Empire Rockets *beware*

[airwolfe1]

This is too bad. I bought several of his kits a couple of years ago and they were really nice quality. I didn't have any problems at that time, smooth transactions. I'd like to think it could be due to health reasons or something explainable, but it doesn't seem to appear that way by the sound of things.

his old e-mail was: [email protected]

I checked the shipping label from the Nike-Ajax I bought 2 years ago and this was the return address:

Vin & Jen Sauriol
10584 Empire Rd.
Forestville NY 14062

A quick search on superpages.com brings up this listing:

Sauriol, V & Vincent
10584 Empire Rd
Forestville, NY 14062-9548
(716) 965-2337

Good luck. Now don't do anything drastic. Does the name "Vinnie Sauriol" sound Italian?

 

[AKPilot]

Does the name "Vinnie Sauriol" sound Italian? [/B]

What difference does that make?

 

[stevem]

What difference does that make?

could mean the difference between a horse's head in your bed or broken knee caps....

 

[airwolfe1]

" Hey Vinnie....make me up a pair of size 9 cement booties for our friends here."

"Forget abooout it!"

 

[zog43editor]

Got my 1/24 BOMARC in the mail today, great emails from Vin throughout the process.

Don't have any complants.

kj

 

[shreadvector]

Originally posted by airwolfe1
" Hey Vinnie....make me up a pair of size 9 cement booties for our friends here."

"Forget abooout it!"

Now THAT was a bad pronunciation.

Fuhgghettaboudit.

Channel 103 tonight. (Or this afternoon for us West Coasters).

The Wiseguy Show
Wednesdays 6 pm - 9 pm ET
Rebroadcast Saturdays & Sundays 4 pm ET
Join host Vincent "Big Pussy" Pastore and his posse for a celebration of life, the arts and meatballs, only on The Wiseguy Show. Produced by musician, actor and SIRIUS creative consultant "Little" Steven Van Zandt, The Wiseguy Show features prominent guests from the Italian-American community, humorous discussion of current events, movie reviews, skits, sex advice and interaction with SIRIUS listeners.

 

[BAR_Daddy]

NUBlackshirts, did you ever recieve your BOMARC kit?

 

[airwolfe1]

Hey zog43editor, I'm glad to hear you got your Bomarc. How long was the process from when you placed your order to when you received it? I hope Vin is able to turn things around because I really liked his kits.

 

[zog43editor]

1/31-2/15 and that was with me being slow about getting to the PO to get the MO (and Vin was gracious about that).

My MO was delivered on 2/11 and I got a shipping notification on 2/13.

As I said, I've got no complaints. I look forward to getting a chance to build the kit.

kj

 

[NUBlackshirts]

Nope, never saw it. I gave up and wrote it off as a "learning experience".

 

[Fishhead]

Originally posted by NUBlackshirts
Nope, never saw it. I gave up and wrote it off as a "learning experience".

Well, check this out. I was home with the flu earlier in the week and a box showed up on my doorstep. I brought it in and forgot about it until yesterday. It's another Bomarc kit from Empire. First thing I checked was the ramjet cones and they look fine. If I get the chance later today I'll get some pics of the originals and the new ones together so you can see I wasn't blowing smoke.
Must be some fence mending going on up in Forrestville. Still, two years and three months later?

 

[Fishhead]

Well, after two years plus, this thing is ready to fly, thanks to a marathon session last night.

 

[Fishhead]

With a little luck I'll have a flight report on it and some launch pics tomorrow.

 

[chanstevens]

Originally posted by Fishhead
With a little luck I'll have a flight report on it and some launch pics tomorrow.

Next time specify what kind of luck you want [insert ominous music midi file here]...

Let's just say Bill employed a pyrochute recovery...

 

[Art Upton]

Originally posted by chanstevens
Next time specify what kind of luck you want [insert ominous music midi file here]...

Let's just say Bill employed a pyrochute recovery...

Details please Chan

 

[Fishhead]

Originally posted by Art Upton
Details please Chan

Let's just say the Bomarc would have done well if a sport scale even if I had declared mission points that involved an exploding warhead. The Bomard went horizontal at about the 50' mark, landed in some dry grass, and started a brush fire. Chan and I, along with a potential new Quark member whose presence was a godsend, beat and stomped the fire out before the fire engine arrived, but the resulting scar was easily 100' across. The winds shifted and let us get a hand on things just when it looked like all was lost. The body of the Bomarc is fins except for the lost antennae, but the nose cone, parachute and elastic shock cord were right in the area where the fire got started in earnest. I did a lot of the firefighting with my jacket. It went into the trash as soon as I got home. The nylon lining melted, but it gave its life for a good cause. Now I just have to hope that there are no repercussions from this unfortunate event.
My camera batteries died tonight, but I should have pictures to post sometime tomorrow.

 

[MarkM]

One word describes that senario....YEEE-OUCH.

Hope it flies again.

 

[BobCox]

That sounds like a scary situation, Bill. Glad that nobody was seriously hurt.

A few questions for you:
1) How much nose weight did you use?
2) Where was your CG?
3) How windy was it?

I haven't flown mine yet and I'd like to know if I need to make modifications before I do.

 

[chanstevens]

Originally posted by BobCox
That sounds like a scary situation, Bill. Glad that nobody was seriously hurt.

A few questions for you:
1) How much nose weight did you use?
2) Where was your CG?
3) How windy was it?

