Rocket City Rednecks

[billspad]

And I have a real nagging suspicion that the “accidental” ejection charge firing was done on purpose for the show.

It's a fairly easy mistake to make. One of the altimeters I have will fire the charge if you wire the battery in backwards. That's why I put the black powder in after I've powered it up and then down.

I know the beginning of that whole episode was a grand half-truth or lie, depending on how you look at it. Gave the impression that NASA would be interested in alcohol as a fuel, when that is 70+ year old technology. And never mentioning at all that the German V-2 used Alcohol as its fuel (75% alcohol and 25% water), plus an oxidizer (Liquid Oxygen).

It was also the fuel for the Redstone which makes the whole alcohol thing even more ridiculous considering where they're from.

The submarine episode showed just how stupid they are.

I watched that last night. I now have even less respect for them.


Knowing that NatGeo is owned by News Corp. explains a lot.

 

[DavidInNS]

For those who are interested, National Geographic posted the video of the launch on their YouTube channel.

Did anyone else post the launch? Apparently Nat Geo decided Canada can't watch it.

 

[KennB]

Did anyone else post the launch? Apparently Nat Geo decided Canada can't watch it.

Consider yourself very fortunate.

It was nearly four minutes I'll never get back.

 

[JDcluster]

Nat Geo had another rocket segment not related to Rocket City Rednecks.
I forgot what it was called but it involved 3 guys out in CA attempting to launch a hybrid rocket. Jeff Jakobs was also on the show.



JD

 

[DaveC]

Aww, come on guys, cut them some slack. They're just getting ready for their sweeps week programing double bill: Rocket City Rednecks followed by the Darwin Awards. Low cost tv if ever there was, all they have to do is change the voice over script....

 

[gpoehlein]

Nat Geo had another rocket segment not related to Rocket City Rednecks.
I forgot what it was called but it involved 3 guys out in CA attempting to launch a hybrid rocket. Jeff Jakobs was also on the show.



JD

Yup - we've been discussing that one here:

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?t=27136

 

[georgegassaway]

About the ejection charge that fired by “accident”:

It's a fairly easy mistake to make. One of the altimeters I have will fire the charge if you wire the battery in backwards. That's why I put the black powder in after I've powered it up and then down.

Two things. For one, makers of devices that fire pyrotechnics ought to design them so they will NOT fire when the battery is in backwards.

But back to the show, if it wasn’t accidental then it was plain stupid. As I said before, I had the impression he’d never used an altimeter before. Even before going out there, in his workshop he was directly soldering up the wires from the pre-packaged charges, directly to the altimeter. Instead of having plugs/sockets in the wiring harness so that the charges could be plugged in as one of the last steps of the prepping process (and making it easy to swap one out if say one “accidentally” fired on the ground). It was also strange that he said he was scared the charge would fire while he soldered it..... yet he was not wearing any eye protection. (“Safety thurrrd&#8221

Nat Geo had another rocket segment not related to Rocket City Rednecks.
I forgot what it was called but it involved 3 guys out in CA attempting to launch a hybrid rocket. Jeff Jakobs was also on the show.

I saw that and was going to mention it.

Sunday night, with little to ZERO publicity, NatGeo premiered two episodes of “How Hard Can It Be?”. First one was lifting a house with hundreds/thousands of helium balloons, like in the animated movie “UP!”. And the second one was about making homemade rockets, with a goal of bulding a hybrid rocekt to fly to “space” (quickly revised to a goal of 50,000 feet).

That show is the OPPOSITE of Rocket City Rednecks (Safety first...., not thurrrd). Those guys know what they are doing, actually getting expert advice and help when suitable, and the show focuses more on the guys getting the project accomplished than stupid personal “reality TV” crap.


Oh yeah, these are projects that can’t just be thrashed together in 2 days like the Rednecks, these took weeks.

Wow, they actually ground tested their electronics. And the ejection didn’t go off by accident.

Those two episodes will be repeated next Sunday afternoon (the 9th), at 4PM and 5 PM Eastern.

