The most frustrating part of this hobby for me......

[PayLoad]

I love to build, love to fly. Give me parts, I can make a rocket. FINDING A PLACE TO FLY is almost impossible, so I have an office full of birds that have never been in the air

 

[Scott_650]

Painting. I have a local place to launch LPR/MPR rockets plus active clubs within a couple hours drive that launch HPR regularly so my biggest frustration is decent painting weather and the typical frustrations with rattlecan painting. I have a new airbrush and stuff to make a paint booth gathered up so maybe my frustrations have the potential for being lessened...

 

[crossfire]

I love to build, love to fly. Give me parts, I can make a rocket. FINDING A PLACE TO FLY is almost impossible, so I have an office full of birds that have never been in the air

Where are you located?

 

[CPUTommy]

I love to build, love to fly. Give me parts, I can make a rocket. FINDING A PLACE TO FLY is almost impossible, so I have an office full of birds that have never been in the air

If you let me fly your birds...almost guaranteed that you will be missing a few when im done..

 

[AfterBurners]

My frustration is time. Just don't have time to fly so I cut way back on what I buy and as far as kits, I only buy when there's nothing else for me to build. Now hardware that's a different story. I'll buy motor casings etc. I do love the hobby and most of the people associated with it, but life for me as changed and time as I mentioned is a luxury.

 

[NateB]

I'm in the same boat as Scott_650. I can fly LPR and MPR in park near my house and there are a few clubs within 3 hours from home with 10k' or higher waivers. Painting with rattle cans outdoors is a combination of time and weather that doesn't always match up.

 

[PayLoad]

Where are you located?

Allentown/Orefield, PA

 

[Scott_650]

If you let me fly your birds...almost guaranteed that you will be missing a few when im done..

I’m getting an idea - sort of a dog walking business for rockets - send me your rockets and motors, I’ll fly them, take a picture then ship them back...as long as they don’t get lost - all for a small fee, plus shipping...

 

[PayLoad]

I’m getting an idea - sort of a dog walking business for rockets - send me your rockets and motors, I’ll fly them, take a picture then ship them back...as long as they don’t get lost - all for a small fee, plus shipping...

Jesus, I almost like that idea. Drove cross-country with "MoonShot" only to get shut down by weather, I'd love to see her in the air....

 

[CPUTommy]

I drove from mass to floridia to launch 1 rocket under there waiver..

 

[Antares JS]

MDRA is only a few hours from you. Come on down for Red Glare.

https://mdrocketry.org

 

[tsmith1315]

Drove cross-country with "MoonShot" only to get shut down by weather, I'd love to see her in the air....

Well that stinks. Do you need an EX-friendly launch?

 

[neil_w]

I love to build, love to fly. Give me parts, I can make a rocket. FINDING A PLACE TO FLY is almost impossible, so I have an office full of birds that have never been in the air

You're only an hour from Radical Rocketeers launch site... but 5000' waiver probably not gonna contain that I-motor of yours (and it's NAR, so no EX). I would agree MDRA is your best bet for serious flights.

I too am frustrated by limited flying opportunities, but for me painting is far worse. My opportunities are limited and I always end up rushing and/or skipping steps to finish.

 

[PayLoad]

Well that stinks. Do you need an EX-friendly launch?

Right now I'd be happy to fly it on 4 G80s & hell with the EX I90

 

[Funkworks]

I’m getting an idea - sort of a dog walking business for rockets - send me your rockets and motors, I’ll fly them, take a picture then ship them back...as long as they don’t get lost - all for a small fee, plus shipping...

With a garanteed retrieval, and a video or live-stream, I sort of like that idea.

 

[afadeev]

FINDING A PLACE TO FLY is almost impossible, so I have an office full of birds that have never been in the air

In PA? Really?
In our over-regulated NJ, I have had zero trouble flying LP-rockets from local baseball diamonds, soccer fields, school parking lots, and parks.
To be precise, I have flown from seven (7) LP-friendly fields within 1 mile radius from my house (as crow flies).

PA can't be that much restrictive then NJ, can it?
Have you tried flying locally, by yourself, without any organizational overhead?

Painting. I have a local place to launch LPR/MPR rockets plus active clubs within a couple hours drive that launch HPR regularly so my biggest frustration is decent painting weather and the typical frustrations with rattlecan painting.

