Must have rockets in a person's collection

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My comment was purely based on the plastic fins... When I started rocketry in '09, I got that very set. Lost my Outlaw in a small launch field, and lost my Black Diamond over a highway on a C6-5.
Plastic fin cans are just part of the deal with easy-to-build kits like Estes E2X and Quest Quick Kits. They aren't always a big turn-off. The storied Enerjet kits had them, and such well-regarded E2X kits as the Alpha III and the Eliminator (which features an Enerjet fin can) use them. I don't have the Launchables set, but the one thing that worries me a little about the Astron Outlaw is that it is listed as having a plastic motor retainer. Those don't have the greatest reputation for durability.

Sorry about your lost rockets. Even though I wasn't a newcomer to the hobby and I certainly knew better than to do it, I lost my Alpha III a few years ago when I launched it on a C6-7. I liked that rocket, too. I had kicked off my BARdom with the Alpha III SS.
 
snip... but the one thing that worries me a little about the Astron Outlaw is that it is listed as having a plastic motor retainer. Those don't have the greatest reputation for durability.
The Launchables set you speak of is what I found in my attic that got me started in rocketry again. The Outlaw is a decent enough looking rocket. I don't care for the ugly, hot glued launch lug and the durability issue with the fin can concerns me as well. I've launched it once or twice and it stayed together, but I really don't expect it to last. I didn't sand off the chrome(like) plating where I glued it together and consider the rocket fairly disposable. The parachute is a heavier plastic and the shroud lines are a thicker, more "fluffy" kind than I've since encountered. I don't know, it has a nice enough shape and flies fine, I just don't look at it in the same light as my other "built" rockets.
 
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Estes KC-5 Bomarc
Centuri 1/100 Saturn V
Centuri 1/100 Saturn 1B
Estes pre Damon Mars Lander
Estes 1/70 Saturn 1B
Estes Cherokee D
Estes Omega
Estes Cineroc
Estes Goblin
Estes Mercury Redstone
Estes Mercury Atlas
Estes Sprint

As you can see I am a bit older than some of you (but not all) as I was 13 in 1969 and I consider that time frame the golden years of model rockety.
 
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There are so many kits that have been done over the years that I don't think it is reasonable to have a definitive list.

I beg to differ!

I say again what I said in my first post: ALL OF THEM!

:wink:
 
Okay, how about a few classic HPR kits?

I can't say enough good things about the USR Banshee. It is light, cheap, tough, and can fly on D-G. You can still buy this one.

The Aerotech Aereaux was my second "mid power" kit. I still love the style and the appearance. Gary designed that one, in fact, I think it is the only of the AeroTech kits that he has his name on as designer.

The AAA Magnum PA Crude.

NCR Phantom 4000.

I am really a paper airframe guy...to me, the PML and Wildman and so many other great modern kits just aren't exciting. I know they are very good, I just like the feel of the paper/plywood stuff.
 
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Back in the day Estes marketed the Constellation kit and I always admired it's looks. Got around to building it and lost it on the 1st shot. (those darn C6-5s). Anyhoo, It's one I considered a "must have' so I snatched the plans from Jim Z's site and worked them for an up scale version. Just got started on it this evening. Got the balsa prepped for the lathe so I can do the nose cone and nose block. With today's quality glues, I decided to make the teardrops on the fins with a solid piece of thick balsa rather than the layered method like in the instructions. I might be doing a build thread on this one also.
 
Must have rockets: Fliskits Deuces Wild and Richter Recker, LOC Onyx, Estes Fat Boy, Vertical Force Odin's Spear, US Rockets Mosquito 2.2... These are rockets that I fly over and over again.
 
