Your most jinxed rocket what is it?

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Luv2launch

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I have this Commanche 3 it was the first rocket that I bought when i became a BAR.When I was young I always wanted one but I was always afraid of D powered rockets because I didn't really have a field big enough to launch them.So when I got back into it it was the first bird I picked up it has lived a very tragic life.Its first flight was single stage on an A8-3 just to test it out then it was loaded up with a C6-0 and an A8-5 that was left over from my younger days of rocketry and the wind blew the pad over and cracked off a launch lug.Its second flight after the repairs again was a flight on an A8-3 then again loaded up with the C6-0 and A8-5 this time it made it off the pad but broke a fin on landing.Its next flights went very similar breaking fins off the sustainer and the second stage on recovery.It's only 3 stage flight to date on the boost it shredded a fin off of the D powered stage which cuased it to arc over quite a bit and I thought it was lost but I found the sustainer and took about an hours search to find the two lower stages.Then again today I went out hoping to load it up for a fair well 3 stage flight and on transport it cracked another fin on the sustainer.This poor thing is jinxed its my most repaired rocket ever.Anyone ever have a bird like that?
 
I have the Commanche 3 "in-the-bag" (not built yet), but can relate what I've
seen others do. At NSL - 2004, a young kid tried flying his very nicely built one; only problem was the D12-0 failed to ignite the second stage (no need
to rehash here what happened next, only to say the poor kid was VERY
unhappy!). I've seen others afterwards that flew very, very well, we were
even able to recover all three stages.

To me, the most "jinxed" model rocket kit I've ever seen has to be the original
Estes Renegade......
 
My most jinxed rocket is my dad's "old" Estes Omega. The bottom stage is old, the top stage is all brand new from it's 10+ crashes from the top stage not igniting. We have tried tightening the stage coupler and it's worked for one flight, but then some RSO from a launch told us to loosen it because a tight coupler can cause problems with staging. It crashed on that flight, shattering the original nose cone that cannot be replaced. We found something similar to it though later on.

To me, the most "jinxed" model rocket kit I've ever seen has to be the original
Estes Renegade......

The Renegade is somewhat jinxed, mine flies great on a B6-0 to C6-5. A C6-0 in the bottom stage is what causes it to fly horizontaly after staging, and the added altitude always causes one of the pods to break off on the booster stage.
 
The only staging issue I have ever had was my first Frik and Frak I used painters tape (the blue stuff) to tape the motors together and it was either too much or the stages got hung up on each other, needless to say the bottom stage motor tube and most of the fins were burned to a crisp.
 
The Renegade is somewhat jinxed, mine flies great on a B6-0 to C6-5. A C6-0 in the bottom stage is what causes it to fly horizontaly after staging, and the added altitude always causes one of the pods to break off on the booster stage.

Every staged Renegade I've seen to date suffered either a cato'ed booster
and/or crashed upperstage (the original multistage kit is just too heavy for
the poor C6-0 to lift).....
 
A long styrofoam cup rocket (from Jim's plans but pre-dating his kits). Retired after being broken three times before it ever got to fly.
 
estes mongoose.
build, launch, lose, repeat.

on the odd occasion i got the sustainer back the BT got crimped.

still, this was back when i started rocketry - but i still totaled 4 rockets.

After that - Fun rockets swinger - the worst rocket ever made - i have never seen one work, i have broken 5, or 6 if you count the one a stamped on - just for fun.:)
 
Estes Big Daddy.

Big Daddy #1 Crashed twice in one winter. First time was due to a lousy ejection charge. Once ripped the top 1/2" of the top after landing with the nose half way out into a bush. The second was the same thing (different batch of motors) and ripped the BT all the way to the MMT.

Big Daddy #2 Lawn darted when I packed the chute incorrectly and left a little sliver of shock cord between the NC and BT.