Also, this Wednesday night, at 8 Eastern, there will be another episode, titled “DIY Robo-Sub”. They will try to build a robot submarine to survive at 12,000 feet underwater.

Unfortunately, it looks like there are only these three episodes. So enjoy them while they last.

I see there’s a thread on this show on TRF:

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?p=241225

- George Gassaway

 

[mkadams001]

Check out this interview about these guys.https://www.space.com/13114-rocket-city-rednecks-travis-taylor-interview.html

I like this show and I also understand the safety third thing. They actually explain it in the moonshine rocket episode.

 

[DocTravis]

In case you didn't know. Alan Shepard flew into space on alcohol and LOX. And we never claimed to use the stump test rocket in the final rocket. The rocket we bought from Wildman. Then I modified it to put in some cameras at the very last minute. I had a hybrid engine about half done but ran out of time (we only film Fri-Sun per episode) then decided to just go with a RattWorks tribrid which uses a significant amount of ethanol. And, YES, we did build a stil and did use the moonshine in it. We had ATF approval to do so.

The second charge didn't go because I had RockSimmed the rocket without the cameras that were added last minute. I set the apogee for 1000ft. The rocket went 893 ft or so due to extra weight and drag. And if you'll note nobody was hurt when the chute charge went. Turns out, our wireless mics are what set it off. When was the last time you launched a rocket while mic'ed up? That slipped my mind but will not again.

Also, we have built a few rockets before. My Dad built parts of the Saturn V, I was a PI on the Ares 1-X. I've built rockets since I was 6. Y'all go build a stil, a rocket, put it all together and then fly it in about 48hours. The time pressure makes it a bit more exciting. My undergrad AE students help out for course credit. I teach Rocket Science and Engineering at the Univ of Al in Huntsville.

And 1 more thing, we checked the avionics package out off camera and it was beeping away just as it should. The thing I like to take away from each experiment we do as that we are never as smart as we think we are, but if we stay with it, we will succeed and have fun in the end.

Stay with it.

 

[DocTravis]

We didn't have any plugs and wiring harnesses. We only got to use what the production staff got us before we started. So I soldered it on. Besides that, I've found I prefer direct solder joints on most avionics as opposed to circuit plugs and such. In almost all the other rockets we've built for the show we threw out the plugs and soldered them in. I've had my undergrad students do some g-load analysis on them and I just like it that way.

Most of the time we are coming up with Macgyverisms for things you could buy for $3 but would take $10000 in camera downtime to go get. So we rig it.

I wish we had the budget and time of "How hard could it be" or whatever it is but that isn't the nature of our show. I plan to break records and do some other really fun stuff over the next few years with this show. We did blow up a cotton field in one but that is another story to be seen later this season.

And btw, Safety 3rd is a psychological game I play with the guys. It is funny and they are always saying "Safety 3rd". They are ALWAYS saying it. So you know what is always on their minds...

"Safety!"

Y'all keep watching. I'm certain y'all will see things that you would have done differently or your own way. But the key is that somebody is doing it and it is stimulating people to talk about DOING things instead of sitting on the couch and playing video games.

Safety 3rd!

 

[DocTravis]

It's a fairly easy mistake to make. One of the altimeters I have will fire the charge if you wire the battery in backwards. That's why I put the black powder in after I've powered it up and then down.


It was also the fuel for the Redstone which makes the whole alcohol thing even more ridiculous considering where they're from.



I watched that last night. I now have even less respect for them.


Knowing that NatGeo is owned by News Corp. explains a lot.

Battery wasn't wired backwards. My mic set it off. Ever built a rocket with a mic in your pocket that you wear so often you forget is there?

Of course it was used on Redstone. Alan Shepard flew into space on 80/20 Ethanol H20 mix and LOX. I actually said that in an inteview but it was edited out. We flew 100% moonshine. That was the point, not just ethanol. The cost of moonshine when compared to RP1 or RP4 or LH2 is quite significantly cheaper. Von Braun is our hero around here and we follow his history closely. I even mention some of this in my college level Rocket textbook that is used at many universities across the country.

