Do you get really bummed when you lose a rocket?

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This...
In general I try and make my rockets look good once. After that... I fly them.
Wear and tear, loss, trees, cato, etc. all happens. I have a lot of enjoyment in building...(the kids only like flying so far). So if I don't have some attrition, we would be even more overrun with rockets and kits...
There are "good rockets" that I will only fly sometimes or some places. But even those "get flown" when possible.
 
I just lost my estes "viking" about an hour ago. "A" engine worked great, but I had to try a "B". Out of sight.
Not too bummed, I never liked paint on that one and I want to build a new one anyway, this time with lightweight fiberglass reinforcement for the fins so I can run the hottest 18mm engines without losing the fins.
In a sense you won the lottery. If you were going to pick a rocket to lose, a Viking with a paint job you don't like would be my choice.

Regarding sticking a Quest 18mm D motor in it, 2 issues.

It MAY need nose weight, depending on how many of the provided fins you put on it (if you used all 5 you should be fin.)

I don't know much about fiberglassing the fins, first if it is even necessary with the Quest D, and second how much weight it will add that will require MORE nose weight (so may be a wash as far as altitude is concerned.) I WOULD say that if you lost it on B, I wouldn't plan on every seeing it again on a D, so I wouldn't go overboard on the finish and paint job. Also you need an appropriate size field so at least if it lands in somebody's backyard or someplace else awkward, you can SAY you were launching within NAR rules. Having rockets land "out of bounds" is a potential way to lose a launching field, so keep that in mind when you match your rockets to your motors. No excuse for launching a rocket in a small field with a motor where it is not only possible but also PROBABLE that it is going to land on private or public property that is NOT rocket friendly.

That said, be safe, have fun, and I DO hope you find it again!
 
At various MWPower events I’ve visually tracked numerous “lost” HPR flights from pad through apogee and back to earth again—like cake. I’ve heard comments from fliers walking past like I’m nuts for sitting in a chair w/ a 20X Swarovski 60mm scope. The reality is I think it’s nuts NOT to optically track a rocket, and then just say “It’s gone!”

I’m like, “Nope, it’s still 900 yards due east getting sanded by that breeze tugging the main around the field”.

Apparently not enough rocket guys run into enough spotting scopes, I’ve noticed. There’s no better way to track a rocket; short of live-data feed. Just don’t blink.
 
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My wife came in and asked me which rockets I will be taking to the Freedom Launch. I pointed to the pristine,virgin SBR Diablo to do my Level 1 with. She said," You're gonna be so mad if you lose that. and it will be Hell on the way home like the last time." o_O
 
Had a rocket do a bit of a cruise missile thing yesterday (still scratching my head over the cause, as there was almost no wind and the rod was vertical), and it ended up in the river. Got to the river bank in time to see it float downstream and over the rapids. Was half expecting to lose it eventually when trying bigger motors, but what probably bothered me the most was losing the altimeter...

Anyway, I've only lost a few after returning to the hobby. When I was a kid, I'd routinely stuff in the biggest motor that would fit during the rocket's maiden flight. You can guess how that turned out.

I think what is most irritating is spending hours and days carefully assembling and painting. Adding baffles, stuffer tubes if appropriate. Carefully crafting replaceable shock cords (I usually go hybrid - part Kevlar, with some elastic spliced in). Swivels everywhere. Then, splash, it's gone. (Or Boom if it's a faulty motor.) I'm really bummed.

Going forward, I think I'll split my builds into "rockets" and "models". The "models" I'll do to a (reasonably) high standard, and only fly them to 400', maybe 500' on my small field. These will be the ones I'll show to friends and family, put on the fireplace mantle. The "rockets" I'll throw together, quick spray (runs and all), and launch. Maybe won't even bother with Kevlar cords, just Estes rubber band in a tri-fold. Might not even fill the grain in the balsa. Whatever. If I stuff an overly large motor into it and not recover, no big deal. No real sweat equity lost.

Come tomorrow, I'll probably change my mind again. Who knows?

