Color

Word of advice on the Com3......you are without a doubt going to lose the boosters at some point.....before you glue the fins, trace them onto a piece of paper, write down the components needed to build the booster and file that paper somewhere safe with the instructions.

When you fly the Com3 and that booster goes by-by on a D12-0, you can pull out that piece of paper with the fin outlines and parts list, and build yourself a new one.


Also (this is a trick for any rocket)....get some self adhesive label paper....stick it on the fins before gluing and trim to size, flip the fin over and repeat. it basically laminates the fin making it stronger and most important..easier to finish 'cause no reason to fill in the grain

I second the motions for black with a silver mylar streamer, but I'd add two more things:

1) Launch late (or early) in the day. I find the best tracking in the sky is after you think it's getting too dark to launch - but then it's hard to find the thing on the ground (a concern already pointed out). There is an optimum, and it's still late afternoon. You're taking advantage of Alpenglow, here. The rocket catches the sun and becomes much more visible than it would be at midday.

2) For a small high altitude model, suck it up and wait for a dead calm day. The size of your field is effectively magnified ten fold when there's no wind.

Le Aeronautical said:

How about striped?

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As long as the individual areas of paint are substantial. If too small, it becomes a variant of camouflage which would be hard to spot on the ground.

Zeus-cat said:

there really is no one good color scheme that works everywhere all the time. Therefore, you need to buy at least two of every rocket. When the wife asks why you bought two of the exact same rocket you just look at her and say "Duh! This one is my winter, spring and summer rocket and it is painted bright red. And this other one is my October 3rd through November 15th rocket which is painted green.

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I like that idea... but to fly in all four seasons, wouldn't we need four of each?

Micromeister said:

You are so right about the package altitudes. I wish more folks would understand it's really not how far the model goes up. but the distance it's going to travel under chute that's MUCH longer generally with nominal winds. When teaching classes we try to slip in the fact that we don't really want to go for the biggest motor possible every time. It's often much more fun to use smaller motors to fly more often with less recovery time.

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Actually, because large fields are not close by, I've been inclining myself toward this philosophy in my current builds. I've been finding myself flying a lot of 1/2As, including downscales of other models and the Art Applewhite free rockets. I find that the kids enjoy flights of the smaller, lower altitude models just as much as an 'out of sight' flight.

Big, slow rockets can be just as useful in this situation, provided they are flown in the right weather conditions with the right engines.

FC

FastCargo said:

Actually, because large fields are not close by, I've been inclining myself toward this philosophy in my current builds. I've been finding myself flying a lot of 1/2As, including downscales of other models and the Art Applewhite free rockets. I find that the kids enjoy flights of the smaller, lower altitude models just as much as an 'out of sight' flight.

Big, slow rockets can be just as useful in this situation, provided they are flown in the right weather conditions with the right engines.

FC

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Would a Patriot meet those condtions and situation?

FastCargo said:

Actually, because large fields are not close by, I've been inclining myself toward this philosophy in my current builds. I've been finding myself flying a lot of 1/2As, including downscales of other models and the Art Applewhite free rockets. I find that the kids enjoy flights of the smaller, lower altitude models just as much as an 'out of sight' flight.

Big, slow rockets can be just as useful in this situation, provided they are flown in the right weather conditions with the right engines.

FC

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You sound a lot like me at the soccer field between the monthly section launches.

Some suggestions for the kids in a small field:
Estes Big Bertha or Semroc Centurion
Odd'l Rockets Birdie or Up! Cup (Cheap plug, I know)
Applewhite 13mm free monocopter
Saucers (Estes Snitch or Quest Area 51) with a C6-3 check EBAY
Semroc Thunderbee with an A3-4t (looks like it goes out of sight, the streamer brings it back close.)
MicroMaxx are fun if they are built light, stay away from the Quest LPBs.