Big Daddy #3 This was the "go big or go home" version with a 29mm MMT. I glassed the fins tip to tip but did not glass the BT. I think not glassing the BT was it's demise. I loaded up a G71 redline in it and off it went and about 300' up the BT collapsed because of all the nose weight I needed to make it stable. Off it went wildly into the wild blue yonder to impale itself into jet-black soft soil. Guess what color I painted it? Yep, black. Never did find it with my 29/40-120 casing in it.

My kids made me promise not to buy any more Big Daddys.

-Dave
 
Estes Gemini DC. I built three of those things, and of all the attempts I only got one flight where I got both chutes out. Several single chutes, a couple of fatal non-deploys, and one engine w/ vectored thrust that gave me a power prang. After that one, I swore off the entire design.
 
TLP Alarm. 100% failure rate. 1st flight CATO. Last flight was mostly totalled.
TLP Seawolf. 1 flight, went up, went horizontal, clipped a tree, went vertically downwards, impacted ground, then ejection blew about 1ms later, which caused it to almost burst because the nosecone was rammed halfway up the body tube. The entire ejection pressure was released through the hole between the ejection well and combustion chamber.
 
Aerotech Initiator:
1st: Water Landing
2nd: Tree. Recovered.
3rd: Tree. Recovered.
4th: Spat 24mm casing. Casing lost.
Finally crushed during a move while in trust to a friend.
 
Estes Mean Machine. I have built 3. The first two each flew once and landed on the same branch of the same rocket-eating tree. The third hasn't flown yet - and I probably won't until I go to a different launch site :)
 
Pemberton Technologies Krãcken

I bought one of the first kits and did a EMRR review. Flew it three times on a C11, D12, & E28 for the review and everything worked fine. The next flight at a different location on a D12, just never came down. The hot sun and black chute must have acted like a hot air balloon. Last seen ascending over the woods a quarter mile away.

After posting the results, Layne sent me a new kit!

First flight of #2 Krãcken, chute caught on tape used on shock cord to prevent zippers, never deployed. Fell flat but only scratched the paint.
Second flight, chute opened at 800 ft, came down to about 400 ft and never got any lower. Last seen over some woods a half mile away.
 
Had to be a clone of Der Red Max I built about five years ago. Flew awsome but every, EVERY time it came down in a tree(3times) or a swamp(twice) a roof on a house adjecent to the field where I was flying. Once it actually went down the only storm drain for miles. After the last landing in the swamp I gave up. The reissue was out by that time so... The only kicker was I had the original NC from the one I had as a kid. Wish I coulda gotten that back.

Keep em flying,
Troy
 
1. Commanche 3 (*had* two of them)
2. Triskelion (but only when I prep it. If my son preps it... perfect flight)
3. My beloved Praetor. (eaten by a tree)
 
Ahhh yes, I forgot one more rocket, almost as jinxed as the Omega. The Estes Spaceship One (18mm). The rocket has never flown right, it either flies unstable or gets tangled in it's chute. On it's first flight, it got 10ft off the pad then flew horizontaly and deployed it's chute 10ft before it hit a tree, and it got stuck. The entire neiborhood was trying to find a way to get it down, we finally decided to cut the limb of the tree off. Second flight, got tangled in it's chute. 3rd flight, it went unstable and barely missed lawn darting but got a scuff of dirt on the nose cone before pulling up and deploying it's chute just above the ground and getting tangled.

Another one, Estes Cosmic Cobra, the nose cone is cool, but deploying it's chute is impossible, the ejection charge is always too weak. One has core sampled and the other just lawn darted.
 
Too many to list, seems like every launch something happens to one or more of my rockets.

I will say this, though, the Estes Liquidator. Attempted to launch it only 2 times.

1) Launch #1.... 3,2,1 BOOM! Engine cato'ed. Only had to replace the shock cord.

2) Launch #2... 3,2,1 BOOM! Again, another engine cato'ed. This time there was a little bit more damage, or enough to not even bother trying to repair it.

Both motors were D12-5's, but I don't think they were from the same lot.


