Launch 10 rockets - Get 0 back

Our club (SoAR) has a launch coming up in two weeks and I thought of something that will be fun to watch, and hopefully will make for a few good pics and videos.

Last year I bought a small rocket that was a very simple BT-20 body, 3 long fins, and a balsa nose cone. That's it. It was *probably* designed to be launched with an A engine, but I thought it would be more fun to lose it with a C engine. When ignited the rocket instantly was a streak of smoke and was gone. Way cool.

I did happen to get that one back by a miracle, and the 2nd time I launched it I lost it forever. But it was fun watching it go!!!

My plan for the next launch is to scratch build 10 of these and launch them at the same time. I've traded emails with the club and they said the limit for their controller was 32 simultaneous launches, but insurance says that with more than 10 the crowd must be moved back to half the expected height of the rocket, so we'll stick with 10 to avoid inconveniencing everyone that's there to enjoy the day.

The package of small nose cones, 3 long body tubes, and balsa sheets arrived yesterday. Tomorrow I'll start cutting and gluing. Even though they're probably going to be lost I still want to paint them and put numbers on each one.

I'll post some Before and During pictures here, and hopefully there will be a good video too.

Mushtang said:

Our club (SoAR) has a launch coming up in two weeks and I thought of something that will be fun to watch, and hopefully will make for a few good pics and videos.

My plan for the next launch is to scratch build 10 of these and launch them at the same time... Even though they're probably going to be lost I still want to paint them and put numbers on each one.

Click to expand...

If you are planning to launch them to loose… and since you plan to number them… are you also going to include some contact information on each rocket? That way if anyone finds them later, maybe they will contact you to let you know where they were found and the condition.

I’m assuming you are using some form of recovery system? If you use a short streamer you might stand a better chance of getting some of these rockets back.

It sounds like you want a fleet of estes high fliers. That is a fun, put a c engine in it and hope rocket. When we load ours that way they announce the launch as "the disappearing rocket trick." If you really want to make them instantly vanish, paint them blue.

If you are launching in an area where someone might accidentally stumble across one on the ground. You could have a note in it saying "you win a prize" or some such thing. Might be a cool way to introduce/re-introduce someone into the hobby.

My younger cousin found a note in a bottle that had traveled hundreds of miles down the upper Missouri river and through 2 Dam spillways back in the day. Got a free case of beer out of the deal and a great story. Bunch of college kids thru several bottles in over a year prior during a party.

boomtube said:

I’m assuming you are using some form of recovery system? If you use a short streamer you might stand a better chance of getting some of these rockets back.

Click to expand...

I'll second that

Mushtang said:

... with a C engine. ... but insurance says that with more than 10 the crowd must be moved back to half the expected height of the rocket, ...

Click to expand...

Could they see it from Argentina?

If you are planning to lose them anyway, why not go for maximum Woo Hoo factor- just use a larger tube and stick a D motor in it. Or perhaps switch it up a bit for the smoke trails- use a couple of a's, a couple of b's and a few c's...
I built three corkscrew odd-rocs, and it is sure neat watching them drag race on 3 c's. Maybe after watching your launch video (hint), I will have to build a few more and drag race them all.

Here is the first clone of the small rocket using the new nosecone sitting next to the original. I ordered the nosecone while at work, without having the original to look at and ended up with a longer one. It's 1 inch longer, and pointed. The fins on this thing are so long I can't imagine that the extra length of the cone would make a difference... but I wanted to test anyway. So I'll launch this one today in my back yard and see what happens. If it flies straight I'll finish building the rest of them this week.

Its gonna fly. Will be so cool to see the drag race! Btw, love the avatar, and the meek shall inherit the earth...

vigilante said:

If you are launching in an area where someone might accidentally stumble across one on the ground. You could have a note in it saying "you win a prize" or some such thing. Might be a cool way to introduce/re-introduce someone into the hobby.

Click to expand...

Now THAT'S a way to get a loved rocket back! Less than honest people might be prompted to reply out of greed more than for a shot at a "reward". Then you can have some reward prepared should someone call for it (say a small ARF rocket) rather than cash.

