Trial balloon

Mr Rocket said:

You are correct sir, he did say 1.5. I will correct my post

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220...221...whatever it takes.

GrouchoDuke said:

220...221...whatever it takes.

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I would love to know just how many people get this reference! Lol

For the OP, I may not be a typical rocket buyer but one thing that would help me is a sim file to look at before I bought a kit. I'm definitely open to small designers/businesses.

Mr Rocket said:

Just FYI - On a recent episode of The Rocketry Show, John Boren stated that all Estes kits are supposed to be designed to a minimum of something like 1.5 calipers stability. I assume this is to provide a margin of safety if someone overbuilds, and gets way too much weight aft or puts a larger engine in than the rocket was designed.

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I hate to pick nits but I am positive the word you wanted was "calibers". Calipers are used to measure things.

Don't forget the disclaimers on the instructions, that you in no way are liable for the events of building and flying..

And I too:
have been thinking about something similar
would definitely like to see something new
wish you the best of luck!
would like to help (beta testers?!)
Believe this is the way to bigger & better things!
+1 to all the comments above!

Here are my :2:

I don't like filling spirals, and I don't like rockets that can get crushed too easily. So I stay away from cardboard kits. I like Madcow and MAC Performance for several reasons:

• No spirals.
• Many Madcow kits don't even need paint!
• MAC kits build quickly and easily and get you to the field quicker.
• MAC kits take paint really well.
• Both vendors have proven to be trustworthy.
• Both vendors ship quickly and inexpensively.

If you come up with something that looks like it will be fun, yet not too hard, to build, or something that turns heads at the field, and if you can ship quickly and inexpensively, and if in all it looks to make my building experience more pleasant and less of a grind, I'm all in.

But, with others, I encourage you to look into the potential for liability. If something happens, even if you are completely innocent, you may exhaust your life savings just trying to prove your innocence. If you are incorporated, they can only sue the business, not you personally; and if the business goes bankrupt, you walk away relatively unscathed (assuming there are no criminal charges, or something).

mkadams001 said:

You are not starting a business and you are selling a bag of parts to someone. Does everyone who sells on craigslist or eBay need to have an LLC?

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That is because Ebay and Craigslist have documents that you accept before you ever buy or sell. The whole reason why they exist is because they provide this legal "barrier" and a set of standardized rules that everyone follows. No they don't have an LLC, because they don't need to. Ebay and Craigslist takes care of the legal side of things.

Also for the OP, have you considered selling on Craigslist or Ebay (With the Buy it Now option instead of Auction style)? This would take care of all the legal issues and would provide guide lines for everything else mentioned so far.

Regarding the actual kit, I would like to see something that's more than just a collection of parts. For example, RW kits are great for what you get but It's basically just the airframe and fins. You still have to determine how you are building the fin can, deisgn the av-bay, design the recovery setup, design the motor retainer, design the nosecone retention setup, etc. Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing for me as I like my design systems, but having a full thought out kit with everything designed in already would be nice for the occasions where I need something quick. Other than Giant Leap I am not sure anyone else does it.

noffie79 said:

I would love to know just how many people get this reference! Lol

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Movie trivia...Mr. Mom!

Nick@JET said:

Movie trivia...Mr. Mom!

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A classic!

NateLowrie said:

Regarding the actual kit, I would like to see something that's more than just a collection of parts. For example, RW kits are great for what you get but It's basically just the airframe and fins. You still have to determine how you are building the fin can, deisgn the av-bay, design the recovery setup, design the motor retainer, design the nosecone retention setup, etc. Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing for me as I like my design systems, but having a full thought out kit with everything designed in already would be nice for the occasions where I need something quick. Other than Giant Leap I am not sure anyone else does it.

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MacPerformance and MadCow do well in this arena, in my opinion, and definitely give the builder a lot of the extra stuff (usually though recovery and motor retention is still the user's responsibility). I think it's definitely a cost-balance- including the kitchen sink is nice, but then the price is more than most want to spend...
As a builder, I don't mind if I have to provide retention and recovery, and I have lots of rail buttons, but having a sled and avbay hardware is a nice touch! Will see if I do this, what it adds to the kit cost...lots of great and encouraging feedback, but it's still just a germ of an idea.

Without getting into specifics with us but you can ask yourself - are you going fill a niche in the market or going to do the same? Are you wanting to be a price competitor, funky rockets, complete kits? Not saying any are good or bad, you can figure that out - just where do you want to fit in or who do you want to take on.

IMO I think there is a place for a turn key DD kit for customers new to L1, L2, Or funky rockets etc.