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MagicDrop

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Hey guys I'm brand new. My son so spent his birthday money to get a RTF launch set. It says to use B4-4 for first flight. Which was fine because that's the only engine the store I went to had in stock. Now I saw a few almost ready and E2X on sale for $7 so I picked them up. I don't have the engines for 1st flight but I do have engines listed on the box how important is the first flight engine? And can you continue to use the first flight engine size over and over after the first flight?
 
Welcome - hope you enjoy your rockets. We love to see pictures of your rockets and launches.

You can keep using the same "first flight" engine. Or you can use a bigger motor. You just need to be careful about the bigger motors as the rocket will fly higher and possibly drift further. But you can try to account for the drift by tilting the launch pad to launch into the wind.

In case you are not familiar with engine designations, the first letter is the range of thrust. Each letter is twice the power of the previous letter. So a B is twice an A. A C is twice a B or 4 times an A. These are rough numbers as the letters designate a range. An A is 1.26 ~ 2.5NS, a B is 2.6~5NS, a C is 5.1~10NS. NS is Newton -seconds. A newton is about 1/4 of a pound. The next letter is the average thrust in Newtons. The last number is the delay before the ejection charge.

The one thing you do want to be careful about is not to use too weak an engine for the rocket - it may not get enough speed off the launch rod to be stable.
And too long a delay can have the rocket hit the ground before it ejects the chute.
 
Thank yo very much for the info. It helps a lot.How important is the first flight engines? Because for the 2 I picked up I can't find the first flight engine but I have the next one in the list of rockets that can be used? I ask because we want to launch it tomorrow and no store around here carries the 1st flight rocket
 
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I don't know why they posted sideways but that was our first launch. I keep trying to get my son to Retire that rocket so we won't lose our first rocket but hes 6 and wants to see it fly lol
 
If it is on the list you should be able to use it.
The first flight motor is just a suggestion so you can get a feel for how it flies, but not a requirement to use that motor.

And your little "Avenger" seems to be real happy!

Just beware of rocket eating trees and rooftops :wink:
 
Awesome thanks for the info. We found a large empty parking lot to launch in and it has a large margin of error for when I mis judge the landing which so far I have been pretty good, onlt 3 launches at "325 feet" the newer rockets are projected to go "550 feet" with the same engine so lets see how far off I will be now lol.

He loves it, he does the countdown and can't wait for a parachute to deploy then chases after it like a recovery team. I can't wait to get out and launch some more.
 
MagicDrop's son.jpg

Welcome to the party MagicDrop and son ! Thanks for the great launch pics. What works for me with pictures is this: open one in your favorite graphics program (I used MS Paint), rotate 90 degrees one way, rotate 180 degrees the other way. Now back the other way till it's oriented correctly. Save. Upload. Every now and then I have to really shake one up but after a few rotations it's good. Hope that helps.

The Riptide is one of my favorites it's easy to see in the air and on the ground and it's easy to prep for flight. Eats B4-4 and B6-4's all day. They rip :) on C6-5's ! If you find the model drifting out of your recovery area try taping the shroudlines together halfway or so along their length. That's called reefing the chute and it keeps the canopy from opening to it's full size so your rocket will descend quicker.
 
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It is simply awesome to have something that inspires a young mind's curiosity and imagination. Accompany this with old NASA videos of the various Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions and you will be able to combat 'the earth is flat', 'we really didn't land on the moon' and 'rockets can't fly' schools of thought. Yes, there are people who really believe these things!
 
I don't know why they posted sideways but that was our first launch. I keep trying to get my son to Retire that rocket so we won't lose our first rocket but hes 6 and wants to see it fly lol

I've had that same problem using my camera phone... then I discovered I can rotate the picture in my phone before saving... welcome to the forum.
 
The first flight motor is just a recommendation for a motor that won't go too high and will have a conservative delay. You can continue to use that same kind of motor as long as you like. Or you can branch out into other motors. If the recommended motor is a B, an A motor will not go as high, and a C motor will go higher.

If you have a Hobby Lobby, that's a good place to buy motors and rockets with the 40% coupon. I think Fry's electronics still carries them too. And there are a ton of places online, like Hobbylinc and AC Supply.
 
Always great to see kids getting in to this!! Wish you both great success as you continue and grow together. You have definitely found a great site full of awesome information. Welcome!!
 
It is simply awesome to have something that inspires a young mind's curiosity and imagination. Accompany this with old NASA videos of the various Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions and you will be able to combat 'the earth is flat', 'we really didn't land on the moon' and 'rockets can't fly' schools of thought. Yes, there are people who really believe these things!


Oh oh yeah we stream the NASA channel. We also got him a telescope for X-mas this past year and look at the moon every chance we get. My wife's uncle is one of the "we never landed on the moon" people but he's also a pot head so no one listens to him.

thank you to everyone who has given me info. I will be going out tomorrow for another launch. I just need to find some more engines lol!
 