Now THAT is a real PITA.
I will take sanding over painting, any day!

a

 

[Scott_650]

In PA? Really?
In our over-regulated NJ, I have had zero trouble flying LP-rockets from local baseball diamonds, soccer fields, school parking lots, and parks.
To be precise, I have flown from seven (7) LP-friendly fields within 1 mile radius from my house (as crow flies).

PA can't be that much restrictive then NJ, can it?
Have you tried flying locally, by yourself, without any organizational overhead?



Now THAT is a real PITA.
I will take sanding over painting, any day!

a

Here in our part of the world, where my neighbor regularly has his own fireworks “show” (random bottle rockets and firecracker strings) all the local municipalities have adopted a boilerplate ordinance prohibiting rocketry and R/C aircraft in city/town parks - which are the only non-state entities to have any kind of parklands. So no launches on city owned parks or sports fields. Luckily I have a friend of the family with a farm that gets a big kick out of watching my rockets fly. We live outside any city/towns so when the knucklehead starts with the fireworks the only recourse is calling the sheriff so they can tell me “tough luck - there’s nothing they can do unless they witness it”...but I can’t launch a perfectly legal model rocket mid-morning during the school year on an empty youth soccer field without the town cops showing up...yeah, I’m more than a little bitter about it...

 

[afadeev]

Here in our part of the world ... all the local municipalities have adopted a boilerplate ordinance prohibiting rocketry and R/C aircraft in city/town parks ... I can’t launch a perfectly legal model rocket mid-morning during the school year on an empty youth soccer field without the town cops showing up...yeah, I’m more than a little bitter about it...

Wow, what state is that?

Here are our scouts launching rockets in the fall, zero permits or hassles.
Video was made by one of the scouts flying his drone:

 

[teepot]

The most frustrating thing for me is the inconsistent results from spray cans. Most of the time it is fine but then a can will spit paint like it was stucco. Or I'll get a run from a light dusting. The other PITA is the wind. Finding a place to fly is easy for me. I just go across the street. I've flown small HPR motors at home. If I want to fly something bigger I can go to the end of the block. The field there is a mile by 3/4 of a mile.

 

[JStarStar]

I'm in the mid-Michigan area. In my suburban neighborhood as a kid, there was a large open grass field where I could launch a couple hundred yards away. A couple hundred yards the other way, a school yard was open with about 500 yards square.
I could, and often did, load some rocket stuff into the cargo baskets of my paper route bike and go launch.

Now 50 years later, my sister lives in the same house with her kids; all the open fields are gone. The closest places where rockets can be launched are about a 15-20 minute drive away and often not available.

 

[jqavins]

Places to launch can be a problem, but not a huge on for me. Painting is a PITA, but I can't call it a frustration because it's what I signed up for; no one says you can't fly naked.

What frustrates me about rocketry is that I'm not independatly wealthy. I go to work, I have some chores at home, and I just don't have the energy to build, paint, or much of anything else. With the full lenght of the work day, from leaving home in the morning to getting home in the evening, five days a week, nearly half of my waking hours are taken up with things that someone else is willing to pay me to do, things I would not choose to do if I didn't need the money.

No matter what hobby I wanted to persue, this frustration with life in general would be what frustrates me the most. It just happens to frustrate me a lot about rocketry.

 

[neil_w]

leaving home in the morning

What a concept. I look forward to exploring it again someday.

 

[Scott_650]

Scott_650 said:
Here in our part of the world ... all the local municipalities have adopted a boilerplate ordinance prohibiting rocketry and R/C aircraft in city/town parks ... I can’t launch a perfectly legal model rocket mid-morning during the school year on an empty youth soccer field without the town cops showing up...yeah, I’m more than a little bitter about it...

Wow, what state is that?

Here are our scouts launching rockets in the fall, zero permits or hassles.
Video was made by one of the scouts flying his drone:

Not really a state thing - model rocketry is allowed on state wildlife/hunting areas as long as it’s not deer or turkey season (or on days when they do pheasant releases) it’s more of a my local area thing - the ordinance outbreak occurred after the R/C rotorcraft/drone boom, they just lumped model rocketry in with the rotorcraft, probably to keep the why them and not us whining to a minimum.

 

[DaHabes]

Painting. P.I.T.A. Both from a weather standpoint (Midwest) and just shear time. I find it tedious and boring. Paint, wait (drying time), sand, repeat. Ugh. I also don't quite get the idea of polishing a rocket until it shines like a mirror. That's not gonna last. Then there is the burn if you are going past Mach 1. Why paint to only have it burn off (unless you are going for altitude, which I barely, sorta get). It requires patience which is in short supply in my DNA.

