Need suggestions for easy Rockets to build.

[rocketdoctor99]

I lead a 4h rocketry project in my project I have the kids build the super easy Alpha 3 rockets and then I'll have another meeting where kids build a little more advance rocket which basically is one where the fins are cut and glued on. This year most of kids are younger and might find this a bit difficult. What I am planning on doing is breaking up my meeting in to many small meetings so I can give personal attention to them. I really want the kids to make these rockets so they can paint and show them off at Science fairs that I attend and possibly the county fair if they like.

Question Ive some rockets like Big Daddy come with precut slots in the body to hold the fins, this would be ideal for the kids but I really don't want them to build D engine rockets. are there any smaller rockets that have this same type of construction?

 

[Skp]

Fliskits has 3 options that have fins that lock together so that they hold each other in perfect alignment, the kits also offer no knife skills required. dooDad, Whatchamacallit and Thing-a-ma-Jig. They are directly available from Fliskits website, Jon Rockets or eRockets.

 

[BEC]

Check out the BMS School Rocket (www.balsamachining.com). It's about the size of the Alpha/Alpha III but has thru-the-wall fins and a balsa nose cone. Streamer recovery.

I've used this one with several school groups and usually take one to launches with me because it's a very reliable flyer, even in lousy conditions. And you can't beat the price ($5.25 each in any quantity).

Very satisfied customer....no other affiliation with Mr. Saindon or BMS.

 

[samb]

A big +1 for Fliskits and the genius behind the Thingamajig: https://www.fliskits.com/products/rocketkits/kit_detail/thingamajig.htm . I have also participated in group builds with older (10+) kids using the Quest Payloader One: https://www.questaerospace.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=5485

 

[Screaminhelo]

The Fliskits are awesome if you want a simple build but may be pricey depending on your group. I will be going with the School Rocket for my Cub Scouts to keep the cost down. It is still simple enough for younger kids and you can keep the cost at launch to about $7. Either one is a good choice though.

 

[YodaMcFly]

Saw the thread title and my first thought was the BMS school rocket, but BEC beat me to it.

Way back in another life, I ran a youth program, and would've loved to have something like that. As it is, I have a few squirreled away for when my nephews are old enough.

 

[Jackball74]

Not sure what your price range is, but I recommend the Estes Firestorm for a good starter kit. Has a fin can with slide-on fins and a pre-attached lug, so assembly is minimal. The body is already painted and has a decal but I got a few coats on mine pretty well and you can also use stickers. And having a BT-60 body tube means it's nice and wide so there won't be a problem packing the 'chutes. I got mine for $11.

 

[mccordmw]

Two easy to build options that aren't too pricey and can take A to C engines are:

Chuter Two - on sale for $4.69 each https://www.estesrockets.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=chuter
Flutterby - on sale for $3.39 each https://www.estesrockets.com/rockets/all/003013-flutter-by

Both are level 1 skill and teach the basics of construction without being too difficult. They're both also neat to launch with some unique characteristics. The Chuter Two looks like a classic rocket (reminds me of a Nike Smoke with the aggressive conical nose). On deploy, it splits and has two parachutes. The Flutterby has a neat, stubby body with huge (for its size) fins.

An A engine will put them up only a couple hundred feet for an easy recovery and economical launch. If you have some that are really stable with short flights, you can try them with a nice C6 engine for an impressive 1000' launch. Maybe test them all with A engines and put the top three winners (looks and/or flight profile) up on C engines as the finale.

A8-3 engine ($10.29 for 3) - https://www.estesrockets.com/rockets/engines/standard/1598-a8-3
A8-3 engine (bulk pack of 24 for $71.99) - https://www.estesrockets.com/001781-a8-3-engine-bulk-pack
C6-5 engines ($11.79 for 3) - https://www.estesrockets.com/1614-c6-5

 

[Kirk G]

I don't know if it is still available, but my first rocket was a Freedom II... a basic tube, fin, nose cone, lugs, parachute, motor mount rocket that a kid with some construction/gluing/wood working skill could handle. I'm pretty sure it flies on an A8-3 and a B and C as step-ups.

 

[ActingLikeAKid]

Two easy to build options that aren't too pricey and can take A to C engines are:

Chuter Two - on sale for $4.69 each https://www.estesrockets.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=chuter

If you get the Chuter Two, for the love of all that is holy, ONLY USE ONE CHUTE. I used both on the first flight and the nose cone took a good 2 minutes to come down. It didn't drift MUCH, but the slightest puff of wind would have knocked it hundreds of feet. With one chute, it's a great little rocket.