Mike TG said:

Its gonna fly. Will be so cool to see the drag race!

Click to expand...

It worked! It flew up on a C engine and disappeared. I saw the puff of smoke from the ejection directly overhead - way overhead - but never saw or heard the rocket or engine again.

Btw, love the avatar, and the meek shall inherit the earth...

Click to expand...

Rush has been my favorite band since I was in high school, back when Signals came out.

I built one rocket with the materials I had and tested it, and it disappeared from my backyard as expected, never to be seen again.

Over the past few days I built 9 more. With the original I have (number 10 below) I have 10 tiny rockets ready to be launched in a drag race. I numbered them 1 - 10 just for fun with dry rub on decals that were meant for Pinewood Derby cars.

I didn't do much in the way of finishing these rockets, they only got one coat of yellow. It's just not worth it to use wood filler on the balsa, sand, primer, sand, primer, and 2 coats of paint - to 10 rockets that I don't expect to launch more than once.

This thread gives me an idea for a club event... maybe not as cool as the Pinata Rocket https://youtu.be/44x9cVO5XWs that gets flown at Snow Ranch, but:

build a rack worth of smallish rockets. put streamers and smallish engines in them and have "you win a prize" painted on them. Launch them drag-race style. kids bring the rockets back to LCO table and they get a e2x / skill level 1 kit of their own.

My main concern would be smaller / slower kids missing out. another would be lack of spectator interest. I mean how can I compete with candy falling from the sky?

Today was the day! I brought all 10 rockets to the club launch and we set them up in a row of 10 launch pads. All of these tiny rockets were set up with C6-3 engines.



The launch master counted down from 5, pushed the button, and nothing.

He tried again, pushed the button, and 1 launched.
Again... another launched.

Eventually he got 2 to go off together, and after taking the remaining rockets off and trying again, we got 4 to go off at the same time.

It was a big fail.

Bummer, sorry to hear. But:Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt

Did you recover any??

rcktnut said:

Did you recover any??

Click to expand...

None

that is a shame Mushtang...I thought it was a cool idea! a C6-3 in those little guys....hit the button and they are gone I would suspect! any idea just how high they would go?

Mushtang said:

Today was the day! I brought all 10 rockets to the club launch and we set them up in a row of 10 launch pads. All of these tiny rockets were set up with C6-3 engines.

View attachment 125592

The launch master counted down from 5, pushed the button, and nothing.

He tried again, pushed the button, and 1 launched.
Again... another launched.

Eventually he got 2 to go off together, and after taking the remaining rockets off and trying again, we got 4 to go off at the same time.

It was a big fail.

Click to expand...

NJRick said:

that is a shame Mushtang...I thought it was a cool idea! a C6-3 in those little guys....hit the button and they are gone I would suspect!

Click to expand...

You are quite correct!!!

NJRick said:

any idea just how high they would go?

Click to expand...

Not a clue. They went from the pad to so high I couldn't see them anymore nearly instantly. I saw the ejection puffs but couldn't even begin to estimate how high that was.

K'Tesh said:

Now THAT'S a way to get a loved rocket back! Less than honest people might be prompted to reply out of greed more than for a shot at a "reward". Then you can have some reward prepared should someone call for it (say a small ARF rocket) rather than cash.

Click to expand...

make the rocket the prize.

Time to get a new launch master or a new launch controller. Whoever is in charge of making the rockets launch with the controller(s)/pad(s) screwed up.

ckreef said:

Time to get a new launch master or a new launch controller. Whoever is in charge of making the rockets launch with the controller(s)/pad(s) screwed up.

Click to expand...

It was the equipment, not the people. And to be clear I wasn't upset by the failure to launch, just frustrated for a few minutes. The rest of the day was great and I got to launch a bunch of other rockets.

Mushtang said:

It was the equipment, not the people. And to be clear I wasn't upset by the failure to launch, just frustrated for a few minutes. The rest of the day was great and I got to launch a bunch of other rockets.

Click to expand...

My bad. It sounded more like the people who screwed it not the equipment.