Oh yea, forgot to mention, the launches were like 8 months apart.
 
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Proving that he(or she) truely was a friend. Friends don't let friends rocket obsess.

He was the guy that got me back into rocketry and into high-power. I was stationed in King's Bay, GA at the time and I got orders to San Diego for 14 months. There was no room in my wife's studio apartment for rockets.
 
Mine is also one of my favorites. weird..

Mine is my Fat boy. It never suffers any fight damage, and it does fly beautifully. Numerous flights!

But it takes at least 2 or 3 (or more!) attempts to get her launched.. The igniter fails, the leads don't have continuity, the igniter lights, but fails to light the motor, etc. Just weird that i can have 100% before & after i put my Fatboy on the pad. And it's always the Fat boy. Even if I take the motor (with igniter still installed - missfire), stick it in another rocket, it'll light at first push..
 
Madcow Skipper, when I was building it, I dropped the balsa boattail putting a big dent in it, it was fixable.

Almost forgot to put a parachute in it....I wish I had forgotten. We lost it on it's maiden launch. Of course we had to fly it on G53....Great flight, it just landed beyound the swamp in the trees.:( Naturally it was the first time I used my 29mm case.

Skipper on a G53
 
My "most jinxed" rocket would probably be my Talon 2. One of the first times I tried to launch it, the delay ignited, but not the motor. It sat on the pad with smoke pouring out the bottom, then .... pop .... the ejection charge fired and the parachute deployed.

You can see the whole "flight" in my Rockets Gone Wild video.

The second day of the 2007 Florida Winternationals was very windy. Nevertheless, I chose to fly my Talon 2. Trying not to fly too high, I chose an F motor. Unfortunately, I made a mistake and picked an F20 which doesn't have enough ooomph for the Talon 2 even on a windless day. The rocket arced over into the ground, breaking in half.

I bought a new body tube and coupler that I used to rebuild the rocket.

At the September, 2007, NEFAR launch, the motor failed resulting in a spectacular, looping flight:

2007-09-08+NEFAR+489+copy.jpg


The motor mount was damaged and, once again, the rocket was broken into two pieces. I don't have any immediate plans to rebuild it, so it's found a home in the corner of my garage that I call the "Island of Misfit Toys."

-- Roger
 
It definitely be my Estes Executioner. I was my first foray into mid-power, its where I learn about APCP. Learning curve on the delays:rolleyes: It's about 6 inches shorter now. It also seem seems to have the worst luck with chutes, even perfectly packed chutes will still tangle. It's semi-retired now, I've moved on to bigger things.
 
He was the guy that got me back into rocketry and into high-power. I was stationed in King's Bay, GA at the time and I got orders to San Diego for 14 months. There was no room in my wife's studio apartment for rockets.

King's Bay! My dad was stationed in King's Bay for 5 years. :)
 
My "most jinxed" rocket would probably be my Talon 2. One of the first times I tried to launch it, the delay ignited, but not the motor. It sat on the pad with smoke pouring out the bottom, then .... pop .... the ejection charge fired and the parachute deployed.

You can see the whole "flight" in my Rockets Gone Wild video.

The second day of the 2007 Florida Winternationals was very windy. Nevertheless, I chose to fly my Talon 2. Trying not to fly too high, I chose an F motor. Unfortunately, I made a mistake and picked an F20 which doesn't have enough ooomph for the Talon 2 even on a windless day. The rocket arced over into the ground, breaking in half.

I bought a new body tube and coupler that I used to rebuild the rocket.

At the September, 2007, NEFAR launch, the motor failed resulting in a spectacular, looping flight:

2007-09-08+NEFAR+489+copy.jpg


The motor mount was damaged and, once again, the rocket was broken into two pieces. I don't have any immediate plans to rebuild it, so it's found a home in the corner of my garage that I call the "Island of Misfit Toys."

-- Roger
Man Im sorry your rocket was trashed but that is one spectacular photo.
Cheers
fred
 
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