Do you get really bummed when you lose a rocket?

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4regt4

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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.
 
A little. I don't care about the airframe being damaged. Repairs and replacements are fun. But losing my nice chute, Kevlar, swivel, and nose cone also, kinda stinks. So I always use the bare minimum size chute, streamers instead.

Just built a $450 4" HPR with redundant dual deployment. That could hurt a little.
 
Just gives me something to do when I get home. Build another one. But a rocket is nothing, I fly RC jets, in the blink of an eye my F-18C Blue Angels #6 crashed in front of 10,000 people. Loss was about 12 grand :(

For me it's just the sweat equity. An entire week of evenings, plus maybe a Saturday or two thrown in as well. Waiting days for paint to dry enough to mask and add more colors. Etc., etc.

To quote South Park: "And.. It's gone."

Hans.
 
When I was a kid I remember being so bummed out when I would lose a rocket. When you are a kid, not only did you spend a bunch of time, but I had spent all of my available cash. I still remember, after 35 years, having lost a mean machine in a grassy field. I remember wondering how I could possibly lose such a "big" rocket. I was distraught.

Several weeks ago I took a 4 mile round-trip walk to retrieve my rocket, because the drogue deployment was too energetic and caused the main to come out at apogee as well. It was only about 6500 feet high, but there were steady 30-40 mph winds (yes, stupid, but I was desperate to launch). I was lucky to find it, given that the wind moved it another ~1000 feet after it had hit the ground and the gps stopped updating. Like others have said, I can do without the rocket, but I did not want to lose the parachute/electronics/motor casing. That would have made me sad.
 
1) Depends on the rocket. For some... yes, definite huge bummer. Knock on wood I haven't lost any of my scratchbuilds yet. For the Estes E2X Skywriter and Odd'l Birdie that I lost... *shrug*.
2) Don't fly what you're not willing to lose.
 
When I was younger, it sucked because I didn't have the disposable income that I have now, so my fleet was limited.

As a BAR, so far I've only lost one, and it stung because it was a rocket I had labored over to give a display-quality finish, only to lose it on it's first and only flight (taking a Top Flite parachute with it). Like most things, it came with a learned lesson.
 
I lost a few growing up, but wasn't really bothered by it. Mommy or daddy would just buy me another one if I wanted. But more importantly, I had much more free time as a child than I do as an adult.

Now, I think I would be quite annoyed if I lost a rocket. Like you mentioned, the lost time and effort would be the biggest thing. Then there's the cost, which would be magnified if there's valuable payload onboard, like an altimeter.

And if I lost a rocket as a result of a motor failure, I'll be extremely angry. The whole point of buying Estes or other commercial engines is for their reliability (and therefore safety). If they're going to blow up on the pad when I did nothing wrong, why don't I just go ahead and build my own rocket motors? (rhetorical question, relax people...)

Is it true that Estes will compensate you for a new rocket if your blow one up using one of their engines? Or is that just wishful thinking on my part?

The fear of losing a rocket is one of the biggest reasons why I stick to LPR (for now). I see no point in going very high if I'm not confident in getting the rocket back (have yet to find an affordable and small device to use to track down a rocket that's lost, but for which I can realistically get it back, ie it's not in a tall tree or in a lake).
 
"If you can't afford to loose it, you can't afford to fly it"

You get used to it after a while..


Or the time a fishing buddy "drove" over my fly line.. had to pull the line out of the trolling motor.. not fun (those line ain't cheap!!)
or snag a big Rapala plug..
 
Is it true that Estes will compensate you for a new rocket if your blow one up using one of their engines? Or is that just wishful thinking on my part?
Fact check: true ✅
The fear of losing a rocket is one of the biggest reasons why I stick to LPR (for now). I see no point in going very high if I'm not confident in getting the rocket back (have yet to find an affordable and small device to use to track down a rocket that's lost, but easily reacquired once found).
If you choose your motor correctly, you can still go low with larger rockets. Heck, the full-scale V2 went less than 1000'*.






*I am not suggesting that you jump from LPR to full-scale V2.
 
1) Depends on the rocket. For some... yes, definite huge bummer. Knock on wood I haven't lost any of my scratchbuilds yet. For the Estes E2X Skywriter and Odd'l Birdie that I lost... *shrug*.
2) Don't fly what you're not willing to lose.

I'm considering going to the dark side. Many of the Estes E2X kits don't even require painting. Glue them together, set them on fire, and waive goodbye.

Doesn't mean I'll do that entirely. I'm finishing an Executioner that I think I'll be quite proud of. But that also means that I won't use anything more than a "D" on my small field.

Hans.
 
2) Don't fly what you're not willing to lose.

See for me, that's part of the challenge. If I "do the math right," I shouldn't lose a rocket that I launch. If I do, I must have screwed up somehow. So you reminded me that in addition to the lost time and money put into the rocket, there's the feeling of personal failure.
 