Hans.
Of course, it sucks to lose something one has poured a ton energy into. Having electronics on board compounds the agony. But I think one of the exhilarating things about rocketry is the relief you feel after a successful flight and recovery. After you get your rocket back, especially after a close call with disaster, all is good with the world. Then there is the next flight...
 
+1
Having electronics on board compounds the agony. But I think one of the exhilarating things about rocketry is the relief you feel after a successful flight and recovery. After you get your rocket back, especially after a close call with disaster, all is good with the world. Then there is the next flight...
This happened to me April 8th. Kids and I were at the local club launch... everything going well, lots of close recoveries, everone having fun, etc. (I'm known to always be pushing the limit of "Flying the Field".) So I decided to fly the Super Big Bertha on a G40-7, with my JLCR set for 300ft. Also had a 2"x36" stramer for visibility.
Flight takes off perfect. Going straight up... Well at about 3/4 thru the burn. It does a random flip. Nosecone comes off streamer gets out and torn loose from harness. We're all like "what was that"... about then the ejection charge fires pushes out the harness and bundled chute. At this point it was well past the edge of the tree line....(I'm thinking I'm loosing the rocket, the JLCR, etc.) BUT THANKFULLY the bundled chute had just enough drag to slow descent that the big fins "flew" the rocket back over the edge of the field. Just as it gets to the tree line, the JLCR opens and it lands 25feet inside the field...

So what happened... The epoxy seal and front closure of the Single use motor failed. Allowing the last bit of motor thrust to pressurize the tube enough to pop the nose. The delay grain torched the ID of motor mount.
20230408_152216.jpg20230408_195108.jpg20230408_195013.jpg

ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL.
 
If you discount the ones I lost when LPR was the only type avail when I was a young teen, I have really only lost one MPR. I am still butt hurt all these years. I was a contract engineer for Boeing in Everett, Wash. living out of a suitcase and leaving all my Rocketry and friends in San Diego. Quickly found Dave Davis and associated rocket minions at Boeing and he hooked me up with an Initiator and a couple of single use go pills. Long story short, heavily modified as a second stage bird with a cool custom paint job done in the "paint booth" of my rental apartment bathroom. We literally launched at a men's prison work farm! One perfect flight, but it went too high and recovered in a herd of cows across a stream that would have involved making a two-three mile trek to recover with no guarantees they hadn't already stomped it into the ground. Left it to the Guard Cows across the river. Only have one Polaroid of it, so one day, may recreate it. Only lost all the work, no motor case or avionics for the first flight but I loved that bird.
 
Sometimes I fly them in primer. Then if they survive, I expend the effort to finish them. Sometimes I finish them first, then I wish I'd just done primer. I admit I do have several shelf queen kits--mostly Estes level 5 kits that were challenges to build. I can't count the number of kits I've lost through the years, but it is considerable. Just part of the hobby.

I tend to have a few favorites that I grab when going to a launch. I do hate to lose those. With HPR, you really need to go all in and put a GPS unit in every kit if you are going to fly them high. It greatly increases the odds of finding it and it also reduces the time spent in recovery.
 
Sorry, didn't recognize this necro thread and so double posted. I'll be in the corner drooling on myself and building the next lost bird....
No biggie, it’s not that old.

As some members here have probably heard, I’ve had to make some adjustments to my approach to night flying after suffering a stupid, needless loss, an Estes Athena on a C6-5 with only a very rudimentary nocturnal modification. That stung a little bit but I got a fun quickie build out of it.
 
I just lost one today. LOC Mini Nuke. Nothing special except it was an awesome little flier. Came off the rod and then locked onto something to the south. I have never seen that before, well... except in the movies.

RIP Nuke Dukum. We will honor you with... MORE ROCKETS!
 

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I just lost one today. LOC Mini Nuke. Nothing special except it was an awesome little flier. Came off the rod and then locked onto something to the south. I have never seen that before, well... except in the movies.

RIP Nuke Dukum. We will honor you with... MORE ROCKETS!
Nice paint job! Great attitude! I'll second your motion of "More Rockets"!
Straight smoke and good chutes!
 