Back in the day Estes marketed the Constellation kit and I always admired it's looks. Got around to building it and lost it on the 1st shot. (those darn C6-5s). Anyhoo, It's one I considered a "must have' so I snatched the plans from Jim Z's site and worked them for an up scale version. Just got started on it this evening. Got the balsa prepped for the lathe so I can do the nose cone and nose block. With today's quality glues, I decided to make the teardrops on the fins with a solid piece of thick balsa rather than the layered method like in the instructions. I might be doing a build thread on this one also.
Semroc has an xKit of the Constellation. They also have a few upscaled versions of the nose cone and balsa block.
 
Semroc has an xKit of the Constellation. They also have a few upscaled versions of the nose cone and balsa block.

I don't mind building it from scratch. I already had everything I needed except for the payload tube. I bought a 4' length at Lowe's for about 5 bucks.
 
Most TLP kits and plan-pack builds. Estes Bomarc, Saturn V, Saturn 1B, V-2, LTV Scout, Jayhawk, Mercury Atlas, Maxi HoJo, Interceptor, Interceptor E, Maxi V-2, Mercury Redstone. Saturn Press ARCAS and Astrobee 1500.
 
Of course this list is a highly individual preference!! I've been doing some of my must-haves lately - Snipe Hunter, Constellation, Hydra One, Laser-X, Marauder - mainly the simpler ones while I re-establish my building environment and get back in practice.

On the near-term list: Estes Avenger (dbrent beat me to the punch on that one), Mars Snooper (both versions), Star Speeder (in work), Space Plane, Goblin, Trident....getting more complicated now...Mars Lander, Centuri Little Joe II, original Estes gliding Bomarc, and any of the various 1/100 Saturn V's. Also working slowly on a Revell 1/72 full stack shuttle, slightly off topic since unpowered but still a very cool model.
 
The AltimeterOne and AltimeterTwo were developed and tested in a variety of airframes.

My favorites have been:

1. Small: Quest Payloader One (through the wall fins, payload section)
2. Medium: Estes Big Daddy (takes a licking; racked up more flights than any)
3. Larger: Estes Executioner (try with an E30T)
4. Higher: Aerotech StrongARM (best looking IMHO, try with a long-burn H)

For what it's worth!

--John Beans, Jolly Logic
 
Estes Der Red Max
Saturn V
Big Bertha or equivalent
Alpha or equivalent
Payloader One or equivalent
Goblin or equivalent
 
The Estes SLS. Well, I really hope that Estes will release a scale SLS kit such that it would be on the shelves in hobby stores before NASA launches the actual rocket.
 
Opinions vary, intentions vary, goals vary. ti is up to you. But on that note, is it about owning / flying a particular model? a particular style?

I think we all should have in our collection:
A simple, classic 3FNC - Estes Alpha, Wizard, etc..
A simple, classic 4FNC - Hornet, Goblin, Leviathan, etc..
A cluster of some sort - Duece's wild, Thrustline's 'Hank'..
A 2 or 3 stager - Comanche, Corona, Magnum, Aerobee-HI
A Military Missile / Scale rocket - Bull pup, AMRAAM, Pheonix, Black Brant, Little Joe, etc..
A fantasy rocket, Andromeda, Decimate, Alien 8, etc..
A stubby - Fatboy, Big daddy, Goonie (pick one!)
and a scratch build.

Owning / building / flying one of each entails some different building & finishing skills.. Also highlights some unique flight characteristics and requirements to get right..

We all have favorites, and with each, our top 5 favorites will most likely be from a few of the columns mentioned above..
 
Opinions vary, intentions vary, goals vary. it is up to you.
And that's the end of the discussion, as far as I'm concerned.

I get a little cranky when I read words like "must have" or "no collection is complete without" and that sort of thing. It implies that if you don't have one then you are somehow a lesser model rocketeer, which is of course baloney. Discussing favorites or iconic kits (what this thread really is about) is fine. But I don't like implying that anyone "should" or "must" do anything.

There is no single rocket that is a must have for everyone, let alone a list. I think I might not have a single one of the kits listed in this thread, and I don't feel the slightest bit bad about it.

