after years of dreaming (many, in fact, as this began one day in summer camp, 1974 plus minus) i have acted upon a decades old irritation and began the process of finally building my very own Orbital Transport.
Utilizing some recently discovered resources, indispensable and largely responsible for this undertaking, i was able to obtain a scan of an old set of Estes plans from JimZ the rocket plan guy, and have at it.
My story with this particular rocket is simple; saw a kid in camp with one built up and fell in love, with both that rocket in particular and model rocketry in general. On launch day they lit it up and i was in awe. i chased it across the field, ignoring the impassioned cries of the gathered... "LET IT FALL!!!" they yelled. I ignored them, so enrapt with the lightly descending booster section and my proximity to it's landing trajectory that i didn't notice the camp bully, matching my every stride, ultimately delivering a textbook cross-body block and sending me sprawling across the grass in embarrassment, shame and confusion. (surely he had been trained in the arts of football, perhaps explaining his other aggressive tendencies)
"Why'd you do that?" I chirped, annoyed.
"You gotta let 'em land." he said matter-of-factly, and offered me a hand up.
This also confused me, as this was a kid who once offered to fight me because i was wearing flip-flops. he was fat and mean and i hated him.
i digress.
After printing said plans of the heralded Estes rocket, i inventoried the parts list, and realized i was going to need a key to understand what i was looking at. This i found in short order at a site called ye olde rocket shoppe.
This project has validated many of my impulsive choices, as almost everything i needed i found to be in my Estes Designer Special, which will now be used for more than just staring at with great satisfaction. i would need to cut up a bt-5 tube using my handing dandy yellow Estes tube-cutter donuts, marking the cuts with the handy dandy yellow tube-marking ruler thing (which i still cannot fathom, other than the right angle and measurements. the bigger one is way more useful).
this project has also brought me back to the old days, with the cutting of templates and balsa.
i'll post a pic when it's done.
http://rocketshoppe.comhttp://spacemodeling.org/jimz/
Utilizing some recently discovered resources, indispensable and largely responsible for this undertaking, i was able to obtain a scan of an old set of Estes plans from JimZ the rocket plan guy, and have at it.
My story with this particular rocket is simple; saw a kid in camp with one built up and fell in love, with both that rocket in particular and model rocketry in general. On launch day they lit it up and i was in awe. i chased it across the field, ignoring the impassioned cries of the gathered... "LET IT FALL!!!" they yelled. I ignored them, so enrapt with the lightly descending booster section and my proximity to it's landing trajectory that i didn't notice the camp bully, matching my every stride, ultimately delivering a textbook cross-body block and sending me sprawling across the grass in embarrassment, shame and confusion. (surely he had been trained in the arts of football, perhaps explaining his other aggressive tendencies)
"Why'd you do that?" I chirped, annoyed.
"You gotta let 'em land." he said matter-of-factly, and offered me a hand up.
This also confused me, as this was a kid who once offered to fight me because i was wearing flip-flops. he was fat and mean and i hated him.
i digress.
After printing said plans of the heralded Estes rocket, i inventoried the parts list, and realized i was going to need a key to understand what i was looking at. This i found in short order at a site called ye olde rocket shoppe.
This project has validated many of my impulsive choices, as almost everything i needed i found to be in my Estes Designer Special, which will now be used for more than just staring at with great satisfaction. i would need to cut up a bt-5 tube using my handing dandy yellow Estes tube-cutter donuts, marking the cuts with the handy dandy yellow tube-marking ruler thing (which i still cannot fathom, other than the right angle and measurements. the bigger one is way more useful).
this project has also brought me back to the old days, with the cutting of templates and balsa.
i'll post a pic when it's done.
http://rocketshoppe.comhttp://spacemodeling.org/jimz/