The Rocket Challenge - What did you think?

So for those of us that saw the show last night what did you think? Did it help the hobby? Will we get more interested flyers?

Overall I really enjoyed the show. I could have done with a few less commercials (like any program) and there were certainly shots of the same rockets that were shown repeatedly. But, I think it was a fair portrayal of the hobby and I think it will help boost interest! It certainly gave me a few ideas for some new projcets - my wife is going to love that!

Yes, this was a great show! I agree there were too many commercials, but what can you do? There were also several technical inaccuracies, but these were small in the grand scheme. It will be interesting to see the tally of hits to the flyrockets site, and even second-hand to out local club via flyrockets. The latter seems up from the normal, but the numbers aren't in.

This may have an adverse effect on one area of rocketry - the producers of LDRS videos may take a hit

I think it helped out...... I am glad to see a pretty good flow of "hits" to flyrockets.com...... If I were making the shows, I would have showed less of the big projects where 8-10 guys spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars and build huge rockets and instead showed more of the kids and families launching low and mid-power stuff....... With that said, I will add that the shows did get me to start thinking about L3.......... but, then again I am already into the hobby / sport.......

I am going off to work and I will see how many people I work with watched it............

I didn't like how it seemed to focus on the failures but overall I enjoyed it.

The interesting question is will it help the sport in the eyes of the government. I think several times rocketeers looked like people who enjoy blowing stuff up.

The failures are part of the hobby...any hobby.

Go to any R/C meet and you will see your share of rekitted planes and don't get me started on R/C cars...

I think they made it perfectly clear on the one "accident" where the EMS had to be called in that it was a battery missinstalled!
The rocket really didn't hurt him either...he fell off of a really tall ladder! He did walk into the ambulance on his own!

I loved it.

I would have liked more LPR stuff and more kids but...that's me.

It was LARGE Dangerous Rocket Ships...not Little Dangerous Rocket Ships

I was able to get all three shows and comercials onto one VHS tape on extended play.

sandman

P.S. on a side note. From the show, I can see that MOST of us need to go on some kinda diet! It sure wasn't a beauty contest!

LOL!

Overall, I thought it was a good show

But

I agree with Phil's point about how the government might view the show. I thought that a few too many of these high-power guys looked (and I said: 'looked') like they didn't know what they were doing. I mean, they weren't sure if something would work or not, didn't really have a clue how high/how fast their rockets would go . . . not exactly the kind of folks that I would feel 100% comfortable entrusting with the launch of very high power stuff, unless they were WAAAAY far out in the fields, away from me.

And while I agree that a flying outhouse has a humorous aspect, it also makes me wonder if that part of the video, taken out of context, would make it look like we are a bunch of reckless vandals?

Originally posted by sandman
P.S. on a side note. From the show, I can see that MOST of us need to go on some kinda diet! It sure wasn't a beauty contest!

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I can see it now. The 'field wear' competition. The launch-prep-proficiency competition. The interview ("I think if everyone had a rocket, instead of fur coats, red meat, and guns, the world would be a better place") The Mr. Congeniality award. America at its best.

Originally posted by sandman
The failures are part of the hobby...any hobby.

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That is true, but they didn't have to focus on the failures.

Originally posted by sandman
It was LARGE Dangerous Rocket Ships...not Little Dangerous Rocket Ships

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True, but still, there is more to our hobby than LDRS. (God, I can't believe I said that.) So, I think it glorified the large rocket crashes more than the sport itself. Not good.

Maybe "we" could get the Discovery Channel to do a sequel covering one of the NARAM events to show other aspects of the hobby (lower cost, children and family oriented).

Just a thought...

PHil...stop reading too much into it bro...

...everyone here at work that saw it said it was awesome!!! These are non-rocketeer folk that are beginning to get an intrest in the hobby thanks to the show. Let's just look at the big picture...It appears to have worked as far as peaking interest and getting the word out there. Free publicity is always good. Also, everything from kids launching rockets to the elderly, LPR to HPR and male and female teams were shown...plenty of couples showing support. It was a good thing.

Let's just keep it upbeat guys...I don't want this turning into a "what was screwed up with it" thread. I think it was a great first attempt that cost us nothing and provided a great deal of positive publicity. Leave those negative comments to yourselfs as they serve no purpose....the effect worked and I am glad.

Carl

Originally posted by CTulanko
PHil...stop reading too much into it bro...

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Dude, I voted yes. Did it work? Yep. Could it had been better? Yep. Do I want 6 hours of shows? Yep.

I've only returned to the hobby for the last 7 or 8 months now, have built 20+ rockets (mostly LPR but a handful of MPR & HPR), successfully certified Level1, & have been to about a half dozen organized club launches. I've read several comments in various threads/website/r.m.r posts about how they feel that the show(s) seemed to focus more on the failure than the successes but I tend to disagree...