Thanks for watching.

 

[DocTravis]

And one more thing! The editors only put in the worst/craziest parts of the show and we have no say in that. The sub worked fine for a long time until the CO2 scrubbers collapsed and filled with water. If you look at the webisode I show how we had 3 ways to get out of the sub (didn't make it in the show). And we had regulators and both Michael and I had dive training before we did the show. I'm actually a certified diver. We were in an area of the quarry that was only 19ft deep in case of an accident.

People want to go all "Mythbusters is a class act" nonsense. They have about 5 times our budget and an hour long show. Also, it didn't take me 3 episodes and a trip to the White House to fail at reproducing and experiment that was done (a historical fact) by Archimedes. I did it in minutes. Wait for the commercial. There are 8 advanced degrees between Dr. Erbach and myself on this show and I have a crew of undergrad students and a couple of local engineers that just come by to watch and help. Way more real scientists than on Mythbusters. So bring it on and let's talk some quantum physics, general relativity, Tsiolkovsky's Rocket Equation, complex tensor calculus and more. Mythbusters are very poor scientists and should be ashamed to exclaim that some piece of science or history is "busted" based on the few experiments they do on the show. Real scientist can say "our evidence suggests but..." What could be wrong with our experiment, data collection, and interpretation of the data analyses? Ever see THAT on Mythbusters.

No.

But they are a "class act" unlike us Rocket City Rednecks who are trained and certified and state licensed professional scientists with dozens of scientific published papers including a Rocket Science textbook.

I need a beer.

 

[mkadams001]

Doc, thanks for coming by and setting the story straight. Apparently, I am the only one in this forum that likes the show. Keep up the good work!

 

[blackjack2564]

Doc....... good job!

The thing most rocketeers don't get is:

When filming these shows, you have no idea if the final product EVEN remotely looks like what they told you they want & caught on camera.

........ " It's all about the Soundbite!".......... the best stuff usually ends up on the floor in editing.

I have done the LDRS thing for Discovery twice now. Ran around 8hrs a day with a mike stuck on my shirt, you are constantly trying to watch what you say, because one slip & that's the one that goes "on air". Matters not about what you know or the science behind it, they want " good TV". Even most of those filmed didn't get it. The producer commented to me that I must have done this before as I knew want he wanted. Yes I have, numerous TV interviews, movie set experience, etc.etc.

I won the first to 10,000 ft competition this year. Were they interested in how I did aerodynamic fin studies or strength of materials testing studies? No. They loved the bit I gave them about using "space age materials such as un-obtainium which I had shipped from Uthornasia" Wanted the big time wrestling trash talk about the competition rather than rocket science.

When & if the truth comes out during the airing Oct 30 on the Discovery Science channel, you probably won't realize I won by default. My project was the only one that survived the high stresses.....it was the only one with serious engineering behind it.

It's just the way of the world. Unless you're involved in it, understand what they are doing, and see the final result compared to WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED.....then you are clueless.

Keep up the good work, there are a few of us who "get it!" It's TV- the normal rules don't apply.

Jim H aka Crazy Jim :wink:

 

[RocketManDan]

I watched a couple of the programs and that's two too many. I think it gives rocketry a bad name, because these guys are just not too smart the way they rig/build things...I think they are a bunch idiots. Next thing you know there will be someone watching this program and decide to try it for themselves and blow themselves up....one of the dumbest programs I have watched in long time, not too mention all those damn stupid reality programs..Storage Wars, IRT, Deadliest Catch, Pawn Stars, Hillbilly Hand Guns, Fishing or whatever else is on...pathetic ...

Pull the lame program along with all the ones listed above!

 

[RocketManDan]

In case you didn't know. Alan Shepard flew into space on alcohol and LOX. And we never claimed to use the stump test rocket in the final rocket. The rocket we bought from Wildman. Then I modified it to put in some cameras at the very last minute. I had a hybrid engine about half done but ran out of time (we only film Fri-Sun per episode) then decided to just go with a RattWorks tribrid which uses a significant amount of ethanol. And, YES, we did build a stil and did use the moonshine in it. We had ATF approval to do so.