I haven't flown mine yet and I'd like to know if I need to make modifications before I do.

Don't know about Bill's 2), but he used the spec'd amount of clay, and the winds were pretty steady at around 6-7 mph. I had measured a couple times throughout the day, hoping to get in an Edmunds Arcie II flight.

Don't know about yours, but his was the tiny 1/24th Bomarc, flying on a single 18. I've got an Empire 1/12th, and am now pondering what to do with it. Maybe I can find a kevlar-lined field somewhere...

 

[Bill]

Originally posted by Fishhead
Chan and I, along with a potential new Quark member whose presence was a godsend, beat and stomped the fire out before the fire engine arrived, but the resulting scar was easily 100' across. The winds shifted and let us get a hand on things just when it looked like all was lost.

What is it about your field that a fire seems to get out of control, then a change of the wind steps in to help snuff it out?


Bill

 

[Fishhead]

Originally posted by Bill
What is it about your field that a fire seems to get out of control, then a change of the wind steps in to help snuff it out?


Bill

The area where the fire started seemed to have been recently cut, so there wasn't that much extra fuel for the fire. When the wind shifted it started blowing the flame back into the area that had already been burned. Once I beat the big flames back with my jacket it was just a matter of stomping on the hot spots. The jacket did a pretty amazing job, all things considered. No way we get it out just stomping the flames. It was too hot. I did have a bit of trouble with the flames occasionally jumping when I hit them, but I stepped on those before they could really get started.
I never would have considered it dry enough for things to have burned that fast.

 

[Fishhead]

Originally posted by MarkM
One word describes that senario....YEEE-OUCH.

Hope it flies again.

I dont!

 

[Fishhead]

On the pad, just before things went wrong.

 

[Fishhead]

The hot spot. Chan took this for my memory book. I'm the one stomping hotspots in the tan windshirt. The remains of the Bomarc can be seen on the ground just in front of me. (Actually to my left.)

 

[Fishhead]

Remains of the nose cone, shock cord, parachute and jacket.
I faked the smile.
The stone monoliths behind me are where the fire was. The rocket JUST missed slamming into one of them just before ejection.

 

[Fishhead]

Originally posted by BobCox
That sounds like a scary situation, Bill. Glad that nobody was seriously hurt.

A few questions for you:
1) How much nose weight did you use?
2) Where was your CG?
3) How windy was it?

I haven't flown mine yet and I'd like to know if I need to make modifications before I do.

There was a block of clay included with the kit. I used the whole thing.
It balanced right around the front of the pods.
Winds were around 6 to 7 all day. I flew it during one of the lulls.
If you still plan to fly this, I suggest a large sandy area, like a desert. At the very least, do it on a day when it has rained or is drizzling. I was pretty pumped up to fly yesterday because things have been dry around here. I liked the idea of recovering rockets without slopping through puddles. Looking back, I'd have preferred some slop. It doesn't burn quite as fast.

 

[BobCox]

Originally posted by chanstevens
Don't know about Bill's 2), but he used the spec'd amount of clay, and the winds were pretty steady at around 6-7 mph. I had measured a couple times throughout the day, hoping to get in an Edmunds Arcie II flight.

Ooh, that sounds scary to me, because that's about as good as my flying conditions ever get.

BTW, how much wind can the Arcie II handle? Mine is built and waiting for a suitable launch day.

Don't know about yours, but his was the tiny 1/24th Bomarc, flying on a single 18.

Should be a single 24mm engine.

I've got an Empire 1/12th, and am now pondering what to do with it. Maybe I can find a kevlar-lined field somewhere...

Nomex is more fire-resistant, Kevlar is more impact-resistant.

I know, go to Tater Schuld's winter launch site, a frozen lake in north-central Wisconsin. https://revver.com/video/13699/ Not much chance of a grass fire there.

 

[Ltvscout]

Originally posted by Fishhead
There was a block of clay included with the kit. I used the whole thing.
It balanced right around the front of the pods.
Winds were around 6 to 7 all day. I flew it during one of the lulls.
If you still plan to fly this, I suggest a large sandy area, like a desert. At the very least, do it on a day when it has rained or is drizzling. I was pretty pumped up to fly yesterday because things have been dry around here. I liked the idea of recovering rockets without slopping through puddles. Looking back, I'd have preferred some slop. It doesn't burn quite as fast.

So Vin still got you in the end, hey Bill?

You and Pavel can start a club for starting fields on fire. Ask him at NARCON about the time he started Bong on fire. He burned almost an acre before it was extinguished!

 

[chanstevens]

Originally posted by Fishhead
There was a block of clay included with the kit. I used the whole thing.
It balanced right around the front of the pods.

There's the problem. The CP on a Bomarc is usually right around the front of the wings, maybe 10-15% back of that at best. With a body tube around 24mm, you should probably have been at least 1-2 inches forward of the wings for the CG.

In retrospect, that C6 for first flight over a B6 might also have been a bad choice. Twice the tailweight, roughly the same initial spike.

 

[BobCox]

Originally posted by chanstevens
In retrospect, that C6 for first flight over a B6 might also have been a bad choice. Twice the tailweight, roughly the same initial spike.

I still don't understand this. Which BOMARC are we talking about: Estes or Empire? My Empire 1/24th scale kit came with a 24mm mount, and the D12 is the only recommended motor. With all the nose weight in there I don't think a C6 could get it up to safe speed on a standard rod, and no way would a B6 work.