Failure seems to carry more weight because of the pain/frustration/expense/lessons learned with an unsuccessful flight. We all take failure personally & don't take kindly to people pointing them out to us. Similarly, poker players can win countless hands & money often never remembering how yet they never forget the hand where they bet everything & lost...

Look at the shows again with a newbie's perspective...
How many of the ~5 bowling ball rockets had problems?
(answer: 1, but only because of a hard landing...)
How many of the 8ft rockets that 6 teams built on-site had problems during flight?
(answer: ZERO)
Did the 55ft rocket fly?
(answer: Yes. OK, so you could argue that it did so barely...)
How many of the ~6 supersonic rockets suffered in-flight shreds?
(answer: 1, maybe 2--I was distracted by the wife during that part but I couldn't have missed more than 1 launch but I know that there was 1 shred)
Did all 288 Mosquitos/Quarks launch simultaneously?
(answer: 282 did although it took 3 tries--BUT THINK OF ALL THAT WIRING!)
And *many* more (sorry I don't have exact counts) of the rockets that the large teams launched were successful than failed. IMO, the Nike Smoke failure/injury left me with the importance of safety & standards for the hobby more than the disappointment of failure. I'd "guesstimate" that the success/failure rate on the show was 90/10%. That seems to be about on par with the club launches I've been to...

I feel that the importance of the show was to display the complexity, power, & enthusiasm of the rockets & the builders. At that level, I think the show was very successful I like how they investigated the failures to see WHY they happened. Sure it would've been great to have seen more children & LPR stuff but our culture typically has the "bigger + faster = better" mindset & if that's what has to be done to attract new blood, then so be it!

OMG...Thanks Phil...btw...I wasn't diss'in ya bro!

Phil: "...thanks??? Thanks for what???"

Well, I just noticed this was a poll!!! guess I need to pay more attention. OMG, I have it bad...

Carl

I didn't get to see the show last night (no cable TV), but I did hear a few people talking about it at work today. Some the more memorable comments I heard were negative - "those people are crazy", "some idiot is going to go blow himself up now after watching that show", "imagine if a terrorist got a hold of one of those", "some of those guys don't have a life"..... as for the positives - "great, now my husband is going to want one ", "those were really cool", "I had seen some smaller ones at Walmart...I think I might get one for my grandson."

So you see, there are going to be some good comments and bad ones. IMO, the unfortunate thing about society is that the bad ones tend to live longer. It's kind of like a bad experience at a restaurant or poor customer service. I for one am the type to vocalize my good experiences. Too bad we aren't in the 60s where everyone just wants to be happy and spread the love.

And yes, I had to chime in and collectively make corrections to some of those negative comments. The most frightful had to have been the "terrorist" comment. In this day and age we (the uninformed public, not people on this forum) are now afraid of box cutters and fingernail clippers. After my 2 minute speech on rocketry safety, the lady that made the "husband having interest" comment quickly reminded me not to talk to him if ever he visits the office.

The point was not to influence the government (or it shouldn't have been the point) , but to raise awareness of the public. IMHO, even if it raises awareness, it will not help our current regulatory situation...or hurt it. The BATF/DOJ/etc have made up their minds and will not be swayed. I think most legislators will make up their minds based either on the facts or on DOJ's recommendations. The public outside of our ranks won't have a say. *Hopefully* it gets more people interested in the sport. The WOW factor will help there.

The issue is not whether organized HPR is safe, but whether the motors can be used by bad people for bad things. I'd be more worried about a successful 30k flight than a 120lb rocket crashing or CATOing.

My 12c...

Originally posted by rstaff3
I'd be more worried about a successful 30k flight than a 120lb rocket crashing or CATOing.

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That is a very good point. I didn't think about it like that. If obsessive professional hobbiest can't get it done, then noone can. I gotta admit the wow factor was definitely overwhelming. Although, with the 300 estes cluster, did anyone else think that didn't look like 300 motors or was it just me?

Well, I just loved it!!

Watching it for the 3rd or fourth time today (I have the day off!)

The negative side is the part that get's the viewing public interested...that's just TV...I expected that. I don't think they concentrated on it.

It was GREAT!

sandman

Originally posted by PGerringer
Although, with the 300 estes cluster, did anyone else think that didn't look like 300 motors or was it just me?

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I've never seen a massive drag race so it looked like it to me. I wonder if the few larger rockets counted or they were just extras?

If the point was to attract new blood, it might have helped a little more to focus on more low or mid power. There were a few kids and their rockets (and they prominently mentioned the melted chute and broken fin) and the mass Quark launch that took three tries. Other than that they focused on LDRS rockets that "weigh hundreds of pounds and cost thousands of dollars to launch." Not exactly attracting Mr. Middle America with that. After all, with the current regulatory environment, it is almost certain that the vast majority of rocketeers will never certify even if they want to, or if they may have in a kinder, gentler time.
Over all I enjoyed the show, having never seen anything over a G80 launched in person, and most of the internet video of the larger stuff leaves a bit to be desired as compared to a 32 inch TV, stereo sound and cable. My kids were up long enough to see the first show and they were duly impressed. I did not rain on their parade by telling them that unless Daddy wins the lottery, we probably will not be buying any M motors and driving to God knows where to launch them any time soon.