The second charge didn't go because I had RockSimmed the rocket without the cameras that were added last minute. I set the apogee for 1000ft. The rocket went 893 ft or so due to extra weight and drag. And if you'll note nobody was hurt when the chute charge went. Turns out, our wireless mics are what set it off. When was the last time you launched a rocket while mic'ed up? That slipped my mind but will not again.

Also, we have built a few rockets before. My Dad built parts of the Saturn V, I was a PI on the Ares 1-X. I've built rockets since I was 6. Y'all go build a stil, a rocket, put it all together and then fly it in about 48hours. The time pressure makes it a bit more exciting. My undergrad AE students help out for course credit. I teach Rocket Science and Engineering at the Univ of Al in Huntsville.

And 1 more thing, we checked the avionics package out off camera and it was beeping away just as it should. The thing I like to take away from each experiment we do as that we are never as smart as we think we are, but if we stay with it, we will succeed and have fun in the end.

Stay with it.

Maybe none of us here want to build a Stil and rocket and fly it to prove stupidity...the show should be called Rocket City Dimwit's!!

 

[RocketManDan]

We didn't have any plugs and wiring harnesses. We only got to use what the production staff got us before we started. So I soldered it on. Besides that, I've found I prefer direct solder joints on most avionics as opposed to circuit plugs and such. In almost all the other rockets we've built for the show we threw out the plugs and soldered them in. I've had my undergrad students do some g-load analysis on them and I just like it that way.

Most of the time we are coming up with Macgyverisms for things you could buy for $3 but would take $10000 in camera downtime to go get. So we rig it.

I wish we had the budget and time of "How hard could it be" or whatever it is but that isn't the nature of our show. I plan to break records and do some other really fun stuff over the next few years with this show. We did blow up a cotton field in one but that is another story to be seen later this season.

And btw, Safety 3rd is a psychological game I play with the guys. It is funny and they are always saying "Safety 3rd". They are ALWAYS saying it. So you know what is always on their minds...

"Safety!"

Y'all keep watching. I'm certain y'all will see things that you would have done differently or your own way. But the key is that somebody is doing it and it is stimulating people to talk about DOING things instead of sitting on the couch and playing video games.

Safety 3rd!

YOU DIMWITT'S HAVE NO CLUE WHAT SAFETY IS...I WILL NEVER WATCH YOUR LAME SHOW AGAIN! I HOPE RATINGS DROP AND HIT ROCK BOTTOM SO THE NETWORKS PULL YOUR SHOW!!

 

[DocTravis]

I watched a couple of the programs and that's two too many. I think it gives rocketry a bad name, because these guys are just not too smart the way they rig/build things...I think they are a bunch idiots. Next thing you know there will be someone watching this program and decide to try it for themselves and blow themselves up....one of the dumbest programs I have watched in long time, not too mention all those damn stupid reality programs..Storage Wars, IRT, Deadliest Catch, Pawn Stars, Hillbilly Hand Guns, Fishing or whatever else is on...pathetic ...

Pull the lame program along with all the ones listed above!

Come take my class. Solve the fluid flow equations for the De Laval nozzle. Solve the multi-stage rocket equations. Derive Kepler's laws. Design from sheet metal a complete liquid fuel rocket motor. Then we'll talk about idiots.

 

[RocketManDan]

Come take my class. Solve the fluid flow equations for the De Laval nozzle. Solve the multi-stage rocket equations. Derive Kepler's laws. Design from sheet metal a complete liquid fuel rocket motor. Then we'll talk about idiots.

I don't need to solve any fluid flow equations or multistage rocket equations

That's why they have rocket motors already designed and built by professionals lets STRESS PROFESSIONALS who know what they are doing and not some backward hillbilly hick....all your program is doing is giving the hobby a bad name...when one of your half a$$ backwards experiments go wrong and blow up or worse yet someone who watched your program decides on doing it himself kills himself and/or others then what good does that do for our hobby?