Hi, welcome to the funhouse :). for a resource I would suggest; the HandBook of Model Rocketry, by GH Stine. can usually be found at your local library also available in electronic format.
Rex
 
welcome to the world of rocketry. you'll find a lot of really nice people in this world.
find a club in your area, you'll be surprised how much fun it is with more people.
 
As for the "first flight" recommendation, those tend to be the least powerful motor that will work for the rocket. If you have a larger field or there's not much wind, you can go more powerful (i.e. use a C instead of a B). You may lose the rocket, if it goes too high and drifts into a tree or out of sight. But that's all part of the process.

I usually go for something bigger than the first flight motor the first time I launch a rocket. But I've lost a lot of rockets.
 
Welcome to the Hobby! Educational, fun, and inexpensive. You'll find every answer you need on this forum. I recently came back to the hobby last summer with an E2X set and a pack of A8-3s.
 
Welcome to the Hobby! Educational, fun, and inexpensive. You'll find every answer you need on this forum. I recently came back to the hobby last summer with an E2X set and a pack of A8-3s.

yeah about to sit down and build either the #2 pencil E2X or the Generic E2X rocket not sure as I have both of them lol! My son just loves having them displayed in his room till we get a day where we can hit the park or parking lot again!
 
Welcome! I'm sure you've already figured this out, but I'll say it JIC. If you have any questions about the hobby, feel free to ask here. We have a lot of guys, and a few gals, who will be happy to try to help.

And remember...

Pointy Side Up! :wink:
 
Welcome - hope you enjoy your rockets. We love to see pictures of your rockets and launches.

You can keep using the same "first flight" engine. Or you can use a bigger motor. You just need to be careful about the bigger motors as the rocket will fly higher and possibly drift further. But you can try to account for the drift by tilting the launch pad to launch into the wind.

In case you are not familiar with engine designations, the first letter is the range of thrust. Each letter is twice the power of the previous letter. So a B is twice an A. A C is twice a B or 4 times an A. These are rough numbers as the letters designate a range. An A is 1.26 ~ 2.5NS, a B is 2.6~5NS, a C is 5.1~10NS. NS is Newton -seconds. A newton is about 1/4 of a pound. The next letter is the average thrust in Newtons. The last number is the delay before the ejection charge.

The one thing you do want to be careful about is not to use too weak an engine for the rocket - it may not get enough speed off the launch rod to be stable.
And too long a delay can have the rocket hit the ground before it ejects the chute.

Ditto Les post above:
Welcome to the forum and Model rocketry...it's a fun & educational hobby:)
 
Oh yeah he's so happy to set off the rockers. He loves going and retrieving them even more. He feels like the recovery team from the videos of the old pods that landed in the ocean. I'm hoping to get more engines soon so we can really just let them fly one after the other and see different rockets in the air.
 
Is anyone here from the Long Island New York area? I looked up local clubs and the website is years out of date.
 
Oh yeah he's so happy to set off the rockers. He loves going and retrieving them even more. He feels like the recovery team from the videos of the old pods that landed in the ocean. I'm hoping to get more engines soon so we can really just let them fly one after the other and see different rockets in the air.

Too funny. My kids love that, too. Once they see it coming down under chute, they take off running! It took me awhile to teach them how to carry the rocket so that the chute isn't creating drag behind them while they're hauling it in. :)
 
Looks like you're on the right track so far!

A couple of things I wish people had told me when I was that age:
Don't try to catch the rocket. You'll probably get the motor, which has just been on fire.
Estes chutes usually have a circle in the middle. Cut that out so you have a hole in the middle of the chute if you're going to be flying higher. It will bring the rocket down a lot faster so it's less likely to meet a rocket eating tree. Fins can be glued back on, but trees and lost are forever.
Concrete is unkind to rockets, so launching on a field is better than a parking lot. Of course, a parking lot is better than no launch at all!
Once you see composite motors (usually E and higher), you'll be hooked for life.
Keep an eye on the delays. If the motor says B4-4, make sure you use that and not a B4-7. Too long a delay can lead to lawn darts.

Welcome to the hobby!

You can find clubs here: https://www.nar.org/find-a-local-club/nar-club-locator/. It looks like there's a club on Long Island, but I don't know how active they are. I've heard of a major launch in NY that might be worth a drive sometime (Upstate, Potter?). I'm way out west, so I don't know for sure.
 
Yeah I have to get him to hold the chut better lol. The concrete is going to destroy one of these rockets one day but as you said better then no launch and that's been my only option so far. Hoping to get to a park soon but till then I've been trying to stick to the lowest delay times so the chute pops early I have a bunch of ground to drift in don't want to be coming down at terminal velocity lol
 
Chute popping early can zipper* your rocket. You really need to use the correct delay, not the shortest.

* zipper - a huge rip down the side of the rocket caused when the chute comes out while the rocket is still moving upward. The drag created by the chute stops the chute, and as the rocket continues upward, the shock cord has nowhere to go but straight down the side of the airframe.
 
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