Done right, the small stuff can be as much fun as the bigger rockets and a whole lot cheaper!
Check out my blog (link is below) for some free carded downscales of Estes classics. Click on "Downscales and Plans"

Don't forget Art Applewhite's Qubit,

Fliskits Thinga-ma-Jig, Whatcha-ma-callit, Rhino

Quest Big Betty (knock-off of the Estes Big Bertha)

and the all-time favorite, best small-field bird,

The Estes Fat Boy

bradycros said:

Would a Patriot meet those condtions and situation?

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If you're talking about the Patriot Pro...not on a 4D cluster...that thing hauls ass!

Now, I've heard of folks flying them with less than 4 engines. I have not tried this yet (I need to fix the shock cord and make it a LOT longer).

FC

This is what I have noticed about flying the most powerful motor the rocket can accommodate.

10 minutes preparation.

3 minutes flight including decent, if that.

30+ minutes walk to fetch rocket.

boomtube said:

This is what I have noticed about flying the most powerful motor the rocket can accommodate.

10 minutes preparation.

3 minutes flight including decent, if that.

30+ minutes walk to fetch rocket.

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Yes, that was today's lesson. Since ya know, I'm an expert now having two whole launches under my belt, I decided to step things up. The starter set I bought came with a Rascal and a HiJinks. There was almost no wind today, so I started A8-3, then B4-4 (which almost took it out of sight) then I popped in the C6-7. Note to self : do not try to angle launch rod into the wind. The Rascal took off and weathercocked even further than I had angled it and quickly went out of sight. I stood staring up at the sky and when I finally settled on the fact that it should be coming down by now, I started looking around and just caught a flash of the mylar streamer for a second coming down off in the distance. I walked over the the patch of woods it came down in but never found it. :sigh:

When I finally gave up, I popped a C6-5 in the Big Bertha and had a gratifying launch before I packed up.

My next tip for fellow newbies, the size of field you need is inversely proportional to the amount of experience you have. And don't try to angle, in fact I'm going to start taking a level with me.

The distance you have to walk to recover your rocket is inversely proportional to the comfort of your shoes.

Sorry about the loss of your rocket but you had better get used to it. Unless you have a launch field the size of Rhode Island and barren of trees, tall grass/weeds, ponds, streams, sinkholes, abandoned mineshafts, working “Cricket Pumps”, cattle, telephone poles/wires, airport light towers, quicksand, alligator infested swamps. . .well the list goes on and on.

I’ve about reached the point where opening my car’s sunroof and tossing the rockets out onto I-40 is about the same as actually launching them.

Just a few thoughts on rocket colors:

The color doesn't matter all that much in terms of visibility in the sky. With that being said, though, gray primer works really well. So does ruddy brown primer. One combination to be careful about though: never launch a rocket painted with white primer into a totally overcast sky. It will disappear.

If the rocket is low enough, you can track it regardless of what color it is. If it is high enough, it won't matter, because it will be too small anyway.

The thing that stands out in the sky is not the rocket but the recovery device. As the rocket descends, that is what your eye will be able to pick out. Some people like black or dark colored parachutes, but I am partial to fluorescent colors. For streamers, there is nothing better for visibility than silvered Mylar. The flashes from the reflections can be seen from a much greater altitude than any solid color can.

I'm not crazy about using space blanket Mylar for streamers. For parachutes, maybe. For streamers I like to use something that is thicker mil: silver Dura-Lar. I feel that it unfurls easier and more completely, flaps in the breeze better and can stand more handling without losing its silvery coating.

Painting the rocket in a bright or fluorescent color can help somewhat with finding it on the ground. It usually won't be critical, though, because in just about every situation, the part that you see once the rocket is down will be the recovery device. A brightly colored parachute will be seen on the ground much more easily than a black one will, which is another reason why I prefer brightly colored or fluorescent parachutes. When you go looking for your rocket, it is the parachute or streamer that you will see first, long before you ever spot the rocket itself.