Us rocketeers are the ones that believe in safety first and foremost and practice it every time we are in the field launching...I have no desire to build your half a$$ rocket engine/designs. Its much cheaper and safer to buy motors.

 

[DocTravis]

YOU DIMWITT'S HAVE NO CLUE WHAT SAFETY IS...I WILL NEVER WATCH YOUR LAME SHOW AGAIN! I HOPE RATINGS DROP AND HIT ROCK BOTTOM SO THE NETWORKS PULL YOUR SHOW!!

Okay RocketManDan, you started this. You ready to match dimwittedness?

Go ahead and post here on this forum the solutions worked out (no partial credit) of every single homework problem in my textbook An Introduction to Rocket Science and Engineering. I'll grade your homework then give you a design project. You get a plastic protractor, some copper plates, a piece of angle iron or two, some high voltage wire, and since I feel sorry for you I'll go ahead and give you a high voltage power supply. Build me a pulsed plasma thruster in less than an hour with those components. Then, I'll send you a final exam. By the way, be sure to ground out all the components before you touch them. You should be safe.

Seriously RMD, your post is so radical and inflamatory and really misplaced. My goal for the show is only to inspire people to go out and do stuff. You don't like it for whatever reason. That is your business. But going off all crazy is really inappropriate.

Thanks for the interaction though.

Regards,

Travis

 

[Rex R]

okay fellas KNOCK IT OFF leave the personal attacks elseware, this is not the place for it.

 

[DocTravis]

I don't need to solve any fluid flow equations or multistage rocket equations

That's why they have rocket motors already designed and built by professionals lets STRESS PROFESSIONALS who know what they are doing and not some backward hillbilly hick....all your program is doing is giving the hobby a bad name...when one of your half a$$ backwards experiments go wrong and blow up or worse yet someone who watched your program decides on doing it himself kills himself and/or others then what good does that do for our hobby?

Us rocketeers are the ones that believe in safety first and foremost and practice it every time we are in the field launching...I have no desire to build your half a$$ rocket engine/designs. Its much cheaper and safer to buy motors.

Once again I must say YOU started this. Professionals design and build rockets. They don't buy them from somebody else and claim to be rocket scientists. Let us see your credentials. I'll show you mine. They are a matter of public record. BS EE, MS Physics, MS Mechanical and Aerospace Eng, PhD Optical Science and Eng, MS Astronomy, PhD Aerospace Systems Eng (expected spring 2012). Licensed Professional Engineer state of Alabama. Author of 2 textbooks and over 2 dozen scientific journal papers. Author or co-author of over 14 SF novels. 20 years experience working for DoD and NASA building rockets and lasers. PI for Pluto-Kuiper belt Thombaugh Oribiter program. PI for flight test plan design for NASA Ares 1-X (successful) launch vehicle. Constructed hundreds of rockets several of which have been space qualified to TRL6. Constructed/designed space hardware that is currently on the ISS.

You tickle me in calling hobby rockets "Professional Rockets". They are called hobby rockets or high power amateur rockets. Not slighting them at all. They should just be called Rockets. All rockets are cool, exciting, and dangerous and should be treated with respect.

Your turn Dan. Put up or shut up and I mean it. Either out crediential this "backwards hillbilly hick" as you put it or shut your mouth.

Dr. Travis S. Taylor, Ph.D., P.E.

 

[RocketManDan]

Okay RocketManDan, you started this. You ready to match dimwittedness?

Go ahead and post here on this forum the solutions worked out (no partial credit) of every single homework problem in my textbook An Introduction to Rocket Science and Engineering. I'll grade your homework then give you a design project. You get a plastic protractor, some copper plates, a piece of angle iron or two, some high voltage wire, and since I feel sorry for you I'll go ahead and give you a high voltage power supply. Build me a pulsed plasma thruster in less than an hour with those components. Then, I'll send you a final exam. By the way, be sure to ground out all the components before you touch them. You should be safe.

Seriously RMD, your post is so radical and inflamatory and really misplaced. My goal for the show is only to inspire people to go out and do stuff. You don't like it for whatever reason. That is your business. But going off all crazy is really inappropriate.

