rharshberger
Well-Known Member
Never realized there was a etiquette on forums for intros. So a few weeks late but here goes:
My name is Rich, I am a BAR last summer I decided to get my fleet back in repair to start flying with the local club https://www.tricitiesrocketeers.org/ which I have since joined. I will be joining NAR in January.
I am the father of 2 soon to be 3 children (2 daughter and a son stuck between them) ages 5, 3, and one due mid January. We enjoy camping, fishing, and hunting (me, when I can).
I live in Richland, WA and work currently for one of the Hanford contractors transporting Radioactive/Hazardous Waste from the demolition/remediation sites to the disposal facility. This is part of the clean-up process from our nations nuclear weapons programs. Over the years I have worked on the side with my father building residential homes (its his hobby), and working with him when he had his fiberglass and cultured marble shop (so I have some background with fiberglass composites). I also have experience in all facets of residential construction (we do all except drywall and vertical concrete), and a fair knowledge of metal working from my gunsmithing experience, and working for a metal supplier, plus studying mechanical engineering many years ago, before enlisting in the US Army (no degree)
Rocketry started for me in the mid 80s until the early 90s, then it was off for a bit until early 2002-ish and lasted about 2 years. Now that I have kids I'm back and looking for more fun for us as a family and personally to get at least my L1 and L2 certs.
My current rocket fleet is mostly Estes products: Arv Condor, Sentinel, Courier, Gaurdian, Bullpup 12D, Cobra (mini brute 2 stage), Alpha (red/black stripe), Estes Menace, and a Quest Tomahawk. I also have cloned the Mean Machine (double tubed,TTW) for use with 29mm motors(29/40-120 type loads), and a Blue Bird Zero (same treatment as the MM only 24mm reloads). And a scratch built SA-3 Goa clustered setup, build thread here:https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?70827-SA-3-Goa-Semi-Scale-2-Stage-with-Cluster-Booster.
In the build pile currently (not in any particular order) are a Nike-Cajun scale scratch, SM1 scale scratch, another SA-3 (for Giant Sport Scale), a Nike Hercules, a Big Daddy modded to improve ejection reliability and 29mm motors aka Big Daddy-G, and a downscaled for 18mm motors Big Daddy for my daughter, and several V2s scratches (one BT-60 based and one 3"). I also have not yet decided on kit for my L1 and L2 cert attempts but am leaning heavily toward a Binder Designs Tyrannosaur or Velociraptor, MadCow Frenzy 3xl, or a Wildman BlackHawk 38 (cuz I love teleportations), then again I may just go with a scratch.
My 5 year old daughters fleet so far is a Semroc Skyhook clone of the Estes kit and a Semroc Snipe Hunter clone of the Centuri kit (iirc), she has flown the Skyhook successfully so far 6 times, and Snipe Hunter will hopefully be flown at the next club launch in December.
My name is Rich, I am a BAR last summer I decided to get my fleet back in repair to start flying with the local club https://www.tricitiesrocketeers.org/ which I have since joined. I will be joining NAR in January.
I am the father of 2 soon to be 3 children (2 daughter and a son stuck between them) ages 5, 3, and one due mid January. We enjoy camping, fishing, and hunting (me, when I can).
I live in Richland, WA and work currently for one of the Hanford contractors transporting Radioactive/Hazardous Waste from the demolition/remediation sites to the disposal facility. This is part of the clean-up process from our nations nuclear weapons programs. Over the years I have worked on the side with my father building residential homes (its his hobby), and working with him when he had his fiberglass and cultured marble shop (so I have some background with fiberglass composites). I also have experience in all facets of residential construction (we do all except drywall and vertical concrete), and a fair knowledge of metal working from my gunsmithing experience, and working for a metal supplier, plus studying mechanical engineering many years ago, before enlisting in the US Army (no degree)
Rocketry started for me in the mid 80s until the early 90s, then it was off for a bit until early 2002-ish and lasted about 2 years. Now that I have kids I'm back and looking for more fun for us as a family and personally to get at least my L1 and L2 certs.
My current rocket fleet is mostly Estes products: Arv Condor, Sentinel, Courier, Gaurdian, Bullpup 12D, Cobra (mini brute 2 stage), Alpha (red/black stripe), Estes Menace, and a Quest Tomahawk. I also have cloned the Mean Machine (double tubed,TTW) for use with 29mm motors(29/40-120 type loads), and a Blue Bird Zero (same treatment as the MM only 24mm reloads). And a scratch built SA-3 Goa clustered setup, build thread here:https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?70827-SA-3-Goa-Semi-Scale-2-Stage-with-Cluster-Booster.
In the build pile currently (not in any particular order) are a Nike-Cajun scale scratch, SM1 scale scratch, another SA-3 (for Giant Sport Scale), a Nike Hercules, a Big Daddy modded to improve ejection reliability and 29mm motors aka Big Daddy-G, and a downscaled for 18mm motors Big Daddy for my daughter, and several V2s scratches (one BT-60 based and one 3"). I also have not yet decided on kit for my L1 and L2 cert attempts but am leaning heavily toward a Binder Designs Tyrannosaur or Velociraptor, MadCow Frenzy 3xl, or a Wildman BlackHawk 38 (cuz I love teleportations), then again I may just go with a scratch.
My 5 year old daughters fleet so far is a Semroc Skyhook clone of the Estes kit and a Semroc Snipe Hunter clone of the Centuri kit (iirc), she has flown the Skyhook successfully so far 6 times, and Snipe Hunter will hopefully be flown at the next club launch in December.