I think dr wogz gets closer to something useful with a list of "categories" of rockets that each entail different building, finishing, and launching skills. And there are plenty more categories you could add (off the top of my head: saucer, glider, helicopter recovery, MD). Although again, there's no "must" or "should", unless you're looking for some kind of official certification.

Sorry to quibble about wording but it just rubs me the wrong way.
 
Ditto with JAL3...All of them! I don't have any 'Must Haves'.
I do have a future build list written down that includes twenty or so re-builds of 'Old Fleet' favorites, a number of boost/gliders of different styles and types, a number of Estes, Centuri, MPC, and FSI early kit clones, a few new models from various manufacturers, some scale models from the pages of Model Rocketry Magazine, a couple of cool Estes DOMs from way-back, some custom design scratch-build projects, and maybe a mid-power bird or two. I also want to dabble with in-flight videos, electronic transmitters, altimeters, and other experimental stuff. Even have a couple of egg-lofters planned to build and fly with the grand-kiddoes. Just trying to catch up on the 32 to years of being away from the hobby.
Too many model rockets...too little time....too little money.....
 
As far as kits go, the ones I built and really liked as a kid were the ones I wanted to recreate. Usually in an up scale. I did build one as a shelf queen. Never flown. A Big Bertha sits there with one white fin where I'm hoping to have Vern's signature someday. It was his favorite rocket and I built it just for that reason. To use the term, "must have", is relative to only myself. Nothing or no one dictates what I should have in my fleet. Therefore, there is no golden rule or believing if someone were to say, "GEE! Your fleet won't be complete unless you have a (****) in it."
 
I have been getting more into finding classic rockets, building it in open rocket then upscaling.

Mini fat boy up to a 4in fatboy, now a red max 4in with dual deply and 54mm motor.

Change it up a bit, What about a forgotten kit, maybe not real popular but great flyer!

Keep em flying!
Rod
 
Wow! I was wondering how I had missed posting in this thread... Then I discovered that it was over 6 years old.... That explains it.

Estes kits are what I got started with when I got into the hobby in 1983. I think that the "ALL of them" is correct.

Especially... The Cineroc/Omega combo, the Citation Patriot, Cherokee D... And the Binder Design Velociraptor :grin:
 
For me it would be all of the ones I made when I first got into rocketry. I was looking back at the scanned Estes catalogs from 1963 - 1966 I realized that I build almost every rocket in them except for the Spaceman and Invader. My last catalog that I got was in 1967 and I had the Arcas out of that one. It was not until my son was born many years later that I got the V2 and and an Honest John that were also in that catalog.
 
I'm just getting back into rocketry and I've decided to build the rockets that took man into space. I'm currently working on the Redstone, just ordered a D/E engine kit from Apogee and will replace the 18mm mount with a 24mm. I would like to send this rocket higher than the 200 ft that it likely would go on a C engine. After I finish this project, I may look at buying a Saturn V model rocket and give that a try. Expensive I know, but definitely on the list. I would love to get my hands on a Gemini Titan and an Atlas kit, but from what I can tell, they are nowhere to be found. I'll keep looking though.

When I was doing more rocketry about 15 years ago, I looked for a Der Red Max kit but they were not in production. So, I started gathering specs and I built my own, with a D engine mount. I used light Whitewood for the fins, and a bit bigger body tube, and the correct nosecone. I printed off decals and made myself what I had always wanted since about the fifth grade. The crazy thing is, I've never flown it. I'm going to correct that mistake here soon as quickly as I get this Redstone built, I will take them both out to a monthly event and shoot them off. Can't wait to see how the Red Max flies.
 
I'm just getting back into rocketry and I've decided to build the rockets that took man into space. I'm currently working on the Redstone, just ordered a D/E engine kit from Apogee and will replace the 18mm mount with a 24mm. I would like to send this rocket higher than the 200 ft that it likely would go on a C engine. After I finish this project, I may look at buying a Saturn V model rocket and give that a try. Expensive I know, but definitely on the list. I would love to get my hands on a Gemini Titan and an Atlas kit, but from what I can tell, they are nowhere to be found. I'll keep looking though.

