Built my first rocket since childhood today

[Tom Knighton]

I built it earlier today. It was an Estes Outlaw (or is it Astron Outlaw....who knows). In all honesty, it was a bit anti-climatic. I had hoped for a bit more of a challenge, and this thing went together so easy I think my three year old son could have done it.

However, the look on my son's face while I was putting it together was priceless and I wouldn't trade it for the world. It kept the simplicity from being a disappointment. However, now I want more!

I still have a Black Diamond to build (it was a two rocket starter kit with launch pad, etc.), and it looks to be a bit more involved, but so far I can't wait to build more!!!

I just had to share

Tom

 

[r1dermon]

cool beans....have you and your son ever gone to an organized launch? buy a rocket kit with a 29mm mount and fly it on an F20 if you want your son hooked for life.

 

[powderburner]

Originally posted by Tom Knighton
I can't wait to build more!!!

I am happy for you that your kids still can get that face. My 14-yr-old just goes 'ho-hum'

If you have any Hobby Lobby stores near you, get there quickly as today is the last day of their half-price sale on Estes rocket kits and starter specials. It will probably be several months before they run another sale.

 

[JStarStar]

One thing you notice as a BAR is that things that seemed really tough as a kid seem a lot easier now. Of course, since we all have 10 or 20 or 30 more years of fiddling with stuff around the house, messing with cars, etc, that's probably not surprising.

Another thing I've learned since I was a kid - it really really does help to follow the directions !!!!

Or, if you're not going to follow the directions, to at least have an organized plan on how you're NOT going to follow the directions. Looking back on the rocket kits I botched up when I was a kid, probably 95% were due to me just deciding to ditch the directions and putting it together however I felt like. Sometimes that works, but usually it's a mess.

But when you start putting kits together and they start coming out nice, you start thinking... "hey, this stuff is pretty fun!!!"

 

[Tom Knighton]

Powderburner,

Hobby Lobby's half off sale is actually how I got these rockets . Unfortunately, most of what they've got I'm not to drawn toward, though I promised my son one of the really small rockets they have up there.

JStarStar,

I know what you mean! I didn't get a chance to build many rockets as a kid, but they sure did seem more difficult back then. I figure I'll try a couple more level one rockets, then the level two and so one until I feel confident enough to scratchbuild them

I can't wait to send them up!!!

Tom

 

[gerbs4me]

organized launches are a blast
once you go you'll be hooked

 

[jflis]

Originally posted by Tom Knighton
I built it earlier today. It was an Estes Outlaw (or is it Astron Outlaw....who knows). In all honesty, it was a bit anti-climatic. I had hoped for a bit more of a challenge, and this thing went together so easy I think my three year old son could have done it.

Tom,

Welcome back to the fold If you want more of a challenge and something a bit more like kits that you remember from way-back-when, please visit our shop at https://fliskits.com/

The folks here will tell you that you will be in for a treat

Also, welcome to TRF! The best forum on the net.

 

[kelltym88]

Another shameless plug by jflis LOL Just kiddin' Jim.(any chance you'll be at ROCStock in Cal. in Nov?)

Tom, welcome back and welcome to TRF. Unless you've got oogles of $$$ to spend on ebay, you'll find that cloning is a rather cheap alternative and much more challenging than a kit. Why? Because you have to get all the parts together yourself. Check out the scratch build section of this forum or type in "clone" in the search box and you'll be pleasantly surprised at what can be done.


Oh and you've got to post pictures of builds and launches, kind of an unwritten rule.

 

[Tom Knighton]

jflis,

I've checked out your site, and you'll definately get an order from me . You've got some cool stuff there! I'll probably be another week or so, but you'll definately get some business from me. I'm just glad to see that you can buy stuff from someone other than Estes.

kelltym88,

I wanna take pics and post them, but no digital camera yet. So I have to do things the old fashioned way and get the photo place to put them on disk for me. I really need a digital camera

I also plan on doing a lot of scratch building down the road, since I can personalize them a bit more . Not only that, but designing and building is what brought me back to the hobby after a pretty long time away. First though, I want to get my feet wet with some kits so I can get the basics down

Thanks for the encouragement everyone!!