Thanks for the interaction though.

Regards,

Travis

Obviously you don't get my post? Typical redneck. I don't need to solve all your lame equations because I go online and buy rocket motors which are safe along with safe rocket kits and I build and launch those in a safe environment because I believe strongly in keeping this hobby safe and representing it in such a manner, which is positive. We don't need someone like yourself trying to show us and others how unsafe you and your bunch of redneck friends really are.

"My goal for the show is only to inspire people to go out and do stuff."

Yes you encourage them to do Stupid stuff! Didn't your show state that you shouldn't try this at home? Yet you just stuck your foot in your mouth by saying the above statement! Once again for the 3RD TIME!!!!!!! I don't need to know how to build rocket motors out moonshine and whatever inferior parts you use to launch a rocket, because I buy safe products when enjoying this hobby.

 

[SecretSquirrel]

Guys, if you're going to complain about the show, complain about something that's a real danger to society, something that can do immeasurable harm...... the singing! :lol:

 

[Wayco]

Thanks for posting up Doc, it helps me understand what is really going on instead of what I saw on the screen. It's not gonna change my opinion of the show unfortunately. Maybe this will help you understand where I'm coming from. We are both certified scuba divers. When I see a show with diving in it, I use my real world knowledge to evaluate what I'm watching. If you do that to your submarine show, don't you cringe at what your "editors" are showing us? I'm also a "D" licensed expert skydiver, and most of the stuff shown on TV just makes me laugh. Amateur rocketry gets very little screen time compared to skydiving a scuba diving, maybe because it's not considered "death defying" and only done by "thrill seekers". If the only way to expose the general public to some of my favorite sports/hobbies is to misrepresent it, wouldn't it be better to leave it to the movie makers? In that fantasy world, we can leave reality behind. With this new "reality TV" (which has very little reality in it) we might mistake what we are seeing with what is actually happening in the real world.
I'm sure you are having a lot of fun doing this stuff. Maybe you are like some of my other friends with doctorates, so focused on what you are doing you can't look at it objectively. If you did, you might notice that your producers and editors are making fun of you and me. It's not very funny to me, so I'm not tuning in for your next episode.

Wow! I guess I missed all the excitement while I was typing my reply. My education limits how fast I type, and all the "Education credentials" I can add after my name is G.E.D.....

 

[RocketManDan]

I'm done wasting my breath and time...sorry

 

[gpoehlein]

I suppose I should have realized that NATGEO would play up the "redneck" aspect for the sake of television. And, of course, "good television" <> "good science" because we ALL know that science is that boring stuff that goes on between the neat and nifty explosions. My biggest complaint with the alcohol rocket episode was how much emphasis was placed on distilling the alcohol and how little was placed on the rocketry aspect (hyuck hyuck - they're hillbillies who know how to build a still to make moonshine - hyuck hyuck!) I'm not blaming you guys at all, the general viewing public that eats this stuff up. Truth to tell, I found the IED armor episode quite interesting. The Iron Man armor was interesting as well - being interested in robotics and animatronics, I thought some of the solutions for making the armor move were ingenious. Haven't had a chance to watch any of the other episodes yet, but I likely will.

And, although you haven't gotten the warmest of welcomes here, welcome to TRF, DocTravis. I hope you can stick around and give us some more insights into both the show and some of your other activities (have you done any rocketry other than what was on the show, either LPR or HPR?). And, can you share with us some of the other things you've worked on with NASA? I know there are a number of us here on TRF who would give any number of spare body parts to do rocket science professionally!

And RocketManDan - chill out! There is no need for name calling and flinging insults. It's fine that you don't like the show, but you can, at least, be civil about it. As my mother always used to say, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all (nope, I'm not southern, but I do sort of straddle the line between work and home! ) I've always though that the golden rule for the internet is, if you wouldn't like to have someone say something nasty about you, your shouldn't say it about someone else. Flame wars are unbecoming and totally unnecessary.

So, once again, welcome to TRF, Doc - I hope you'll be able to share some interesting things with us, and if you need anything from the rocket community, just ask - I'm certain there will be people here willing to help in any way possible.