When I was doing more rocketry about 15 years ago, I looked for a Der Red Max kit but they were not in production. So, I started gathering specs and I built my own, with a D engine mount. I used light Whitewood for the fins, and a bit bigger body tube, and the correct nosecone. I printed off decals and made myself what I had always wanted since about the fifth grade. The crazy thing is, I've never flown it. I'm going to correct that mistake here soon as quickly as I get this Redstone built, I will take them both out to a monthly event and shoot them off. Can't wait to see how the Red Max flies.

I would just keep in mind that the Mercury Redstone is probably unstable stock with an E9 in the back end. You'll need to add a LOT of weight to the nose to get a stable CG position, which OpenRocket or someone on this forum will tell you.

That said, I'm not a fan of underpowered rockets with only one or two motor options. 24mm in BT-60 is a great size, as you can fly them on almost any motor that you might consider... B6-2 in a 4-6oz rocket is definitely a low and slow flight, but I've never had a failure.

Sounds like you've already discovered the #1 rule of getting back into rocketry- find a club! However, I mus warn you that flying with a club may not be economically viable- you'll find yourself watching people burning $200 on L2 motors and think "Well, $50 for an I isn't SO bad...":wink:

[subconscious] ON TOPIC LITHO... THIS IS A CLASSIC/MUST HAVE KITS THREAD...

Oh all right...

Not sure if there's any one rocket I can point to. I like my Patriot, I like my Ventris, but there are just so many rockets out there...
 
I would just keep in mind that the Mercury Redstone is probably unstable stock with an E9 in the back end. You'll need to add a LOT of weight to the nose to get a stable CG position, which OpenRocket or someone on this forum will tell you.

That said, I'm not a fan of underpowered rockets with only one or two motor options. 24mm in BT-60 is a great size, as you can fly them on almost any motor that you might consider... B6-2 in a 4-6oz rocket is definitely a low and slow flight, but I've never had a failure.

Sounds like you've already discovered the #1 rule of getting back into rocketry- find a club! However, I mus warn you that flying with a club may not be economically viable- you'll find yourself watching people burning $200 on L2 motors and think "Well, $50 for an I isn't SO bad...":wink:

[subconscious] ON TOPIC LITHO... THIS IS A CLASSIC/MUST HAVE KITS THREAD...

Oh all right...

Not sure if there's any one rocket I can point to. I like my Patriot, I like my Ventris, but there are just so many rockets out there...

Thanks for the advice, and yes I think there is a fine line between enthusiastic and stupid :D I will probably stick to the D engines in the Redstone and that should give me some memorable flights, I'm thinking. I'll probably put some weight in the nose cone but not overly so, I think it will fly nice with just a little extra clay up there.

I put together the capsule tonight, and I am probably going to go with an oversized parachute, maybe two parachutes, on this rocket, I forgot how delicate the nose cone actually is on this model.
 
For me, the 'must have' rocket is the motivation to the next 'step' in the hobby. This does not mean you must have you L1, then, L2, etc....it means the must have rocket for today, is the one that drives you to the next. I have a huge fleet of bagged beauties, largely because I can't wait to build them. This drives me forward and keeps me invested. I love a good fleet of reliable flyers, but my energy lies in construction.

For example, I spent 2 years designing, collecting, and ultimately building a downscale BSG Viper. It's not a true 'pre-fab' kit, but I had to have it, for my reasons.

If your 'must-have' is a 220 swift...go for it...noone can say you're wrong.

Investment is defined by drive.; any given collection is complete when the collector is satisfied, which...never really happens, at least in my house :D.



TLDR - 'Must-have' is personal and based on individual motivations.
 
I think the iconic kits are really neat to have - if you can :)
SR-71
X-wing fighter
Black Brant
Outlander
but in reality, my favorites are the scratch builds or modified versions of kits that you make your own.
like this Steampunked V2
 
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