Just remember though, it is important that you get the CELLULOSE insulation. We had one guy that picked up a bunch of Fiberglass insulation and tried to use that.
Using fiberglass is a good way to get banned from the field. That stuff will lay around for a millennium and is hazardous to livestock/wildlife.
There are certainly more "Pros" than "Cons" to using "dog barf" wadding as opposed to Estes wadding... This is especially true when using public property.
If you have a club like "Micromiester" that can effectively police their trash, awesome! For most of us, it is easier to eliminate the issue and use cellulose wadding.
Jerome
Absolutely Jerome:
Being good stewards of the land we fly from is Part and Parcel of Flying model rockets. but active Policing of the grounds is generally NOT NECESSARY. As I and JR pointed out Estes and Quest tissue wadding can be reused if picked up the day it was first launched, with the cost of these Packets these days Most flying folks pick up wadding they come across while out recovering models just because it saves them money. If this type wadding is iout more the over night it's usually no longer good, almost gone with the first dew or small amount of Rain. NEVER and Eye Sore as CZ suggested.
The reason for using a combination in the first place is to A) Better protect the recovery system from the Very Heat & Gas porous Dog Barf, which as a History of allowing heat damage to both Plastic and Nylon chutes. and B) to reduce the overall Cost and amount of Tissue needed to adequately protect the laundry.
For a club, Section or Prefect to out and out ban the use of a perfectly good and environmentally sound material is simply a Bad Call on their part. CZ and others in said club should Question such a ban and request a change to allow limited use of standard ejection wadding to better serve the intended purpose.
That has got to be one of the more ingenious ideas I've heard of late. I've had similar issues on occastion so I have to try that. Completely makes sense. Now on my 4" L1 rocket I think I put in about 8" to 12" worth of dog barf so it's rarely I have an issue there but not every rocket has that kind of space inside.
At home here we use cotton balls. Although flammable, usually are just a bit scorched on one side the rest of it stays white. It works and my chutes or streamers are not burnt up.
Cost, isn't much
I think many over-think what is required
At home here we use cotton balls. Although flammable, usually are just a bit scorched on one side the rest of it stays white. It works and my chutes or streamers are not burnt up.
Cost, isn't much
I think many over-think what is required
John, I doubt it's particularly helpful to make such blanket statements as "NEVER" and stuff like that. Remember CZ is likely in a completely different area with a completely different climate or at least a sufficiently different situation that it might make issues for them that it doesn't for us... In a dry climate, the Estes wadding COULD persist for enough time to create "litter issues", or if they're flying from someplace where its a particularly sensitive issue due to the circumstances, neighbors, shared use of the property, or whatever. I know that in the damp environs of the mid-Atlantic coast where you're at, and the frequent rains and humidity in the Houston area where I'm at, that Estes wadding won't stick around long... BUT, go out to Arizona or someplace with a drier, more desert-like climate, with infrequent rains and little/no dew, and Estes wadding could lay around a pretty long time. Throw in windy conditions (which such areas often have) and it could be blowing all over the place.
Now, like you, I might question an outright "ban" on the stuff, since it IS biodegradable, if it's a big issue with their landowner or neighbors and has/could cause problems for their club, then it's in their best interests to "ban" the use of sheet wadding and require the use of dog barf, which at least has the virtue of being in very small particles instead of wadded up sheets or balls, which at least wouldn't be as noticeable or as much of a "litter issue", even if it persists for almost as long under the same conditions.
I've learned that there are HUGE differences in how things are done regionally, in most areas of life, simply because of differing local conditions, different circumstances, and different mindsets or priorities or problems.
Just because *we* do it a certain way doesn't automatically make every *other* way "wrong", in a lot of cases. I think we'd better serve the purposes of the discussion for saving the "absolutes" for things that are immutable regardless of location, like the CG/CP relationship on stability and things of that sort...
Later! OL JR
One little trick I've found over the last Decade or so.
Using dog Barf only in LPR and MPR models I've had several Plastic and Nylon chutes damaged by "Blow-By" embers. To remedy this I started using a single sheet of Estes FP wadding below the 2 to 3 diameters of Dog Barf then a single sheet or two on top and around the Chute or streamer. Vastly extends a pack of Estes expensive wadding while giving positive protection for my chutes. Since starting this practice I have not had another burned hole or melted chute or streamer. With models over 4" diameter I use 3 overlapping sheets on the bottom to get complete coverage.
Cz brat:
Our club is one of the larger one's in the nation. we have Hundreds of Models launched the 3rd Saterday of nearly EVERY month. Some months we don't quite break the 100 flight mark but they are RARE Months. Many of our Club members and Public fliers use Estes Wadding only. Many of us use dog Barf and I and a few others use the combination discribed in my earlier post.
Estes Wadding IS biodegradable, breaking down very quickly. If retrieved the same day can be reused which some of us also do.
The Club flys from a State Park, do you really think the state would allow us to use this wadding (Estes and Dog Barf) if it were an Eye-Sore.
Your observation is simply and totally incorrect.
For those who like the combo of Estes wadding and dog barf, but not the cost, the Estes blast off pack comes with a pretty good size pack of Estes wadding, plus extra Ignitors. IMO if you fly a variety of low power, it is one of the best engine deals out there. Comes with 6 each A8-3, B6-4, C6-3, and C6-5 , and 30 Ignitors........er,,,,,,,starters.
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