Tom

 

[jflis]

Originally posted by kelltym88
Another shameless plug by jflis LOL Just kiddin' Jim.(any chance you'll be at ROCStock in Cal. in Nov?)

What can I say

I would *love* to come out to ROCStock in November! But, alas, I can not...

 

[Adam Selene]

Speaking of shameless plugs, Jim, what did you think of the free publicity you got in the latest sport rocketry?

 

[Mad Rocketeer]

Ignoring Hijack.


Tom:

Welcome back to the hobby. I'm pretty much in the same shoes, just a few months farther into it.

I've looked over the inventory of several rocket kit makers, and of my current wish list, Fliskits covers nearly half and when I rank them in terms of preference and what I want to get first, Jim's stuff is considerably more dominant. I think I fell in love with his kits based on a catalog I picked up at NSL (the NAR National Sport Launch) this year. He's got a real handle on what a cool rocket means.

Here's another cool place to go look. Tim Van Milligan at Apogee is quite the engineer and has some nice kits and materials. At least as important, he's written a really good book on Model Rocket Design and Construction that will inspire you to no end when you're ready to do scratch-built stuff. I'm itching to try some stuff, but there are so many good kits I want to do too and so little time to fit it all into. Sigh.

Fot good hobby news and a place to link to other information from, Rocketry Online! is great.


Other Good Rocketry Sites

This guy has more good stuff archived than just about the rest of the web. Ya just gotta wander through this site a few times. Ninfinger Productions He's got tips, rocketry catalogs that go way back, and way too much more to try to list here.

Great parts for scratch-building? Try Balsa Machining Service.

Want the straight story on most any kit you may beconsidering? Essence's Model Rocketry Reviews is the place to go.

This one I discovered on the Ninfinger site while writing this message. I'll be looking it over soon. Cloned Rockets Central

Lots of good information all in one place. A very good place to go read. rec.models.rockets FAQ

This has proven to be a very popular fin finishing technique, and it's worked well for me too. Many people (myself included) have used the 3M Super 77 adhesive rather than Rollataq. In my case, I simply couldn't find the Rollataq, so I tried the Super 77 and see no need to try anything else for this use. Works fine.


Any how, I've gone on long enough. A little web surfing, and you'll run across more good stuff than I've listed here. So, I'll sign off for now.

As a parting thought, though, definitely go get a copy of Handbook of Model Rocketry, which is almost the Bible of the hobby. It's good.

 

[sandman]

Hey...the guy has had a lot of family and personal problems lately but let's not forget his contributions to out hobby.

JimZ!

https://www.provide.net/~jimz/jimz.htm

Just click on "Free Rocket Plans" and hold onto your hat!...and wallet! you are gonna need to buy some parts!

 

[BobH48]

Originally posted by sandman
Hey...the guy has had a lot of family and personal problems lately but let's not forget his contributions to out hobby.

JimZ!

https://www.provide.net/~jimz/jimz.htm

Just click on "Free Rocket Plans" and hold onto your hat!...and wallet! you are gonna need to buy some parts!

How true!

Actually, I stumbled onto his site last May while I was checking out a reference to a Centuri X-24 Bug that was in an R/C airplane forum.

Finding that site is what got me started back in the rocketry hobby. I couldn't wait to build some of the rockets that I either had or wanted the first time around.

I was lucky that I had a box of parts that I had saved from the 70's so I could start building right away.

I still haven't used up all the parts although I have bought more.

I had planned to only scratchbuild from plans and not buy any kits but I have found that even with all of the plans available, there are still kits that I want.

 

[jflis]

Originally posted by Adam Selene
Speaking of shameless plugs, Jim, what did you think of the free publicity you got in the latest sport rocketry?

?? did I miss it? or are you talking about the Deuce pix?

 

[Adam Selene]

i was talking about the article by Jack on the mars snooper and the picture of the Tres packaging!not to mention being mentioned in the text.

 

[jflis]

oh, that's right, i forgot about that one I talked with jack about that one back at NARAM for a bit.

 

[RevKeith]

Tom,

I look forward to us launching some rockets together in Southwest Georgia. Feel free to email with any questions and I'll send you my phone number as well.

 

[Tom Knighton]

Thanks Keith! I look forward to meeting you and burning up some engines

Tom