*UPDATE* STOLEN!!15' Rocket Dyne Systems "Hercules" $250 [SOLD]

[ntoracn]

What an ordeal!!! Sold the rocket twice. The last buyer (very cool Dude) allowed me to cut the booster body so I could ship. Boxed it up and we agreed to send it Greyhound. It never made it to its final destination!!! I wrote the buyers name and address and ph# on 3 different locations on the outside of the box and one more on a piece of paper taped to the rocket it self inside the box. I refunded the buyer his $ and I've just started the claim process with Greyhound. It will be 60 days before they will get to my claim. So, lets keep our eyes pealed for this rocket being up for sale by a sticky finger Greyhound employee.

Helping a friend who needs to get rid of a project. I know nothing about it other than what I see. PLEASE email me at ntoracn@yahoo.com if you have any questions. I live in So. Calif. 92557, he only wants $250
Painted and ready to go!

Motor cavity

Recovery system

Thanks for looking
Randy

[ntoracn]

The only things I know about it is he won it in a contest at Blackrock, Nv. (or someplace like that), it was as you see when he won it and its never been flown. I will let you know if I get any other info.

[dixontj93060]

Email sent.

[ntoracn]

Email responded too. I never have shipped anything this large. Anyone ever shipped this big of a rocket that was in "ready to fly" condition? Who did you use and how much did it cost?

Thanks

[dixontj93060]

Email responded too. I never have shipped anything this large. Anyone ever shipped this big of a rocket that was in "ready to fly" condition? Who did you use and how much did it cost?

Thanks

Randy, yes. See my response. /Tim

[alexzogh]

If I'm not mistaken, this is Chuck Platisa's old rocket, right?

I think he sold it on eBay a while back. You need to be REALLY careful with these old RDS rockets, as they are prone to disintegrate without major, major reinforcement. They were also single deploy, with each section under it's own parachute. Will probably take some rework to bring it up to modern standards.

Tim, I think its right up your alley :>

[OverLord]

Good looking bird though! sigh.....

Mike

[dixontj93060]

Tim, I think its right up your alley :>

Yep, I'm up for the challenge. I already have a two-stage RDS Orion I'm gonna get to some day.

[JStitz]

Wow! an original Mike Gillete Rocketdyne! He had excellent taste in Rocket Models.And I heard he had to change the name for obvious reasons.
(Rocket Dynamics? Wiki me here if I'm wrong)
One rumor had Jerry Irvine (US Rockets) using the Mike Gillete name as an Alias.

[ntoracn]

Yep, I'm up for the challenge. I already have a two-stage RDS Orion I'm gonna get to some day.

dixontj93060, Sorry the deal fell through, shipping was just too much. Anybody else care to take crack at this nice rocket? Located in So. Calif.

[UPscaler]

Oh man, that's a deal...




Braden

[dixontj93060]

dixontj93060, Sorry the deal fell through, shipping was just too much. Anybody else care to take crack at this nice rocket? Located in So. Calif.

BTW, Randy was a "gentleman and a scholar" all through this deal. I would not hesitate doing business with him again. /Tim

[jimzcatz]

Just curious, what was shipping cost?

[edwinshap1]

I would think that your best be to sell this is to bring it to a ROC launch. You'll have to head over to Lucerne Dry Lake, but if you come during a bigger launch (June and november peak 1000+ i think) you should be able to sell it fairly easily

you can also sign up for rocchat over at rocstock.org and see if anybody on the email group would like to buy it

[dixontj93060]

Just curious, what was shipping cost?

Best prices we could get from freight consolidators terminal-to-terminal (So. Cal to Indy) was $250 +/-$20 depending on packaging, insurance, etc.

[JoeG]

I've shipped several built, large scale, R/C airplanes by Forward Air and the prices were reasonable. It has been a while though.

You have to build your own box/crate and it is terminal to terminal as well. Might check into it.

[dixontj93060]

You have to build your own box/crate and it is terminal to terminal as well. Might check into it.

This is the kind of pricing we received.

[ntoracn]

Just curious, what was shipping cost?

USPS, ups and Fed ex all said no. The freight quotes I got exceeded the value of the rocket. The problem is the fins have been attached and make the packaging large. The other problem is the shortest section is 109" long! The payload and nose cone are much shorter.

[ntoracn]

I would think that your best be to sell this is to bring it to a ROC launch. You'll have to head over to Lucerne Dry Lake, but if you come during a bigger launch (June and november peak 1000+ i think) you should be able to sell it fairly easily

you can also sign up for rocchat over at rocstock.org and see if anybody on the email group would like to buy it

Thanks for the info, If it hasn't ended up in the trash or mounted to the roof of my shop, I may try that.