Funny you should say that. I could see myself building a rocket, then liking it so much, never flying it and instead relegating it to be a hangar queen.

I've got some of those, that rarely fly unless conditions are near perfect. I'd be really upset to lose those.

Others, I mainly fly LPR and now getting into MPR. No electronics, no reloadable casings, chute releases, etc. So my main beef is the loss of time and effort, rather than monetary loss.
 
Funny you should say that. I could see myself building a rocket, then liking it so much, never flying it and instead relegating it to be a hangar queen.

I built a hangar queen a number of years ago. Estes offered an SR-71. I was (still am) enamored by them. Built it to a very high standard. It still sits on my filing cabinet, unflown.

Hans,.,
 
See for me, that's part of the challenge. If I "do the math right," I shouldn't lose a rocket that I launch. If I do, I must have screwed up somehow. So you reminded me that in addition to the lost time and money put into the rocket, there's the feeling of personal failure.

Not necessarily....

The rocket that I lost was an excellent flier. Using Estes D12, it often landed within 50 feet of the pad after flying to 600'. It only went sideways when I slightly upsized to a Qjet D22 - which simmed out to 170' higher.

Hans.
 
now getting into MPR. No electronics, no reloadable casings, chute releases, etc. So my main beef is the loss of time and effort, rather than monetary loss.

I've been brainstorming my "ideal" high-end LPR or lower-end MPR. It'd use an Aerotech 18mm to 24mm RMS motor, Jolly Logic chute release, altimeter, camera, blah blah blah. But every time I think about building a rocket like that, I remind myself I'd be too scared to fly it. So with my current designs, I'm trying to balance how to build a better rocket, but still not put so "much" into it, that I'm afraid to fly it.

I'll gladly have a hangar queen b/c it's a perfect scale rocket or I impressed myself with the paint job or something. But a hangar queen because it's got $200+ in electronics and an RMS in it? Seems wasteful to me...
 
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Not necessarily....

The rocket that I lost was an excellent flier. Using Estes D12, it often landed within 50 feet of the pad after flying to 600'. It only went sideways when I slightly upsized to a Qjet D22 - which simmed out to 170' higher.

Hans.

So what do you think went wrong?
 
So what do you think went wrong?

Really not a clue. Over the previous half hour, I'd flown several other rockets off that pad, all went straight. Maybe it was a bizarre gust of wind, but if so, it was at a right angle to the prevailing gentle breeze. Some have suggested nozzle issues with the Qjet, but I'm not quick to blame something like that without some other evidence.

Hans,
 
See for me, that's part of the challenge. If I "do the math right," I shouldn't lose a rocket that I launch. If I do, I must have screwed up somehow. So you reminded me that in addition to the lost time and money put into the rocket, there's the feeling of personal failure.
1) There are things beyond your control once you push the button. Things go sideways (sometimes literally) for everyone at one time or another. It is part of the hobby.

2) Another part of the hobby is learning, gaining skill, challenging yourself. Failure comes with that (as it does in any other endeavor in life). It is part of the hobby.

3) In general, humans are fallible. This includes very experienced fliers making dumb n00b mistakes, like forgetting to arm the altimeter or connect the harness. It is part of the hobby.

4) (almost forgot this one) It isn't a rocket until it flies. Suck it up and push the button. :)

If you cannot come to terms with the above, then you will not be on a path to rocketry happiness. That is not to say that you should ever be happy about losing a rocket, but you have to be able to accept that it is a possibility.
 
3) In general, humans are fallible. This includes very experienced fliers making dumb n00b mistakes, like forgetting to arm the altimeter or connect the harness. It is part of the hobby.

LOL! Sunday I did a quickie launch of 5 rockets. Put altimeters in all of them. Got to the field, fired them off in quick succession, and.... forgot to turn on the altimeters. All of them. Of course, these were merely for measuring altitude. I wasn't doing any advanced deployment. THAT would be a bad mistake.

Hans.
 
Perhaps I'm just not good enough at finishing things, but I just don't see the point of hangar queens. Why build a rocket and not fly it? It's like having a toilet so pretty you're not willing to crap in it.

Nothing wrong with being bummed about losing a rocket, though. I haven't lost one recently, but I've been bummed by sub-optimal flights that have instigated significant repairs.
 
Yeah, it's a bummer losing one. For me it's more about the time invested than the money (although I never lost a $12K plane!)
I lost a 6' Airstrike 354 last summer along with the reloadable case, altimeter, Fruity chute, etc.
It was a loss of several hundred dollars but not a lot of time so I wasn't real bummed.
I have been building and flying RC scale warbirds for 35 years. When I started nothing was prefabricated. A kit consisted of a set of plans, a box of wood and a canopy.
I spent two years building a scale Spitfire that was constructed from balsa, fiberglassed, painted, with panel lines, rivets, full cockpit, etc. On my maiden flight there was just one other plane in the air. He decided to do some aerobatics and managed to mid-air my plane destroying both.
That was a BUMMER!
 
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