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I joined the E12 party this weekend at a night launch. It was a spectacular CATO at about 75' in the air as it blew up the entire fin can.

As always, Popular Science previews the future. This time with another down to earth rocket application: high-power brakes for your car!

This one hits me hard. Bill was the heart and soul of many of my rocketry experiences. Smart, wise, generous, and humble. Always ready to help or to share a laugh. Someone I deeply respected and admired. Irreplaceable. I'll miss you, Bill.

Here's a photo of the field taken yesterday AM. Snow was 4" to 6" deep. The town did a very fine job of plowing out the parking spots. See ya there! Jim

Great launch yesterday! Especially in the morning, the launch had the least wind of any Acton launch. Snow was 6" - 12" deep in most places with some drifts in the far fields close to two feet. Coupled with the very powdery snow, parachutes were nearly unnecessary. This was fortunate given...

Acton, MA has rolled out the big white carpet for Saturday's launch! Can't wait! We have 12"-18" on the ground. With temperatures expected to stay below freezing through Saturday, I predict the softest powder landings ever in the history of the Winter Follies. Even more historic is that...

I own the 5-element Arrow and have never needed more. While the 7-element is narrower, it's easy enough to triangulate just by moving your position. For the recoveries I've done in the New England woods, the 7-element is just too bulky. On the other hand, DON'T buy the 3-element Yagi nor...

I have some ProLine epoxy resin (from the Wildman) that has partially thickened in storage. It's about a year old. The resin the bottom of the can is very thick and impossible to stir. Any suggestions for remixing it? Should I not use the can? Jim

[My apologies for my earlier thread without the link.] Here is a great time lapse video of the space shuttle Discovery being prepared for flight STS-131. Includes great video of the blast off at the end: https://www.airspacemag.com/video/Go-For-Launch.html The 6 weeks of prep time is...

Here is a great time lapse video of the space shuttle Discovery being prepared for flight STS-131. Includes great video of the blast off at the end. The 6 weeks of prep time is reduced to about 4 minutes. And I think prepping my dual deploy rockets takes too long... :p Jim S

It is heavy one! That kit has sooo much nose weight. Does it really need it or were you just being extra careful with stability? [BTW, I have one of the very early kits that I won at your auction several years ago.] I've flown it a bunch on F20s. It's a little slow off the pad but it's done...

I use both PC and Macs regularly. They both annoy me regularly. I definitely recommend Win7 over Vista. It installs more easily and seems more reliable to me. Macs typically cost 2-3X over the equivalently powered PC. Pretty much everything runs on PCs. Not so on the Mac. The only...

In the tree-infested Northeast, DD tends to be a must for anything you want back that's going to fly over 2,000'. If recovery is the primary concern, I strongly recommend you first invest in a radio tracker. I've lost an expensive DD rocket because I didn't have a tracker installed. On the...

Best place I know for cheap, high brightness LEDs in volume: https://www.buy-leds-online.com/10mm.html

Once again, the hardcore Eastern Mass and NH rocketeers will be flying at the CMASS Winter Follies! We'll be flying LPR and MPR at the Acton, MA field on Jan 9th. Snowshoes optional! Who's in? I'll be bringing some fun fliers (once I get my repair work done!) Jim S :snowflake:

Has anyone put their photos online?

I enjoyed that rocket at NERRF as well. Assuming we're talking about the same one, it was called the "Two Fin" and flew arrow straight due to the spin stabilization. It had (obviously) two fins which I assume were canted to induce the spin. It flew on a single central motor. Anyone have more...

This will be the first Acton launch that I'll miss. Have a great time!

I flew an ungreased G69. While I avoided a CATO at launch, the end of the grain did eventually burn through the top of the liner tube. This caused a "mini-CATO" towards the very end of the burn. You could hear a loud "pop" from the ground and, examining the motor afterwards, you could see that...

I love the MAWD and find it very reliable. bobkrech gives an accurate summary of compatible igniters. I started with Xmas lights because no LEUP was required but they have several problems: 1) The sockets corrode easily. I was often needing to sand the contacts. 2) Xmas bulb charges are...