[fyrwrxz]

Thanks for the info, If it hasn't ended up in the trash or mounted to the roof of my shop, I may try that.

Please see my post on your other thread and in the 'watering hole' thx -dave-

[rcktnut]

Thanks for the info, If it hasn't ended up in the trash or mounted to the roof of my shop, I may try that.

Best bet would be to take it to a launch, but you could "break" it down. I looked at the Sim, with a 34 in. mmt the booster tube could be cut above that to allow to be rejoined by a coupler. Also with surface mounted fins they could be removed for shipping.

With the fin span what it is, even just cutting the booster tube to length the dimensions would still be to big to ship USPS which would by far be the cheapest method. Even removing 2 fins might allow USPS shipping.

You don't want to trash, or let a rocket like that sit on display, it wants a good owner that will allow it to fly!!!! Definately a good fixer upper for sure!!!!

[ntoracn]

Best bet would be to take it to a launch, but you could "break" it down. I looked at the Sim, with a 34 in. mmt the booster tube could be cut above that to allow to be rejoined by a coupler. Also with surface mounted fins they could be removed for shipping.

With the fin span what it is, even just cutting the booster tube to length the dimensions would still be to big to ship USPS which would by far be the cheapest method. Even removing 2 fins might allow USPS shipping.

You don't want to trash, or let a rocket like that sit on display, it wants a good owner that will allow it to fly!!!! Definately a good fixer upper for sure!!!!

Arn't the fins glued/epoxied in place?

[UPscaler]

Thanks for the info, If it hasn't ended up in the trash or mounted to the roof of my shop, I may try that.

if it comes to throwing it away...cut the fins off, cut the tube in half, and I'll put it back together




Braden

[ntoracn]

If it truely won't fetch a decent price, I will just put it on display in or on my shop for a while. I'm working on a couple of interested buyers at the moment, wish me luck.

if it comes to throwing it away...cut the fins off, cut the tube in half, and I'll put it back together




Braden

[rdbones]

I could drive there and pick it up but the fuel would cost about $150.

hummmmm thinking, thinking ........................................

[ntoracn]

I think I may have it sold for $200 plus shipping.

I could drive there and pick it up but the fuel would cost about $150.

hummmmm thinking, thinking ........................................

[UrbanKnight]

I'm not sure if this option has been explored with you guys, but I've heard from people claiming that Greyhound will ship large items fairly inexpensively. The catch is someone has to put the package on the bus right before it leaves, and someone has to meat the bus when it arrives. I've never tried it myself, but friends claim to have shipped complete bicycles for $25 that way.

[rcktnut]

I'm not sure if this option has been explored with you guys, but I've heard from people claiming that Greyhound will ship large items fairly inexpensively. The catch is someone has to put the package on the bus right before it leaves, and someone has to meat the bus when it arrives. I've never tried it myself, but friends claim to have shipped complete bicycles for $25 that way.

That's right, forgot all about Greyhound. Checked it out once, you can ship very large packages at a very good rate. The booster section would still need to be cut, but I believe the width, height measurements allowed are big enough to keep the fins intact. The rates go by weight and the biggest measurement rather than by girth total, length, and weight.

You can drop and pickup the package at the terminals, you don't have to be there exactly when the bus leaves or arrives. I believe that cross country only takes 3 or 4 days also.

[ntoracn]

That's right, forgot all about Greyhound. Checked it out once, you can ship very large packages at a very good rate. The booster section would still need to be cut, but I believe the width, height measurements allowed are big enough to keep the fins intact. The rates go by weight and the biggest measurement rather than by girth total, length, and weight.

You can drop and pickup the package at the terminals, you don't have to be there exactly when the bus leaves or arrives. I believe that cross country only takes 3 or 4 days also.

I checked with Greyhound and you are correct, shipping looks resonable but I have to cut the booster section to make it work. There is a existing joint in the booster section thats been painted over, I wonder if this joint was cemented together? I don't see any glue when looking in the tube, but I think it is.

[rcktnut]

I checked with Greyhound and you are correct, shipping looks resonable but I have to cut the booster section to make it work. There is a existing joint in the booster section thats been painted over, I wonder if this joint was cemented together? I don't see any glue when looking in the tube, but I think it is.

I looked at the Sim file again, that joint is at 48" It is glued. The last place you want to cut it is there!! You don't want to cut thru the coupler because then another standard coupler to rejoin it together will not work. The best place to cut would be at 60 inches from the aft end. That will allow for a new 12 in. coupler to fit up to the old one (aft) and 6 in. into the top part of the booster tube. Then you are talking a 61 in. or so long box for shipping.