First Time Questions
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Pippen
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Both times B6-4. It cranked it up there. 
I want to take a moment to thank every one of you who helped make this happen for John (and me!) today. Every suggestion was considered carefully and your words of encouragement helped keep him going. We probably could have muddled through it but it sure was a richer and easier experience because of your input.
As I said in my first post I wasn't eager to do a project from scratch with a ten year old but for him this has turned out to be a far better experience than any kit could ever have been. Along the way he used tools and learned techniques he never would have on a simple kit. He was exposed to rocketry basics such as stability and which motor to select--things that normally would have been out of sight, out of mind. Most importantly for him he got to march to the beat of his own drum instead of being frustrated by the prospect of trying to fit in someone else's shoes. And today he was rewarded for his efforts in a wonderful way!
I probably wouldn't do it this way with a child of this age unless they really showed sincere interest. The one thing I was glad I had done far in advance was talk to him about center of gravity and stability so when we got to this project he knew it was important and that he might have to do some flexing from his initial plan to make things go right. I never sat down and did anything formal with him, but as he surfaced various objects through the year for body tube possibilities I'd always ask what size fins did he think might work on the rocket to make it stable. When we finally got to the real thing it made the job a lot easier.
I'm ready to pack up the rocket stuff for a bit, spend some time with my daughter and reclaim the kitchen table. John has different ideas:
Him: I want to build a robot. Will you help me build one?
Me: Sure, that kit your brother did was really cool. Let's check out that company and see what they have.
Him: I don't want to do a kit. I want to build it from scratch. Please will you help me? All I want to make is one robot from scratch that really walks....
Thanks again to you all--you're the best!
Lisa
I want to take a moment to thank every one of you who helped make this happen for John (and me!) today. Every suggestion was considered carefully and your words of encouragement helped keep him going. We probably could have muddled through it but it sure was a richer and easier experience because of your input.
As I said in my first post I wasn't eager to do a project from scratch with a ten year old but for him this has turned out to be a far better experience than any kit could ever have been. Along the way he used tools and learned techniques he never would have on a simple kit. He was exposed to rocketry basics such as stability and which motor to select--things that normally would have been out of sight, out of mind. Most importantly for him he got to march to the beat of his own drum instead of being frustrated by the prospect of trying to fit in someone else's shoes. And today he was rewarded for his efforts in a wonderful way!
I probably wouldn't do it this way with a child of this age unless they really showed sincere interest. The one thing I was glad I had done far in advance was talk to him about center of gravity and stability so when we got to this project he knew it was important and that he might have to do some flexing from his initial plan to make things go right. I never sat down and did anything formal with him, but as he surfaced various objects through the year for body tube possibilities I'd always ask what size fins did he think might work on the rocket to make it stable. When we finally got to the real thing it made the job a lot easier.
I'm ready to pack up the rocket stuff for a bit, spend some time with my daughter and reclaim the kitchen table. John has different ideas:
Him: I want to build a robot. Will you help me build one?
Me: Sure, that kit your brother did was really cool. Let's check out that company and see what they have.
Him: I don't want to do a kit. I want to build it from scratch. Please will you help me? All I want to make is one robot from scratch that really walks....
Thanks again to you all--you're the best!
Lisa
Stormbringer
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That's neat that a kid that age even wants to attempt a scratch build. You'll have problems with him not wanting to do any kits now. Congrats on a successful build.
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Lisa,
What a great launch! Thank you for sharing with the board. Keep us posted on his future efforts (whatever they may be )
I just LOVE that last pix!
What a great launch!
Thank you for sharing with the board. Keep us posted on his future efforts (whatever they may be )I just LOVE that last pix!
Congrats on 2 near succesful flights! Looks like he really had a blast. When I was his age I was very into MPR's but they were all kits... a 10 year old doing 90% of the work to make a scratch built LPR rocket is quit an accomplishment! Hope he keeps up the good work... if he intends to fly HPR when he is older this will help tremendously...
oh and one more thing, good luck with the robot
oh and one more thing, good luck with the robot