 

[rocketdoctor99]

Two easy to build options that aren't too pricey and can take A to C engines are:

Chuter Two - on sale for $4.69 each https://www.estesrockets.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=chuter
Flutterby - on sale for $3.39 each https://www.estesrockets.com/rockets/all/003013-flutter-by

Both are level 1 skill and teach the basics of construction without being too difficult. They're both also neat to launch with some unique characteristics. The Chuter Two looks like a classic rocket (reminds me of a Nike Smoke with the aggressive conical nose). On deploy, it splits and has two parachutes. The Flutterby has a neat, stubby body with huge (for its size) fins.

An A engine will put them up only a couple hundred feet for an easy recovery and economical launch. If you have some that are really stable with short flights, you can try them with a nice C6 engine for an impressive 1000' launch. Maybe test them all with A engines and put the top three winners (looks and/or flight profile) up on C engines as the finale.

A8-3 engine ($10.29 for 3) - https://www.estesrockets.com/rockets/engines/standard/1598-a8-3
A8-3 engine (bulk pack of 24 for $71.99) - https://www.estesrockets.com/001781-a8-3-engine-bulk-pack
C6-5 engines ($11.79 for 3) - https://www.estesrockets.com/1614-c6-5

Just saw this think I'll buy both of these and split with my group. The price is great even beats where I usually buy my rockets at ACsupply. I find that AC supply has the best prices on engines, I usually stock up with starter alpha kits at the beginning of the year so I can get an order over $100 dollars and get free shipping https://www.acsupplyco.com/estes/engines.htm

 

[rocketdoctor99]

I found the perfect rocket I wanted one that had easy fins to attach/align but were real balsa wood and I also wanted a larger rocket that the kids could have fun painting and presenting. I think the larger rockets look better in flight too. I found a special on estes for under $7 https://www.estesrockets.com/review/product/list/id/710/category/164/

thanks for the suggestions will keep other rockets in mind for future projects

 

[jflis]

If you look over our (FlisKits) line of skill level 1 kits you will see a wide variety of kits ranging from the super easy (dooDad, Whatchamacallit, Thing-a-am-Jig) to more complex (Lil Guy), each teaching important skills. Some teach basic assembly, some basic knife use (cutting the engine hook slit) others teach fin application, and some teach fin cutting. All as a prelude to moving on to Skill Level 2 kits.

Also, for educators, it is important to know two things about our bulk pack program:

1) you only need order the number of kits you need. The bulk pack pricing kicks in at 10 kits, but we don't sell in groups of 10. After your 10th kit, only add on what you need for your group.

2) we will bulk pack ANY kit in our catalog, so you can move your group into as much advancement as you desire. Heck, we even have some 4-H groups that purchase bulk pack USS Grissom kits to satisfy their Skill Level 4 requirements!

Hope this helps
Jim

 

[Flash]

I like Estes Color the Sky 12 pack of Crayons. Great size, easy to build with just model glue, no painting, no knife cutting, 12 different colors.

I use them at my elementary school each year, up to 122, they are a lot of rocket for the price. 20" x 1.64" diameter. $77.99 for 12 pack, that's only $6.50 per. From AC supply. I add motor and wadding price to rocket and price it as a package deal.

Also, if you need a few singles and don't need a 12 pack you can do that to, it's about a dollar more and is a mostly built.

I like the large body tube, don't have to worry about parachutes getting jammed. On the wadding, I buy 75 sheet packs and use 3 sheets for each rocket which means 25 flights per pack.

You could save here by making your own with toilet paper and baking soda. Google it for more info.

Use B6-4 for small field or C6-5 if you have a really large field and want to go high.


Hope this helps!

 

[mikemech]

BEWARE! A C motor in a Flutterby or Chuter Two will likely result in a sacrifice to the sky gods. Don't ask how I know.

 

[Barkley]

Two easy to build options that aren't too pricey and can take A to C engines are:

Chuter Two - on sale for $4.69 each https://www.estesrockets.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=chuter
Flutterby - on sale for $3.39 each https://www.estesrockets.com/rockets/all/003013-flutter-by

Both are level 1 skill and teach the basics of construction without being too difficult. They're both also neat to launch with some unique characteristics. The Chuter Two looks like a classic rocket (reminds me of a Nike Smoke with the aggressive conical nose). On deploy, it splits and has two parachutes. The Flutterby has a neat, stubby body with huge (for its size) fins.

An A engine will put them up only a couple hundred feet for an easy recovery and economical launch. If you have some that are really stable with short flights, you can try them with a nice C6 engine for an impressive 1000' launch. Maybe test them all with A engines and put the top three winners (looks and/or flight profile) up on C engines as the finale.