 

[RocketManDan]

I suppose I should have realized that NATGEO would play up the "redneck" aspect for the sake of television. And, of course, "good television" <> "good science" because we ALL know that science is that boring stuff that goes on between the neat and nifty explosions. My biggest complaint with the alcohol rocket episode was how much emphasis was placed on distilling the alcohol and how little was placed on the rocketry aspect (hyuck hyuck - they're hillbillies who know how to build a still to make moonshine - hyuck hyuck!) I'm not blaming you guys at all, the general viewing public that eats this stuff up. Truth to tell, I found the IED armor episode quite interesting. The Iron Man armor was interesting as well - being interested in robotics and animatronics, I thought some of the solutions for making the armor move were ingenious. Haven't had a chance to watch any of the other episodes yet, but I likely will.

And, although you haven't gotten the warmest of welcomes here, welcome to TRF, DocTravis. I hope you can stick around and give us some more insights into both the show and some of your other activities (have you done any rocketry other than what was on the show, either LPR or HPR?). And, can you share with us some of the other things you've worked on with NASA? I know there are a number of us here on TRF who would give any number of spare body parts to do rocket science professionally!

And RocketManDan - chill out! There is no need for name calling and flinging insults. It's fine that you don't like the show, but you can, at least, be civil about it. As my mother always used to say, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all (nope, I'm not southern, but I do sort of straddle the line between work and home! ) I've always though that the golden rule for the internet is, if you wouldn't like to have someone say something nasty about you, your shouldn't say it about someone else. Flame wars are unbecoming and totally unnecessary.

So, once again, welcome to TRF, Doc - I hope you'll be able to share some interesting things with us, and if you need anything from the rocket community, just ask - I'm certain there will be people here willing to help in any way possible.

Go ahead MODS and remove me from this forum because you must think I am way out of line...think what you will. You want to support and encourage and allow Doc to represent the hobby when all he is doing is giving it a bad name...go for it!

 

[RocketManDan]

I suppose I should have realized that NATGEO would play up the "redneck" aspect for the sake of television. And, of course, "good television" <> "good science" because we ALL know that science is that boring stuff that goes on between the neat and nifty explosions. My biggest complaint with the alcohol rocket episode was how much emphasis was placed on distilling the alcohol and how little was placed on the rocketry aspect (hyuck hyuck - they're hillbillies who know how to build a still to make moonshine - hyuck hyuck!) I'm not blaming you guys at all, the general viewing public that eats this stuff up. Truth to tell, I found the IED armor episode quite interesting. The Iron Man armor was interesting as well - being interested in robotics and animatronics, I thought some of the solutions for making the armor move were ingenious. Haven't had a chance to watch any of the other episodes yet, but I likely will.

And, although you haven't gotten the warmest of welcomes here, welcome to TRF, DocTravis. I hope you can stick around and give us some more insights into both the show and some of your other activities (have you done any rocketry other than what was on the show, either LPR or HPR?). And, can you share with us some of the other things you've worked on with NASA? I know there are a number of us here on TRF who would give any number of spare body parts to do rocket science professionally!

And RocketManDan - chill out! There is no need for name calling and flinging insults. It's fine that you don't like the show, but you can, at least, be civil about it. As my mother always used to say, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all (nope, I'm not southern, but I do sort of straddle the line between work and home! ) I've always though that the golden rule for the internet is, if you wouldn't like to have someone say something nasty about you, your shouldn't say it about someone else. Flame wars are unbecoming and totally unnecessary.

So, once again, welcome to TRF, Doc - I hope you'll be able to share some interesting things with us, and if you need anything from the rocket community, just ask - I'm certain there will be people here willing to help in any way possible.

Don't tell me to chill out! I don't need to hear your C - - - either! This guy and his friends are an accident waiting to happen...you can't see that you're blind!

 

[Daddyisabar]

Two Rocket City Rednecks threads going on at the same time with the same name, mass mayhem, cats and dogs sleeping together!:eyepop::shock::y: