

csp
 
Welcome back.

Of course, post some pics, then go launch some rockets. :)
 
Welcome to the forum. Now go out and fly some rockets.

Jim :D
 
csp1971 said:
I'll be lurking around the forum on occasion to see what is going on in the world of rockets!

csp
Click to expand...


Welcome back!

You'll see that so much has changed. Its not just new designs, but fresh new ideas. New technology, and new companies like Flis Kits, Sunward, and Semroc, just to name a few.

Now go fly some of those rockets!

Bob
 
WShoreRockets said:
Welcome back!

You'll see that so much has changed. Its not just new designs, but fresh new ideas. New technology, and new companies like Flis Kits, Sunward, and Semroc, just to name a few.

Now go fly some of those rockets!

Bob
Click to expand...
And Dr. Zooch:D:D
 
Uh oh, he found TRF....There's no turning back now! Welcome.:)


...his wife's gonna kill us :argh:
 
Welcome to the nuthouse...ummm, I mean TRF!! Truly a heap of very knowledgeable people here! I too, am a BAR, Born Again Rocketeer and 'discovered' TRF after watching a program on TV about rockets..Your in good company here! Have questions? Ask away! Someone- usually quite a few - will pipe up!

Again welcome!
 
Welcome to TRF and welcome back to rocketry!

You're going to enjoy it here. MOST certainly post pictures, we love'em :)

Hang around, learn and contribute too.

jim
 
Welcome back!

Just wait 'til you see what has changed in the past 17 years. Or, should I say, what's available now that wasn't then. :surprised:
 
Now that you are officially a BAR, you'll find yourself doing things you never did as a kid- like filling body tube spirals. :p
 
Thanks for the welcome guys!

I was thinking last night about how well that glue is after all these years. At the time I used elmers, hot glue, and epoxy on occasion. I was also wondering about the shock cord. I'm going to have to look but I wonder if anything is brittle. That would be one heck of a way to lose the nose cone and end up with broken fins and body tubes.

I looked out at the Estes website last night. It didn't seem like they have that many rockets. Have they reduced the number of rockets over the years?
 
I've refurbed four of my old rockets so far, and all have needed new shock cords. I've also had to refurb the parachutes; the tape discs just don't live that long.
 
csp1971 said:
Thanks for the welcome guys!

I was thinking last night about how well that glue is after all these years. At the time I used elmers, hot glue, and epoxy on occasion. I was also wondering about the shock cord. I'm going to have to look but I wonder if anything is brittle. That would be one heck of a way to lose the nose cone and end up with broken fins and body tubes.

I looked out at the Estes website last night. It didn't seem like they have that many rockets. Have they reduced the number of rockets over the years?
Click to expand...


Definitely replace the shock cord (you can use elastic or airplane rubber, but make the new shock cord at least twice the length of the old one - Estes has been notorious for putting in too short shock cords). Check the chutes too - they may also be coming loose. Scotch Tape works well for replacing the adhesive disks. After that, they should be good to go, unless you want to do some re-finishing (I gotta do that to my 30+ year old Trident)

Estes actually has more rockets now than they did back in the late 90s. Not as many as in the 80s (when they had some of the coolest rockets around!). If you want to recreate some of them, check out Jimz:

https://www.dars.org/jimz/rp00.htm

and Ye Olde Rocket Shoppe:

https://www.rocketshoppe.com/

Both sites have a lot of old plans for earlier Estes and Centuri rockets (as well as some other companies) - and many of them include fin templates and all the other info to clone the grand old rockets. For cloning parts, check out Semroc:

https://www.semroc.com/Store/Scripts/default.asp

and Balsa Machining Services:

https://www.balsamachining.com/

for balsa nose cones, body tubes and much of the other stuff to build them.
 
This stuff is unbelievable now. I've really fallen behind! LOL! I remember thinking in the 80's that Estes didn't have enough rockets out!

Thank you for reminding me about the parachutes. I forgot all about the little sticker that holds the string in place. Those little strings would have done the rocket no good as a streamer!

I can't believe all the stuff that is available...unbelievable. All the other companies out there now.

I can't wait to get these things out! Thanks again.
 
To expand on Greg's post, If you need decals for cloning or replacements for your originals, check out Tango Papa or Excelsior. You might want to check ahead with Excelsior before placing an order. I've heard it can sometimes take a little while, but he DOES come through.
 
From one BAR to another, welcome back. And beware, the bug bites much harder the 2nd time around. Pics of your old birds would be cool.
 
csp1971 said:
Thank you for reminding me about the parachutes.
Click to expand...
Now is a great time to consider getting a set of Nylon chutes, like those from Top Flight or the new ones Uncle Mike's has been talking about. You'll want 3 or 4, in sizes from 9" up to maybe 18". Put a snap swivel on the end of the shroud lines, and you can move the chutes between rockets. It's almost impossible to rip a shroud line out of them, and they stand up to abuse (and the occasional lack of wadding) MUCH better than plastic. DEFINITELY a worthwhile investment for your whole LPR fleet.

Forgot to mention - I think it was JonRocket that often runs specials on getting 3 or more of these at a time.
 
Boy, my rockets are in some sorry shape. The glued fins look like....well, not so good. I have almost all of the fins that are broken off it looks like so some will be easy fixes, others won't. That's okay though, it's not like I'm in a huge hurry to get them all done at once. Winter will be here and it will give me something to do!

