Things you wish you knew when you first got into rocketry...

Primer is not a waste of money and paint... Once everything is the same color, it allows you to see defects (like the fillets you forgot to do, or the holes in the fillets) that you have before wasting money, sandpaper, time and paint on a fouled (<---Not my first word choice) up paint job.

For me, it would be that, plus that super glue isn't really viable as the sole adhesive used in a build, especially if the rocket is hold up long-term. Granted, they go together fast that way (especially when skipping primer and going right to paint & decals), and some of the rockets I built 25 years ago are still flying. But not without many repairs or rebuilds...

I suppose my earliest memory comes as, not everything should be flown with a C6-5.

.....how expensive this hobby was going to be.

The addiction level....

les said:

The addiction level....

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That too!

When it comes to paint/finishing, keep in mind that most people will only see it from 100+ feet away, and it will soon be moving at hundreds of mph...
Oh, and once it lands once, all that hard work won't matter much anyway.

Wish I knew to CWF or paper my fins and fill the spiral grooves on body tubes. My old rockets are UHGLEE.
Wish I had bought more rocket kits and stock piled them away to become vintage instead of all the static display model kits.

CzTeacherMan,

I get so involved in crafting, finishing and painting, that I have made a good collection of desk queens. Is there a term for rockets that are to nice to fly that they are display only?
I guess I am making up for all of the messy rockets that I made when I was younger, that I finally want something nice to display which is mostly scale or delicate rockets. I live near dry lake beds that are hard as asphalt. Anything coming down, I chase like mad to grab them in mid air before touchdown. I build rockets specifically for that. They are work horses that are built tough, have drilled holes for altimeters, payloads for experiments and scratch built sugar rockets. If I really like a rocket, I will buy 2 and keep one in the package or make a display while I enjoy flying the hell out of the other one.

Definitely the time and money commitment level.

Bat-mite said:

Definitely the time and money commitment level.

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Well, in a way, model rocketry has saved me thousands of dollars. It was my hobby that broke me and my ex-fiance up (besides being separated by an ocean (the Atlantic) and a continent). We wouldn't have ever made it, and I'm sure that I'd have lost my shirt in a divorce.

timbucktoo said:

.....how expensive this hobby was going to be.

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It doesn't have to be. Unless you are keeping up with the "Jones's." Pardon the grammar.

Gary Byrum said:

I suppose my earliest memory comes as, not everything should be flown with a C6-5.

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Boy HOWDY!

I wish I would have known I would get back into model rocketry 20+ years later after I first started. It would be awesome to have my original rockets (or at least one or two of them from years ago).

Gary Byrum said:

I suppose my earliest memory comes as, not everything should be flown with a C6-5.

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That is why god (Vern Estes) created the D12-7

1. I wish I hadn't thrown away/sold most of the cool rocket stuff I had as a kid.

2. I wish I hadn't let losing rockets discourage me as much as it did.

1. Friction fit is not a good motor retention strategy.

2. Designing an electronics bay so that the power switch is accessed through the tiny vent hole is a bad idea.

3. Lacquer is easier than enamel.

1. I would have switched to the cheaper break-off blade knife instead of going through so many X-Acto blades.

2. Put early Estes and Centuri kits into storage for sale today.

3. Should have started using a camera tripod as a launcher instead of kneeling down in wet grass.

4. Could have saved money by reusing 400 grit sandpaper. Wire brushing out the loaded up crud from dry sanding.

For me its that there were motors larger than Estes class and that I should have bought kits for long term storage. Unlike Chris, not to sell but to tease all the other BARs out there

JERRYR708 said:

Wish I knew to CWF or paper my fins and fill the spiral grooves on body tubes. My old rockets are UHGLEE.
Wish I had bought more rocket kits and stock piled them away to become vintage instead of all the static display model kits.

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Yes but I can say my old one were built by a impatient teenager...because they were!

Right Wing Wacko said:

That is why god (Vern Estes) created the D12-7

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Amen Reverend!

1. Don't fly 2 oz models with a D12 on a soccer field surrounded by trees and houses. Actually, don't fly 4 oz models there either.
2. Insert igniter into engine and retain with plastic plug. Hook up the igniter to the launcher. Do not shorten it. Check range and sky. Put in the safety key. Count down. Press ignition key.

Number 2 actually took me a couple of tries to figure out; how all the items go in the correct order, without forgetting any one of them.

These days I wish I knew how to put tons of complex projects into my limited space and time.

Oliver

Don't wast your money on 29mm high power RMS motor cases, go straight to 38mm.

These days I wish I knew how to put tons of complex projects into my limited space and time.

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These days I'm doing good to finish a modest skill level 1 kit in a month or two. Complex projects - Forget about it!

That Smaller is actually much Better for Model Rocketry; A bit harder to work with building but Way Easier and Cheaper to fly, build Launch equipment for and recover.

I could have saved thousands had Micro Maxx been around in the 70's LOL!

Electronics are not scary.

Deployment bags are not scary.

Composites are not scary.

Lacquer >enamel.

Metallic silver finds fingerprints better than any three-letter government agency.

When you say, with conviction, "I won't fly anything past a(an) (impulse level)..." you're probably feeding yourself bovine excrement.

Just because you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD.

Just because you CAN'T doesn't mean you SHOULDN'T.

Try something new on every build.

"Sometimes they break. Sometimes they get treed. Sometimes they get lost. Sometimes they blow up."

It's never too early to start considering recovery.


Later!

--Coop

Coop said:

When you say, with conviction, "I won't fly anything past a(an) (impulse level)..." you're probably feeding yourself bovine excrement.

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What he said.

JERRYR708 said:

I have made a good collection of desk queens. Is there a term for rockets that are to nice to fly that they are display only?

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I like the term "Desk Queen". I think you just coined a term for it.

Consider starting any rocket related discussion (IRL or online) with this: "Hi, my name is _________, and I am a rockaholic."

The rest of us will respond with "Hi ________."

CZ Brat said:

Consider starting any rocket related discussion (IRL or online) with this: "Hi, my name is _________, and I am a rockaholic."

The rest of us will respond with "Hi ________."

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We cant exactly have a twelve step program, because most of the kit instructions have more than 12 steps to assembly...