Estes RediRocs Raider

[JAL3]

While making a good faith effort to finish the rockets I had started I once again found myself at the shop with glue and paint drying and nothing to do so I opened this "kit" in order to occupy a little time.

 

[JAL3]

The components of this rocket are nothing more than a white Styrofoam shell and a motor tube with a few crack and peel stickers to liven things up.

 

[JAL3]

Finishing on this one comes before assembly. The foam was lightly sanded and then it was put in the spraybooth. The instructions recommended only a few types of paint and these included spray enamel. I went with a Rustoleum blue and lightly dusted the shell, hoping that the paint would be almost dry by the time it settled. It was built up slowly in this way until I was confident enough to give it 2 real spray coats.

 

[JAL3]

With the painting done, the real assembly could begin. I located the motor tube and saw that it was indeed sealed at one end. The tube was inserted into the hole in the foam and construction was over. No glue was needed.

 

[JAL3]

Final finishing involved placing the stickers.

I don't like crack and peel stickers but they do have their place in a simple project like this. They also really dressed things up. My big complaint is that they were not well thought out. The ideal arrangement as given on the box was not possible because all of the stickers, the triangles in particular, had the same orientation. Those that worked fine on one lobe of a fin looked bloody awful on the other because the angles did not complement each other.

 

[chanstevens]

A build thread on an ARF--now there's a dedicated blogger for ya .

 

[JAL3]

A build thread on an ARF--now there's a dedicated blogger for ya .

Thus did it come to pass:

The motivation for the "build" was as described before.

At 330 this morning, an argument between my 17 yo boy and 14 yo girl woke the house. Unable to get back to sleep and waiting for my arthritis medicine to kick in, I had a choice between adding to my sermon or writing about a rocket. The good people of Resurrection UMC have not hacked me off overly much in the last 48 hours so I decided upon the latter course of events rather than the former.

Now, it is 726 AM here. I cannot tell that my arthritis pills have done much good. I'm sleepy. My one opportunity to fly rockets is with my club launch in a few hours and I am debating the possible combinations of Prednisone, Vicodin, Percocet, black powder and AP with a little bit of iced tea thrown in to provide caffeine. The thermometer is going to hit 105 and now, finally, I feel like going back to bed. Instead, I shall dutifully go forth and fly rockets, attempting to put myself in a better mood to deal with my parish on the morrow.

I'd better go wake up the 14 year old to shag them for me.:dark:

 

[JAL3]

When it came time to fly, I found I had no A10s laying about and decided to chance things on an A3-4. The motor had an igniter inserted and was stuffed into the tube. It was a fairly tight fit. It was then taken out to the pad and I realized that for all its simplicity, its not a bad looking little rocket.

 

[JAL3]

When it was launched, I was unprepared for how fast it scooted and had trouble whipping around fast enough. The launch coincided with a gust of wind and it weathercocked, arcing over my head.

 

[JAL3]

It landed a few yards away with no harm done and I decided to try it again on another occasion when I had some A10s.

 

[JAL3]

A video of the flight can be seen here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/23694991@N03/3811989990/

Interested persons can see more vids and pics of this rocket here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/23694991@N03/collections/72157621978297792/

 

[JAL3]

After being plagued by so many mishaps on my birthday launch, I wanted to launch something with little chance of having a problem. The RediRoc Raider was selected and loaded with an A10-P.

 

[JAL3]

It lifted off much quicker than I expected.

 

[JAL3]

When my eyes caught up with it, it was arcing over to come back down. It bounced well and restored my confidence.

 

[Pem Tech]

Just hope you have used up all your CATOS for the next few years.

 

[JAL3]

Just hope you have used up all your CATOS for the next few years.

The only cato I have planned right now is when the Green Hornet comes out in the movie theater.

 

[Evo666]

^hahaha good stuff

 

[JAL3]

More out of laziness than anything else, I flew my Raider again at my club launch on Saturday. It happened to be sitting in my box and I did not have to walk to the truck to get it. I decided to try it on a 1/2A3-2. I did not have high expectations since the A10 is the only recommended motor. I would have had to go to the truck to get one of those.

 

[JAL3]

It took off quite vigorously.

 

[JAL3]

What really surprised me was how well it did after the initial launch. According to my completely subjective memory, it did about as well as with an A10-P.

 

[JAL3]

It then bounced to the ground about 15 yards away and even I could not complain about having to get up off my lazy backside to retrieve it. No damage.