A8-3 engine ($10.29 for 3) - https://www.estesrockets.com/rockets/engines/standard/1598-a8-3
A8-3 engine (bulk pack of 24 for $71.99) - https://www.estesrockets.com/001781-a8-3-engine-bulk-pack
C6-5 engines ($11.79 for 3) - https://www.estesrockets.com/1614-c6-5

Not sure I'd recommend a Flutterby as an "easy" rocket to build. There isn't much to go wrong, but it's more complicated than a 3FNC. It is cheap as chips though.

 

[rocketdoctor99]

I held my 4h meeting this weekend and helped 9 kids between 7 and 10 build and paint their rockets in a 1-1/2 hour session. I got the Pheonix Bird rocket which was $7 on estes https://www.estesrockets.com/clearance/003024-phoenix-birdtm . Before the meeting I seperated the fins, glued the shock cords and launch rod guide on so they had plenty of time to dry. The rocket had slots in the body that made mounting the fins really easy. After we were done assembling the body and fins I hit them with a heat gun to speed up drying. We didn't assemble the top pieces or add the parachute so we could keep body pieces and nose cone seperate for easy painting. I did this for the kids after the meeting. The kids had a lot of fun painting the rockets and they looked really nice

 

[Bat-mite]

Glad it all worked out. Thanks for getting kids interested in rocketry.

 

[webtech]

I like Estes Color the Sky 12 pack of Crayons. Great size, easy to build with just model glue, no painting, no knife cutting, 12 different colors.

I use them at my elementary school each year, up to 122, they are a lot of rocket for the price. 20" x 1.64" diameter. $77.99 for 12 pack, that's only $6.50 per. From AC supply. I add motor and wadding price to rocket and price it as a package deal.

Also, if you need a few singles and don't need a 12 pack you can do that to, it's about a dollar more and is a mostly built.

I like the large body tube, don't have to worry about parachutes getting jammed. On the wadding, I buy 75 sheet packs and use 3 sheets for each rocket which means 25 flights per pack.

You could save here by making your own with toilet paper and baking soda. Google it for more info.

Use B6-4 for small field or C6-5 if you have a really large field and want to go high.


Hope this helps!

+1 for ready to fly crayons.. worked for me with my cub scout group

 

[rharshberger]

I like Estes Color the Sky 12 pack of Crayons. Great size, easy to build with just model glue, no painting, no knife cutting, 12 different colors.

I use them at my elementary school each year, up to 122, they are a lot of rocket for the price. 20" x 1.64" diameter. $77.99 for 12 pack, that's only $6.50 per. From AC supply. I add motor and wadding price to rocket and price it as a package deal.

Also, if you need a few singles and don't need a 12 pack you can do that to, it's about a dollar more and is a mostly built.

I like the large body tube, don't have to worry about parachutes getting jammed. On the wadding, I buy 75 sheet packs and use 3 sheets for each rocket which means 25 flights per pack.

You could save here by making your own with toilet paper and baking soda. Google it for more info.

Use B6-4 for small field or C6-5 if you have a really large field and want to go high.


Hope this helps!

My trick for parachute protection is a single sheet of wadding (any brand ) with a golf ball sized amount of dog barf placed inside the the whole wad pushed down the tube. With my kids Crayons we can walk back from the recovery, I can fold the chute, and while hold the chute make the wadding package, shove it in followed by the chute and nose cone. Exchange the used motor for a new one and ignitor. Noth rockets ready to fly again on the next rack, if its not too busy. The single sheet makes a pack of wadding last forever it seems.

 

[rocketdoctor99]

My trick for parachute protection is a single sheet of wadding (any brand ) with a golf ball sized amount of dog barf .

whats dog barf?

 

[rharshberger]

whats dog barf?

Dog barf is cellulose insulation commonly referred to as "blow in attic insulation" a $10 bale from Lowes or Home depot will last a lifetime nearly. Its made from treated recycled newspapers.

Edit: Get it wet and you will understand why we call it what we do!

 

[Agatheron]

My daughter just completed three rockets from the Mix-and-Match 60 collection. We had a chance to fly them on Friday, and they are all great builds. The fin cans are plastic, and the fins themselves are interchangeable, with the caveat that all three or four fins must be the same type when attached to the rocket. These work up rather quickly, and go together with plastic cement and wood glue. For the plastic cement, we used Tamiya's ultra-thin brush on stuff. works a treat, dries quickly, and flows by capillary action. The decals are stick on, and because of the different colours you can work up a nice variety quickly.

The Mix-and-Match 60 makes some large rockets. Ours ranged from 4 to 4.5oz each, on a B6-2 they flew to about 130ft, but were nice clean flights. The Mix-and-Match 50 and 55 kits would likely fly higher as well. Just adding one more recommendation to the mix.

Now, if I were doing this with my daughter's Guide (Canadian Girl Scouts) group, I'd definitely go with the paint-the-sky variety pack of the Crayon rockets from Estes...