Elapid
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 2, 2009
- Messages
- 1,735
- Reaction score
- 2
Hi, i'm Rob and I'm a Rocketry Addict...
looks like i found a cool place to hang out while i wait for the glue to dry.
I got my start in the late60s/early 70s with Estes kits, graduating to E and F power by Enerjet briefly before retiring from the hobby.
A couple years ago, i was at the local flea market and spied a box half full of rocket motors. i offered 20 bux and after a brief spate of haggling, walked away with the box of BP motors with a few APC monsters mixed in...20 dolllars for about 100 motors, about half D12-5 and the other half a3-4t, a handfull of A,C,B, 3 aerotech 18mm e motors, and a MONSTER (compared to the others) G40-10W!
if they don't all grenade on me, i'll be a happy camper.
so, the box of motors sat in my garage for a couple more years before i was sitting here at the computer thinking about a CP rocket dad got for me, a Vashon Valkerie 2, and i started looking around the web for parts to build one...looks like a few of us old guys are interested in doing the same thing from the ending prices of the auctions i've found.
One thing led to another, i got the box of motors from the garage and sorted the sizes...next stop, a trip around town to the various hardware stores to see who carries rockets...i finally found a small selection at Ben Franklin and selected three 18mm size rockets and a little guy to burn up the small motors in. I built those 4 models in a few hours and was itching to build some more...I got online and searched for a model that could take the big G40 powerplant. I settled on an aerotech Cheetah though it might not be the best choice since it is their "highest and fastest".
LOL!
It should be here on Monday in the brown truck...
well, that wasn't enough for a TRUE addict...
I hit the local hobby shop and picked up a pack of bt-80, bt-60, and bt55 ( i should have cleared em out of the other sizes too ) got a motor mount kit, a couple packs of nose cones, some balsa fin stock, some epoxy, ca, and ran for the hills!
well, i know i am among like-minded folk here after reading several posts...
hehehehe!
So, i have constructed a 4.7x upscale of a Mosquito (how was i to know how overdone that one is...) with 3 24mm mounts...gonna take a bit of nose weight to make it fly right, but i am pretty sure it's doable! an Alpha upscale turned into some kind of lawn dart looking thing when i cut the body tube a bit short and/or made the fins a couple sizes too big; i think the big fins might help keep it in sight with the 24mm motor tho...next on the list, a Scrambler without a payload section (yet?), a 1.4x sprint, and another that i can't quite id, but it looks familiar...
i seem to be building all the old models i liked so much as a kid in bigger, better form.
i've already passed the level 2 cert test online (ok, just the parctice questions).
i guess i should tell you guys about the other details that might be of interest.
I am 42 (i'll be 43 in july), have a wife and 5 year old daughter, i run a heart monitoring service from home. i earned an AS in Chemistry at Sierra College in 1993, i minored in Photography and was selected Student of the Year in Photography, also in 1993. I acted in many of the stage plays while there, performing in A Streetcar Named Desire (Stanley Kowalski), The Miracle Worker (Cpt. Keller), Ghosts, and several others...I own 3 Ford Mustangs (two of them are pretty fast) that i drag race at the local track when i can.
that's about it...i mean i could go on for days...i've had almost every hobby there is...r/c planes, cars, fish, snakes, rock climbing, cycling, running, lapidary, gardening...the list goes on!
looks like i found a cool place to hang out while i wait for the glue to dry.
I got my start in the late60s/early 70s with Estes kits, graduating to E and F power by Enerjet briefly
before retiring from the hobby. A couple years ago, i was at the local flea market and spied a box half full of rocket motors. i offered 20 bux and after a brief spate of haggling, walked away with the box of BP motors with a few APC monsters mixed in...20 dolllars for about 100 motors, about half D12-5 and the other half a3-4t, a handfull of A,C,B, 3 aerotech 18mm e motors, and a MONSTER (compared to the others) G40-10W!
if they don't all grenade on me, i'll be a happy camper.
so, the box of motors sat in my garage for a couple more years before i was sitting here at the computer thinking about a CP rocket dad got for me, a Vashon Valkerie 2, and i started looking around the web for parts to build one...looks like a few of us old guys are interested in doing the same thing from the ending prices of the auctions i've found.
One thing led to another, i got the box of motors from the garage and sorted the sizes...next stop, a trip around town to the various hardware stores to see who carries rockets...i finally found a small selection at Ben Franklin and selected three 18mm size rockets and a little guy to burn up the small motors in. I built those 4 models in a few hours and was itching to build some more...I got online and searched for a model that could take the big G40 powerplant. I settled on an aerotech Cheetah though it might not be the best choice since it is their "highest and fastest".
LOL!
It should be here on Monday in the brown truck...
well, that wasn't enough for a TRUE addict...
I hit the local hobby shop and picked up a pack of bt-80, bt-60, and bt55 ( i should have cleared em out of the other sizes too
) got a motor mount kit, a couple packs of nose cones, some balsa fin stock, some epoxy, ca, and ran for the hills!well, i know i am among like-minded folk here after reading several posts...
hehehehe!
So, i have constructed a 4.7x upscale of a Mosquito (how was i to know how overdone that one is...) with 3 24mm mounts...gonna take a bit of nose weight to make it fly right, but i am pretty sure it's doable! an Alpha upscale turned into some kind of lawn dart looking thing when i cut the body tube a bit short and/or made the fins a couple sizes too big; i think the big fins might help keep it in sight with the 24mm motor tho...next on the list, a Scrambler without a payload section (yet?), a 1.4x sprint, and another that i can't quite id, but it looks familiar...
i seem to be building all the old models i liked so much as a kid in bigger, better form.
i've already passed the level 2 cert test online (ok, just the parctice questions).
i guess i should tell you guys about the other details that might be of interest.
I am 42 (i'll be 43 in july), have a wife and 5 year old daughter, i run a heart monitoring service from home. i earned an AS in Chemistry at Sierra College in 1993, i minored in Photography and was selected Student of the Year in Photography, also in 1993. I acted in many of the stage plays while there, performing in A Streetcar Named Desire (Stanley Kowalski), The Miracle Worker (Cpt. Keller), Ghosts, and several others...I own 3 Ford Mustangs (two of them are pretty fast) that i drag race at the local track when i can.
that's about it...i mean i could go on for days...i've had almost every hobby there is...r/c planes, cars, fish, snakes, rock climbing, cycling, running, lapidary, gardening...the list goes on!
