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So NARAM 61 is in Muncie, only 3 hours from me. I've been accumulating rockets and motors faster than I've been able to attend club launches, and now that I have a few days free I'm perfectly positioned to take advantage of the NARAM sport launch times. But I have a couple of questions I...

Waiting for the perfect storm of "club launch date" and "free time" and "favorable weather" has been killing me the last few months. Because of that I've resolved if I wake up on a given morning and there's no wind or rain, I'm heading out to my dad's farm to launch some MPR stuff. I usually...

1975: Put needle on record. Listen to your favorite song. 1985: Put cassette in stereo. Maybe fast forward or rewind a bit. Listen to your favorite song. 1995: Put CD in stereo. Read error. Maybe clean laser lens. Maybe clean disc. Maybe wait for anti-shock to re-buffer. Listen to your...

Loved it. I'll say this much: Your satisfaction will be directly proportional to your familiarity with the previous 21 films. This was a total love-letter fan-service smash-em-up and I thought it was great.

"Captain Marvel" continues the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) winning streak after 21 films. I thought it had a few minor issues but overall it was fun and interesting with some surprises. The story arc of Carol Danvers is non-linear but it is executed well. The politics of the Kree-Skrull...

It makes me laugh that some wealthy, aging people now seem to think vampirism is still a thing...hundreds of years after Elizabeth Bathory and Vlad the Impaler. They're no longer around, so do the math...

I only got back into rocketry and got into HPR a couple years ago, so I still think of myself as a newb. In that time, however, I've come to feel like there's an emphasis on building in excess of what is actually required for most people. Fiberglass, carbon fiber, 30-minute epoxy with fillers...

I know what I'm watching tomorrow night: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/rise-of-the-rockets/ "Rockets are becoming cheaper and more powerful than ever before thanks to stunning new technologies. As companies like SpaceX and Virgin Galactic make space more accessible, and NASA returns to...

Disclaimer: I've never used a device to locate a lost rocket, so this is speculation. It seems like the most popular methods to locate lost rockets are to use GPS (expensive and/or complicated?) or devices that emit sound (limited range?). Would another option be to take advantage of advances...

Bat-mite's thread on "saddest songs" is great and I do love sad songs, but I realized I also enjoy happy, uplifting, inspiring, motivating, life-affirming songs as well. What are some of your favorites? Just to get things started: The Mowgli's - "San Francisco" Roger Clyne and the...

I had my eye on a Madcow Cricket for a while. I finally went to pull the trigger on one the other day, but it recently disappeared from the Madcow website. Chris Short had one in stock and I snagged it, but now I see hardly anyone has one. Now I'm glad I got one. Seems like a fun squat...

I thought "First Man" was surprisingly dry. The first-person perspectives of the X-15, Gemini, and Apollo missions were novel and interesting and pretty tense, but most of the stuff in between was a snooze. "The Right Stuff" is still the best NASA movie to date. Even the "boring" parts were...

I'm currently working on a MAC Performance 54mm Arcas, so while waiting for epoxy to dry I was looking up the history of this rocket. I was surprised to learn it was a mere 4.5" in diameter, 91" long, had a launch weight of 75 pounds, yet reached around 200,000 feet. The last rocket I built a...

After I lawn-darted my LOC Warlock on a J motor on its third flight this summer, I decided to take a step back and spend more time in the L1 realm for a while. I asked my wife for a 54mm MAC Performance Arcas with a 29mm motor mount for my birthday, and she came through. Tonight I was...

I currently have two 4" HPR kits nearly complete, and on both I used a 4' length of 3/8" tubular kevlar attached to the forward centering ring using a 1/4" quick link attached to a 1/4" U-bolt. On the other end of the kevlar I'm going to attach 9/16" nylon out to the chute/nose. My first...

Several months ago I bought and built a LOC Warlock and have flown it repeatedly. The handy website infographic said it would be 100 oz (6.25 lbs). The specs at the bottom listed it as 6 lbs. My actual build was 7 lbs. No biggie, I use a lot of epoxy. Now I've been looking at a LOC Bruiser...

My initial impression is that in spite of being a "kit," this rocket is surprisingly incomplete. Since I got into HPR I've built a number of kits from PML, LOC Precision, and MAC Performance. The PML and LOC kits have been the most complete, containing everything including hardware and...

The two kits I'm currently working on didn't include chutes, so I've been shopping around. After doing some obligatory research on TRF I learned Fruity Chutes are "the best," but since I'm not the CEO of a Fortune 500 company I had to keep looking. Seriously, who is paying that much for...

I hadn't really considered MAC Performance until Mike commented on a thread I started. I took a look at his website and was intrigued by canvas phenolic, so I ordered a 4" Zodiac. My order was promptly shipped and I received it in just a few days. This is one of the most impressive kits I've...

When shopping for rocket kits, the most annoying thing to me is when manufacturers don't include full specs. It's a rare treat when a kit is shown complete with diameter, height, weight, MMT diameter, materials for all parts, fin thickness, bay length, hardware, etc. Seems like the most...