Search results

My NCR Archer at Mansfield, WA a few years ago.

Occasionally I'll pull a bunch down in order to find a hole to squeeze in another. :) I need to build less and launch more. Working from home during the pandemic really contributed to building a lot of rockets. I built about two a month during all the online meetings I had to attend. :D

I mounted pieces of plywood high on the walls (in the basement) and then drilled holes in the wood for rods. The rods are horizontal to the floor. At first I was cutting the rods to match the launch lug's height on the rocket. Now I leave the rods a bit longer so I can fit two or three rockets...

I built it exactly as it comes. I used thinned CWF on the balsa wings, the upper and lower stabilizers, and the body tube.

I built the Apogee X-15 a year ago. I followed Apogee's youtube build videos. I thought it was a great kit.

When I was a kid, probably around 1970, I built a Farside. Being too impatient to take the rocket and launching supplies to the local elementary school's baseball field, I decided to launch the rocket from my front yard. Recovering the rocket was unlikely, because the neighborhood had been...

When I was a kid, I bought an Arcas kit K-26 from Estes. At the time, I thought I did an exceptional job building and painting it. My best friend and I walked down to the baseball field of the local elementary school to launch it. I think I used a C6-5. Back then photoflash batteries were...

At Mansfield, WA in 2009:

I made a cedar-strip canoe (but used redwood) about 30 years ago. The canoe is fiberglassed inside and out. A month or so ago I needed some epoxy. I found the 30 year old gallon of West System's resin. The resin had turned a dark wine color, but mixed with the hardener, it worked fine.

First rocket was a fifty cent Astron Streak my brother got me for my birthday around 1967. We launched it in the backyard and never saw it again. A few years later on a vacation out west, my family stopped at Estes in Penrose and they took us on a tour. At the end, Estes' daughter launched a Big...

I remember when the Saturn V with Skylab was launched in 1973 and the meteorite shield ripped off, eventually causing one of the solar panel wings to rip off when Skylab was separated from the second stage. I found this really interesting report of the analysis of the events that caused it to...

My Dr. Zooch Saturn V came with a thick steel washer in the small parts bag (the bag with the screw eye and swivel). I couldn't find anywhere in the instructions or parts list mentioning this washer. It looks like a nosecone weight. It would have probably fit in the third stage tube, but it's...

Beautiful build. Where is that rocket now?

1/70 Saturn 1B, followed by the two motor Gemini Titan. I bought that Gemini Titan kit as a kid, but it was too complicated for me to put together.