Rest in Pieces - post the rockets you once loved that died tragically

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Onebadhawk
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Did you build another one?

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    44
V-2 oops.jpg
My Level 1, Loc 5.5" V-2 for reasons unknown the motor eject failed, came in ballistic close to the late Tommy Higgs while he was cooking hamburgers. It whistled like a real missile as I was screaming "heads up". I never flew a Level 1 or higher again without an altimeter or chute release. Every so often I would talk to Tommy, mention this and we would have a few chuckles over it and other lawn darts.
 
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It was MDRA's Red Glare 2019
Launched my 9" Patriot on an AT- M1939 that fitted into a vintage 4" Kosdon snap-ring case.
All went well until the drougue deployed (dual altimeters & charges). but when the 1st main charge fired it was a little light on the BP. That 1st charge knocked the 2nd charge off its mount. They were too close together so it came in on drogue. Normally that's not too big a deal at Higgs Farm with alot of soft ground for it to land bottom first.
The booster was coming in almost sideways, in front of that house that one of the employee lives.
I seem to find the hardest patch of ground on the farm!. It was darn near like concrete. The picture says it all.
Never fear, I stole the only other tube I planned for a 9" V-2.
It lives again!
 

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DaHabes said:
Don't let it being OOP stop you from rebuilding. Use these to do a scratch build.
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I liked it because it was just a Nice Big Rocket. 2+" diameter and long. Estes doesn't make a lot of those.
Speaking of which... my Super Big Bertha suffered a crunch also. No pics of that one though.
 
Back in 2011, NARAM was local, so I used some vacation to work the sport range and get a few flights in. When I was doing RSO work, the guy that owned this LOC Warlock was one of my better customers. This was the first Warlock I'd seen, and being a fan of stubby birds, I was very impressed. I don't remember what the motor was for this flight, but I felt awful in the aftermath, and it wasn't even my bird.Warlock 1.jpg
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My first LOC Expediter...this was its third flight, and second of the day at NSL many years ago in Muncie, IN. I218R, and ejection charge never fired. Lawn darted pretty harshly... I bought another one, and still fly it today. The new one is what I used for my L2 cert.
expediteri218.jpgUsed Expediter.jpg
 
BT-80 Luna Bug, 3xD cluster, only 2 lit. Tumble, crash, and burn...
 

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Fishhead said:
Back in 2011, NARAM was local, so I used some vacation to work the sport range and get a few flights in. When I was doing RSO work, the guy that owned this LOC Warlock was one of my better customers. This was the first Warlock I'd seen, and being a fan of stubby birds, I was very impressed. I don't remember what the motor was for this flight, but I felt awful in the aftermath, and it wasn't even my bird.View attachment 604343
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it was ok till you let the smoke out. Have you considered taking up electronics...? Great photos.
 
Alpha III, born circa 1979. Died July 16, 2022. Long life included multiple repairs and at least three paint jobs. This was the only rocket that survived (in flyable condition, except for chute and shock cord) from my pre-BAR rocketry life into my BAR rocketry life.

The chute worked on the final flight and it landed on grass, but it was still too much for the four decade old plastic.
 

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That's easily fixed with either thin CA or plastic cement. I've broken the fins off of Alpha IIIs and glued them back on with thin CA for many more flights.....

That said, I don't think I've ever repaired a red fin can Alpha III that way as I've not flown one that much. But I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work.
 
I guess I could post this here also…
WM 6” Ultimate Interceptor N sparky CATO. My good friend repaired the broken tip on the nosecone and cleaned up the motor mount and main body tube inside.
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I replaced the bottom centering ring and a new AeroPack retainer and flew it on a 98/12500 EX motor at AirFest to 14,150’. I’d say it was a good flight to get it back into rotation.
 
Estes Twin Factor -- I think this was my third BAR rocket, and even though I bought it on a lark (it was cheap and on sale) it quickly became a favorite. It's one of very few rockets that I've used the suggested paint scheme and decals on. I estimate I had about twenty flights on it.

Unfortunately, I don't have any good pictures of it built. Fortunately, someone did happen to be taking video when it CATOed.

Miraculously, we found all the pieces except for the upper stage launch lug. I could rebuild it, but I think I'll probably just build a new one. They're cheap, and this one has, as my six year old says, "seen days."
 

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Lost a Sumo. No ejection. Most my other rockets that had a failure got put on life support till I could get them on the operating table. I can make better than they were before. Better faster and higher to paraphrase the 6 milLon dollar man. Lol
 
I made a modular, twist and lock, "Leaner Meaner Machine" that was a BT-50, two stage, mean machine that could be configured between 2 and 4 stages. This was a fun concept so not sure why I did not rebuild it.
  • Budget BT-50 tubes I got from AC-Supply were a bit soft and flexy.
  • Launch rod was not long or stiff enough (part of what encouraged me to move to rails).
  • C6-0 was not enough in 1st stage with 3 sections (I had not used C11s yet at this time and a D12-0 was gonna put it too high).
  • Trying to eject the nosecone was a bad idea (should have split in the middle).
Note: The one that crashed was actually my 2nd that I made. 1st went too high and was lost forever...

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Azamiryou said:
Alpha III, born circa 1979. Died July 16, 2022. Long life included multiple repairs and at least three paint jobs. This was the only rocket that survived (in flyable condition, except for chute and shock cord) from my pre-BAR rocketry life into my BAR rocketry life.

The chute worked on the final flight and it landed on grass, but it was still too much for the four decade old plastic.
Click to expand...
I had the same thing happen to a Chrome Dome which was quite a bit younger. Also had it happen to an MPC Pioneer 1 that landed in the bed of our presidential pickup truck. The bed liner kept the truck from being damaged, but the rocket lost two fins. First flight blues.
 
Executioner. My 1st MPR, and I did the paint to a high standard. Was real proud of it. But a weak ejection on an E20 did it in. Nose cone didn't separate, even though it was not a tight fit. For some reason, the "beauty shot" didn't have the nose cone pushed all the way down. ???

Hans.
Executioner.jpgExecutionerCrash.jpg
 
Remnants of a UFFO launched last month on a C6-0 and a bit of a breeze.
The styrofoam encountered MaxQ and the styrofoam lost.
Heh.

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Good thing styrofoam cups are cheap.
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It will fly again in a different iteration.
Maybe smaller, maybe bigger. Maybe both.
 
IMG_0958.jpegIMG_0958.jpegMadcow Patriot 2.6 Fiberglass. First launch no ejection. Lawn Darted mud puddle. New centering rings, one new fin. They all came out. Reflown lost NC but a successful 2nd launch.
 

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