Last weekend my daughters wanted to fly some rockets but the weather wasn't cooperating so I told them we'd do it one weekend if the weather got better. Well, this weekend was absolutely perfect. About 75 degrees, 5 mph wind or less and not a cloud in the sky. We headed over to the middle school and set up camp right in the middle of the athletic field. This is such a great location being only a couple of minutes from our home and roughly about 800 ft square with no obstructions to worry about outside of some small trees.
In line for lift off were the following:
- My youngest daughters Estes SkyWriter on a A8-3
- My old Estes Warp II on a B6-0 + 1/2A6-4
- A new, never seen the sky Estes Guardian on a B6-4
- An ancient Estes Sky Shriek Goonie on a A10-3T
- A new Estes Baby Bertha on a B6-4
- And finally another oldy but goodie, an Estes EAC Viper on a A10-3T
This past early summer I drove to my parents place to help my dad out with some work around the house. While cleaning out a storage room I found a big box full of many of my old rockets from back when I was in late elementary and early middle school (a good 40 years ago for some of the stuff). In addition to the rockets I found a range box with many motors and a lot of my old tools stored in it. If it was just the rockets I might have been able to resist but with the rockets, motors and all my old tools I couldn't help myself. I packed it all in the car for the trip back, all the while wondering if my daughters might like to launch some rockets. I think you'll see the answer to that!
The SkyWriter was my younger daughters pick when I took the kids to pick out a rocket this summer. This was it's 2nd flight. It's a great flier. It had a bit of a tangled chute on the way down but other than that it was a great flight. This is really a great rocket for young kids. It's easy to put together and big enough for them to really enjoy when it flies but not so big that it requires a large engine for a nice flight.
The Warp II was built and finished quite a few years ago but I never flew it. It was back when I was first a BAR building rockets with my nephews maybe 15 years ago or so. Really nice flight for it's first time. Landed about 10 feet from the pad and the plastic bugs my kids loaded in the payload section all had a great ride!
The Guardian was my pick when the girls were picking out their rockets. This was it's first flight however. Bit of a rough ride for the Guardian and I'm not sure what happened. I missed seeing the rocket at apogee. It looked like the chute had a little trouble opening but eventually it made it. Daughter the youngest grabbed the rocket after it landed and was headed back to launch central. I turned around to get ready for the next flight when something fell out of the sky in front of me. It was one of the Guardian's fins! It looked like the nose smacked the side of the body tube hard enough to dent the tube and crack the finish. It then proceeded back, clipped the fin and ripped the whole thing off! Really odd, especially since there isn't a mark on the nose cone! Oh well, into the repair hanger it goes.
The Sky Shriek is from WAY back. I remember ordering a set of three Goonies with my dad back then. It had to have been 5th or 6th grade. We always went through the catalogs and this time I got this rocket along with two of it's siblings; the Missile Toe and the Star Snoop. I remember filling out the order form and asking my mom for a check. Anyone else remember what mail order used to be like? Anyway, all three Goonies received a major overhaul several months back. They all got new shock cords and a new finish. I sanded all the old paint off, filled in most of the rough spots on the fins and got rid of the old stickers. And boy what a paint job I had on them! :y: A good finish wasn't my strong point all those years ago. I used a scan of the original stickers printed out of full page labels for the Sky Shriek this time around. Not the best finish but it does still have that old fashion feel to it. I did give it a coat of Future over the stickers to keep everything in place. The Missile Toe and Star Snoop are waiting for me to apply the water slides I got from Excelsior before they will see any air time. Anyway, perfect flight on the A10-3T.
The Baby Bertha is another new rocket that I hadn't yet flown. I never owned a Big Bertha when I was a kid. For whatever the reason I never had the desire to get one. I decided to make up for that, just in a smaller way this time around. Great flight but the wind was shifting around by this time and it drifted over on the other side of a swampy area next to the field. Nothing happened to the rocket but I'm still picking that damn cattail fluff off me!
And finally one of my favorite rockets, the Viper. I joined the Estes Aerospace Club as a kid and this thing was and always has been one of my favorite rockets, crooked fins and all. The paint job could certainly be better and I might have done a better job of reattaching one of the fins that snapped off who knows when. I swear the motor mount is going to pop out one of these days with all the creaking I hear when I put an engine in it. But for whatever reason it flies straight every time. Love it! So much so that I have a clone of her waiting for the final shot of purple/pink paint on my bench right now. This was another picture perfect flight even though I didn't get a picture of it in flight.