In March I lost a Star Orbiter. Went up nice, but the March winds took it. Looked all over for over an hour and then gave up. Well, I told myself, cheap enough kit. So, bought another one and finished it in time for the next monthly club launch, where some kids showed up, and while looking for their rocket out in the bramble, came across my Star Orbiter which had been out in the weather for a month. Was still in fair shape despite a month of wind and rain. I had to cut off a soft section, used a couple of couplers to beef it up, but I will be able to fly it again. It's a little bent looking (Peyronies disease?), so we will see what happens.
 
Other than the 10 rockets that I've been gifted (smaller than 2.6"), from now on there will only be 2.6" or larger rockets in my life so that there is room for one of those 140db sirens/beepers they sell on Amazon.
 
Sometimes I fly them in primer. Then if they survive, I expend the effort to finish them. Sometimes I finish them first, then I wish I'd just done primer. I admit I do have several shelf queen kits--mostly Estes level 5 kits that were challenges to build. I can't count the number of kits I've lost through the years, but it is considerable. Just part of the hobby.

I'm not the superstitious type, have seen no evidence of psychic powers, telepathy, ghosts or flying monkeys. That being said, there seems to be some correlation between the time one takes finishing/painting a rocket and probability of it getting lost. But, do unfinished rockets get lost at a similar rate?
In reference to be skeptical of "other worldly phenomenon" I have learned to listen to that little voice in my ear. "Don't fly today" it says, "Don't put a G motor in that paper rocket" it says, "Put on some undergarments, for gods sake!" it says. When I don't listen disasters happen.
 
No biggie, it’s not that old.

As some members here have probably heard, I’ve had to make some adjustments to my approach to night flying after suffering a stupid, needless loss, an Estes Athena on a C6-5 with only a very rudimentary nocturnal modification. That stung a little bit but I got a fun quickie build out of it.
For night flights, put some of that 3M auto reflective tape on your rocket--the stuff truckers put on their trailer. If you shine a flashlight across the ground, the rocket reflects and you see it. We used to do some dusk/night launches with 4-H kids and that technique worked well. The other thing we did was to make lady bug flashers with the small 12V cigarette lighter batteries and a flashing LED with a resistor. Easy to make, since flasher circuit is inside the LED. Added a fishing swivel to the flasher so they could be attached to nosecones.
 
When it comes to flying models whether they be rockets or planes, I've learned to become more indifferent to loss. There's always the next one. Passion keeps you plowing forward.
I told my new Doctor I was an addict. She raised her eyebrow and asked to whut? I just pointed to my t-shirt that read "High Power Rockets Are My Jam" Then I added, "but
I don't like toast". So I had to explain. So much for tongue in cheek. (Medical joke attempt).
We were off to the races. Got roped into holding a rocketry class for home schoolers. Passion indeed.
 
I just lost one today. LOC Mini Nuke. Nothing special except it was an awesome little flier. Came off the rod and then locked onto something to the south. I have never seen that before, well... except in the movies.

RIP Nuke Dukum. We will honor you with... MORE ROCKETS!
Yes, to reduce the mourning over your loss, just build enough new kits that you forget.
 
Ripped right from the Duke... "Time to launch rockets and chew bubble gum... and I'm all out of bubble gum!" Hmmm maybe my new tag line...
I spent the 90's playing duke nukem, Then switched to Quake2, which we still play :)
In the late 90’s and early 2000’s, I played Duke Nukem a couple times same with Quake but Wolfinsteins Enemy Territory was my thang.
 
I was thinking about this thread while getting my launch gear out of hibernation.

I do lose a lot of rockets. It’s the nature of the game when you’re testing for something you will let out into the big wide world and the prototypes that I still retain usually have around 30 flights on them.

Others are simply treed (Brumby after 16 flights), or destroyed in testing (what happens when Dan Average loads a B and a C in a two motor cluster).

I have seven potential kit candidates to test over the next few weeks. Not all will survive but hopefully I’ll get the information I need to make kits that are safe when not built to 100%.

So I don’t get bummed but I do get stressed about losing all that work before testing is complete.

And yes, I do sometimes fly just for fun.
 
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