 

[K'Tesh]

For me? Wanting to preserve the memories of classic kits in simulations, and despite numerous pleas for people to scan fins, decals, and other flat parts - WITH A RULER FOR SCALE - all-too-often see person after person refuse to do so, and building rare old kits without taking the time to scan those parts. To me, it's shortsighted, and a form of "gatekeeping*". In other words, a selfish practice that excludes others from being able to enjoy these classic kits. Those scans could allow people besides me to clone these old kits, or to upscale them, or even allow the builders themselves to repair or replace damaged kits. Who knows, it perhaps could even motivate a manufacturer to reissue it.

Then there are those kits already documented on the various plans sites. However, often they only have drawings, or scans with no dimensional information, or the "decals" are digital recreations of them. Drawings frequently are not accurate, cleaned images of decals can miss details, or have distortions in colors thanks to lousy compression choices (People, you need to understand - .jpgs SUCK!!!).

Then there's the issue of variants. Only recently did many of us learn that the beloved Cherokee-D had a two piece fin variant. Thanks to someone who took the time to scan their kit that information was not lost. For me, I love the kits that were in production when I first got into the hobby, and while I like newer kits, many of those from 1983-1990 are the ones dearest to my heart. While certain kits may have continued in production after that, changes in nosecones, decals, or fins may have occurred and for me, are less interesting (Estes classic Wizard kit comes to mind). JimZ is back into updating his site, and not every kit (or variants of each kit) have been documented on it, or Estes's site, or plans.rocketshoppe. I'd love to fix that.

Please people, if you've got an old rare kit scan the fins, decals, and other flat parts with a ruler. It's not rocket science, it's Model Rocket History.

*Gatekeeping is something that I first learned about listening to Adam Savage. He is quite clear on it, it's something that he hates people doing. Sharing information and techniques helps us all advance together, and in a hobby such as ours, we need to be inclusive if we want to continue to have the chance to enjoy it.

 

[Fishhead]

The most frustrating thing for me is the inconsistent results from spray cans. Most of the time it is fine but then a can will spit paint like it was stucco. Or I'll get a run from a light dusting. The other PITA is the wind. Finding a place to fly is easy for me. I just go across the street. I've flown small HPR motors at home. If I want to fly something bigger I can go to the end of the block. The field there is a mile by 3/4 of a mile.

My wife and I drove through Pahrump two years ago on a trip to Vegas. We left town to find something less crowded and drove up and down a mountain to get back. I admired a lot of sites out there as potential launch sites, but I didn't bring anything to fly.

 

[Blast it Tom!]

I love to build, love to fly. Give me parts, I can make a rocket. FINDING A PLACE TO FLY is almost impossible, so I have an office full of birds that have never been in the air

Same here, except other side of the state. Remember, "Pennsylvania" mean's "Penn's Woods". Plenty of rocket-eating trees, and not short ones, either! Very pretty place, but especially due to the wooded hills, any flat area quickly becomes a housing plan, retail developemnt or (gasp!) industry, occasionally.

I have 1 spot that I've used as a kid and now twice as a BAR - the athletic field between the elementary school I attended from 3rd to 6th grade, and the junior high building that I attended from 7th-9th grade. But it's longest dimension is maybe 800' (google earth). My first BAR launch only going up to maybe 600 ft or so I nearly treed Pigasus, nearly put my Mercury-Redstone on the roof of the police station, and my son nearly put his on the roof of the elementary school. There was a little more wind than we thought when we first set out...

I've identified an area near my second son's home with 4000' clear between trees, but it had a couple of grass air strips. Still, if I can get permission, it's only half an hour tops to get down there.

 

[bschultz32]

JStarStar,
Come fly with Michigan Team-1 at Alkay Airport near Clio. Waiver 5000 AGL. Well-run, TRA-insured, safe launch event. And an indoor bathroom with hot & cold running water and a REAL toilet! www.team1.org
Bob Schultz

 

[Steven]

I keep going through feather dusters cleaning my unbuilt kits. That's frustrating.

 

[dr wogz]

Another one for painting .. finding eh right time / weather opening. For me, only really late spring and/or early fall.
Winters here are, well, cold & snow.
Summers are hot & humid
Spring can be windy
Fall has "stuff" falling from trees!