In line for lift off were the following:
- My youngest daughters Estes SkyWriter on a A8-3
- My old Estes Warp II on a B6-0 + 1/2A6-4
- A new, never seen the sky Estes Guardian on a B6-4
- An ancient Estes Sky Shriek Goonie on a A10-3T
- A new Estes Baby Bertha on a B6-4
- And finally another oldy but goodie, an Estes EAC Viper on a A10-3T
This past early summer I drove to my parents place to help my dad out with some work around the house. While cleaning out a storage room I found a big box full of many of my old rockets from back when I was in late elementary and early middle school (a good 40 years ago for some of the stuff). In addition to the rockets I found a range box with many motors and a lot of my old tools stored in it. If it was just the rockets I might have been able to resist but with the rockets, motors and all my old tools I couldn't help myself. I packed it all in the car for the trip back, all the while wondering if my daughters might like to launch some rockets. I think you'll see the answer to that!
The SkyWriter was my younger daughters pick when I took the kids to pick out a rocket this summer. This was it's 2nd flight. It's a great flier. It had a bit of a tangled chute on the way down but other than that it was a great flight. This is really a great rocket for young kids. It's easy to put together and big enough for them to really enjoy when it flies but not so big that it requires a large engine for a nice flight.
The Warp II was built and finished quite a few years ago but I never flew it. It was back when I was first a BAR building rockets with my nephews maybe 15 years ago or so. Really nice flight for it's first time. Landed about 10 feet from the pad and the plastic bugs my kids loaded in the payload section all had a great ride!
The Guardian was my pick when the girls were picking out their rockets. This was it's first flight however. Bit of a rough ride for the Guardian and I'm not sure what happened. I missed seeing the rocket at apogee. It looked like the chute had a little trouble opening but eventually it made it. Daughter the youngest grabbed the rocket after it landed and was headed back to launch central. I turned around to get ready for the next flight when something fell out of the sky in front of me. It was one of the Guardian's fins! It looked like the nose smacked the side of the body tube hard enough to dent the tube and crack the finish. It then proceeded back, clipped the fin and ripped the whole thing off! Really odd, especially since there isn't a mark on the nose cone! Oh well, into the repair hanger it goes.
The Sky Shriek is from WAY back. I remember ordering a set of three Goonies with my dad back then. It had to have been 5th or 6th grade. We always went through the catalogs and this time I got this rocket along with two of it's siblings; the Missile Toe and the Star Snoop. I remember filling out the order form and asking my mom for a check. Anyone else remember what mail order used to be like? Anyway, all three Goonies received a major overhaul several months back. They all got new shock cords and a new finish. I sanded all the old paint off, filled in most of the rough spots on the fins and got rid of the old stickers. And boy what a paint job I had on them! :y: A good finish wasn't my strong point all those years ago. I used a scan of the original stickers printed out of full page labels for the Sky Shriek this time around. Not the best finish but it does still have that old fashion feel to it. I did give it a coat of Future over the stickers to keep everything in place. The Missile Toe and Star Snoop are waiting for me to apply the water slides I got from Excelsior before they will see any air time. Anyway, perfect flight on the A10-3T.
The Baby Bertha is another new rocket that I hadn't yet flown. I never owned a Big Bertha when I was a kid. For whatever the reason I never had the desire to get one. I decided to make up for that, just in a smaller way this time around. Great flight but the wind was shifting around by this time and it drifted over on the other side of a swampy area next to the field. Nothing happened to the rocket but I'm still picking that damn cattail fluff off me!
And finally one of my favorite rockets, the Viper. I joined the Estes Aerospace Club as a kid and this thing was and always has been one of my favorite rockets, crooked fins and all. The paint job could certainly be better and I might have done a better job of reattaching one of the fins that snapped off who knows when. I swear the motor mount is going to pop out one of these days with all the creaking I hear when I put an engine in it. But for whatever reason it flies straight every time. Love it! So much so that I have a clone of her waiting for the final shot of purple/pink paint on my bench right now. This was another picture perfect flight even though I didn't get a picture of it in flight.
Last edited:
