Back In Action

[ThikeHigh]

I am thrilled to enter the world of High Power Rocketry. I will be flying Zephyr next month for Certification Level 1 and maybe level 2, if I can get the written test out of the way.

I launched many Estes rockets with my friends growing up and with my daughter as she was younger.

Now I am thrilled in the building of my Zephyr, learning about securing fins through the body tube and falettes on the fin outside body connections.

Going to build my level 2 build, dual deploy available, but single deploy for the test. Then get the experience for level 3

 

[dpower]

Take your time going through the levels. There area LOT of H & I motors, clusters, staging, electronics to experiment with before jumping right to L2. Enjoy the journey!

 

[ThikeHigh]

Thank you for the good advice. I need to tame my enthusiasm and only worry about my next launch.

 

[Jerry F.]

Seeing as you have the zephyr, you are familiar with Apogee...Tim does a great video series on building the Zephyr...not just how to, but why as well.

 

[ThikeHigh]

Jerry,
Thank you. The videos on the Apogee webpage for the Zephyr took me all the way through the build. I just need to paint it and get on the decals. There was an excellent link to painting the nose cone using an adhesion promoter, which I just got and will get it all primed tomorrow and take a few days to finish. It looks pretty good so far, but I want it to look its best on 2/19 when I plan on it taking my certification flight, Colorado weather permitting.

I just purchased the Perigrine for my L2 flight. I have plenty of time to build it. Since it is larger and much like the Zephyr, I plan on doing it a little better, smother fillets. It comes with an e-bay and two parachutes. So after I do my L2 Cert flight, I can practice for the dual deployment requirement for L3, with no rush and lots of learning and slowly building up my electronics. I know I will need lots of experience in between certification levels, especially L2 and L3.

I am also going to get a Hi-Tech for super high flights. I will fiberglass the body and fins with supplies from my local Walmart boating department since the same materials are used in boat repair.

I have a buddy who is an aeronautic engineer. He had a 28-year-old son disappear almost a year ago and foul play is evident. I am reaching out to him and hoping he will want to join me in my journey to eventually build our own rocket that will travel to the edge of our atmosphere and touch space as we both dream about doing in our own lifetimes in future human trips to the moon and wherever else we can explore. As a friend, it may take some time, but I know he can get much more excited about this than I can and that is truly a wonderful gift I hope to give him.

Again, I appreciate your response and wish you well for this year that will be great for flying high and free.

Michael

 

[Stewman]

Welcome to the forum. You made a good choice in the Zephyr. It is a great L1 rocket. My wife used the Hi-Tech for her L1 cert, another good simple model. Best of luck to you, sounds like you are making good progress.

 

[Adam3836]

Sounds great the zephyr is a great pick like others have mentioned
It’s solid…. Flys well… nice look….
Enjoy each step as you go. Lots of things to learn and enjoy .
Good luck

 

[Bat-mite]

Welcome aboard.

 

[Hobie1dog]

Welcome to the form and post up some pictures of your rockets for us.

 

[Jerry F.]

I just flew my Zephyr this weekend with a CTI J285, Dino-Chutes Petal protector, JL Altimeter 2 and a JLCR and it performed flawlessly...4400ft, 531 mph...no issues, which was reassuring after watching a fellow club member fly his 4" LOC Goblin on a J449 and seeing it disintegrate just as the motor finished pushing...so sad to see rockets blow up in a spectacular fashion like that (but at the same time really cool...)