I enjoyed sharing the show with my kids...definitely got a lot of "wowwwwwws!" But honestly, I did wish it had had a bit more fo the stuff my kids could see and relate more to, more mid/smaller rockets....also, I had to justify "those guys being happy destroying things." The wife wasn't impressed by that part of the "it's really a safe hobby honey"

On the other hand though, it was COOOOL seeing those big monsters go up.....

I thought that, even though they did show the CATOs (Man, I'll bet Phil jumped in glee when the huge cow rocket CATOed), they also went into some good detail on the safety measures that are taken. I walked away with the impression that people will come out of this thinking it's safer than they did before.

Also, I didn't care much that they didn't spend more time on LPR/MPR. It's television after all and they're out to show the extremes of the hobby. That's a good thing. Think of it as the X-Games of the mind. It's great to get the little kids on the LPR stuff, but it's things like this that are going to have the teenagers going "Pfft...so your mustang does 0-60 in 6 seconds...Dad and I built this thing that goes 0-400 in less than a second! Get back to me when you've upgraded.".

I'm not so sure that the emphasis wasn't right. IMHO if there were three hours of low to mid power, you would lose all but the most die hard of us. I love being at a launch, but video of LPR events is in my opinion dull. Kinda like I feel about baseball.

Also, I guess the point was to highlight HPR since that is what's currently at stake. I suspect that the interest in rocket sites will go up, but that not many people will enter the hobby and stay just based on a video. It would be interesting to gather this info as a part of club memberships.

I found it interesting that they mentioned several times that you have to be certified to buy HPR motors (which isn't strictly true), but nothing was mentioned about LEUPS/LUPS etc. Just an observation.

I made sure to tell alot of (non rocketry) friends and coworkers about the special..everyone knows I'm into "rockets" but alot of them did not understand much beyond "Walmart" rockets


I was hit with questions this morning!yeah !It Definately made a difference .and it seemed to be a popular topic today.

Just my 2 cents;

I thought the shows were great. Sure I could nitpick a few things "rocketeers" could have done better with the show, like camera work and commentary, but overall it was excellent. I too would like to have seen more LPR so that people would know they can get into rocketry for way less than $5000, but the show was about "Extreme Rockets", and I think the big ones will attract more people than the little ones. Maybe they should have just mentioned being able to get started for about $20, then how quickly the obsession takes hold and before you know it, you've spent about 20 times that.
Seriously, if you weren't into rockets and didn't know much about it, what would be most likely to grab you and suck you in? The Big Bertha on a D, or all those big mach busting beasts thundering to the clouds?
Exactly.

slim

It seems to me that this may even be a good time to approach the producers about doing a special just *on* "model rocketry" with a focus on the educational aspects and contributions

I agree with you Jim. We are starting to get more kids involve with modle rocketry around here. We just did a launch Sunday and had part of a class come launch with us.

We just got a call about doing a DB camp. We would help build and launch rockets with 50 to 75 kids ranging from 2 to 18 years old.

Our club and Rockethead Rockets are looking at doing a TARC thing with the local middle schools and below. We would supply a bag with rocket parts and they would have to build what ever the contest would be. We feel that this would get them ready for TARC when they get into high school.

To me this is the best part of rocketry to help kids learn rocketry.

Sorry to go off a little from what the thread was but I feel we all need to be pushing this part of rocketry.

I thought the show was awesome, I like bsexton's idea about doing a show at NARAM.

I enjoyed the show, but a few things bothered me. The presentation seemed to give the idea that HPR rockets are built by the seat of your pants. No one talked about design calculations, concepts, or computer simulations. Not that I wanted to see 'boring' math stuff, but mentioning that the rockets design is very scientific would have helped.

I see this show as a basic education of the general public, and hoped that it would bolster the fight against BATF. If the public sees high power rockets that or 'explode' on the pad. (Nike Smoke- you and I know what happened, but my Wife immediately asked me how many of my rockets have 'exploded' like that) then I do not think it helps.

I am not really whining, I did enjoy the show. Just a few details bugged me....

I watched from start to finish and as a whole I liked it. My only problems (and I may nit picking here):

1.) My wife turned to me (I'm not kinding here) half way through the show and asked me if one of those rockets could take down a jet. If she asked, someone else probably did.

2.) I wish they could have spent a little time on how most people get into the hobby. Low and Med Power exposure would have been nice.

3.)There are TWO rocketry organizations which you can get your level certs in...I only heard the T word.

What would be really neat would be a series. If they can get viewers to sit down and watch 20 episodes of how to convert a car into a golf ball collector, I think a rocketry series should be a snap!