Here are the pics. There are some repeated ones. I guess I didn't have as many as I thought I did!

pic6.jpg


pic5.jpg


pic4.jpg


pic3.jpg


pic2.jpg


pic1.jpg
 
CSP1971, Welcome, I see we are about the same age and a year ago I was just like you. Except I only had 2 or 3 old rockets from the 80's. Over the last year I have spent a lot of money and collected over 200 old Estes rockets, mainly the rockets I could never buy when I was younger. I too was disappointed in Estes when I came back in the hobby. This was the company that I grew up with and had great memories. This hobby kept me on track as a kid and I find it doing the same now that I am 35. This is a great forum and I hope you have as much fun meeting fellow rocketeers as I have.
 
Wow, nice collection. A little TLC and those things will be back in ship shape. Fins are an easy enough fix. Good luck. Keep us updated with your restoration efforts.;)
 
csp1971 said:
Hello, as the title starts out, it has been 17 years since I have launched a model rocket. I am now 35 and have all of my model rockets in my garage in a couple of boxes and some just kind of laying on top of some shelves. Lots of Estes rockets! I have a Scrambler, Der Red Max, V3, V2, Dragonfly....and those are just some of the names I can recall. The rest I would have to look at. I even have my very first rocket built sometime in 83/84 in Jr. High, just a homegrown one built in a manufacturing class. Good times.

Anyway, I was out in my garage tonight and thought I would look around later to see what was going on in model rocketry and found this forum! Very cool, I have to say I'm very impressed by the rockets that you all have built and seeing the pictures of launches, etc.

I look at mine and some are in really bad shape and many are poorly built. But I'm still glad I have kept them. I'm going to go through them this week and see what I have. I also have a box of index cards specific to model rockets and each type of rocket and its name. I even believe I kept a record of how many times each rocket was launched.

I might post some pics of these if anyone would be interested in seeing them, regardless of the bad paint jobs and broken fins!

I'm thinking I kind of have the fever to launch a few again after I have a look at them. I have a 2 year old (and another on the way) that I'm hoping will someday enjoy the same hobbies (model rockets, large scale rc cars, small scale rc, etc.).

I'll be lurking around the forum on occasion to see what is going on in the world of rockets!

csp
Click to expand...

Display one of those old ones with pride. I wish I had some rockets from my youth, but my mother cleared out a lot of stuff when I went off to college.

Wait until you discover all the sites that have old plans (JimZ), articles, and all the small companies selling really cool rocket kits (Semroc, Fliskits, etc.). There is so much available now. Check out the sites like BMS that sell custom nose cones, body tubes, and the vendors that sell decals for cloning lots of old kits from the glory days.

I only mentioned a few - there are MANY of these companies that cater to our desires. You will be amazed at all that is going on in this hobby!

Later edit: For some reason I did not see all the replies -- so much of my message is a repeat.

And WOW! -- what a collection. Nice job of storing all those for so long!
 
csp1971 said:
Boy, my rockets are in some sorry shape. The glued fins look like....well, not so good. I have almost all of the fins that are broken off it looks like so some will be easy fixes, others won't. That's okay though, it's not like I'm in a huge hurry to get them all done at once. Winter will be here and it will give me something to do!

Here are the pics. There are some repeated ones. I guess I didn't have as many as I thought I did!
Click to expand...
You've got a great collection there, enjoy fixing them up! BTW, what is the grey one just to the right of the mini space shuttle?
 
csp1971 said:
Thanks for the welcome guys!

I was thinking last night about how well that glue is after all these years. At the time I used Elmer's, hot glue, and epoxy on occasion. I was also wondering about the shock cord. I'm going to have to look but I wonder if anything is brittle. That would be one heck of a way to lose the nose cone and end up with broken fins and body tubes.

I looked out at the Estes website last night. It didn't seem like they have that many rockets. Have they reduced the number of rockets over the years?
Click to expand...
When I got back into the hobby I had some rockets from the early 80's built with Elmer's glue. Did not use primer then, just applied 2 coats of Pactra Sealer and sprayed 2 coats of Testors rattle cans. I still think that the old Pactra Balsa Sealer is thicker than the Aerogloss sealer of today. Anyway my shock cords were still usable and non brittle.
 
I hate to resurrect this thread, but after almost 8 years since posting the above pics, my kids (now 9 and 7) and I worked on fixing some fins, parachutes, etc. Today, I took the Der Red Max, Quasar, Mini Space Shuttle, and my kids out to launch. The boys were THRILLED. They both flew beautifully. We also flew the Mini Space Shuttle and it flew quite well. The next step is to buy a giant box of rocket engines so we can go out again on Sunday.
 
Hey csp1971,

I am curious, did you fly any rockets in the 8 years since those first posts?

I'm glad you all had fun.
 
csp1971 said:
I hate to resurrect this thread, but after almost 8 years since posting the above pics, my kids (now 9 and 7) and I worked on fixing some fins, parachutes, etc. Today, I took the Der Red Max, Quasar, Mini Space Shuttle, and my kids out to launch. The boys were THRILLED. They both flew beautifully. We also flew the Mini Space Shuttle and it flew quite well. The next step is to buy a giant box of rocket engines so we can go out again on Sunday.
Click to expand...

No need for apologies! Few things are more fun than taking a bunch of old dinged-up rockets, doing some patch work, and getting them back in the air! I bet the kids loved it!

BTW, from the looks of the pics above, most of your rockets were in fairly decent shape anyway. Busted fins aren't really that big a deal; my own rule of thumb is that only crunched body tubes are usually rocket-killers.
 
Last edited:

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