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NukeHavoc

NukeHavoc

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Greetings!

When I was a kid in the 1980s, I built a ton of model rockets and participated in a 4-H model rocketry club in New Jersey. I went to a few NAR events with my dad, who was big into model rocketry at the time.

Flash forward a few decades, and I'm getting back into model rocketry. About five years ago my friends and I built and launched a bunch of Viking rockets with our kids. That was fun, but it wasn't until the last year that I started building regularly again.

Why? While cleaning out my parents' garage, I came across a bunch of my dad's un-built Estes and Centuri rockets. Not wanting them to go to waste, I've been slowly building them. I started off with a few easy rockets (an Alpha, the Eggspress, Starship Excalibur) and then moved onto some more challenging builds (Nova and the Orbital Transport, before I learned Estes was bringing that one back).

Right now, I'm working on the original Starship Enterprise. It's been a heck of a challenge, in part because the bag was open a few pieces (thankfully, all relatively minor) were missing. I've been chronicling the build on my website.

The build is almost done; next weekend I'll probably start painting it. The most nerve-wracking part of working with these older rockets is the decals. Sometimes they work perfectly; other times they disintegrate once they're in the water. Being subjected to the hot/cold cycle in the garage didn't do them any favors, but the plastic, wood, and body tubes came through pretty well.

My ultimate goal is to build the Mars Lander - I got that rocket when I was in high school, but never got around to building it. I want to build a few more rockets before taking on that one though. :)
 
NukeHavoc said:
Greetings!

When I was a kid in the 1980s, I built a ton of model rockets and participated in a 4-H model rocketry club in New Jersey. I went to a few NAR events with my dad, who was big into model rocketry at the time.

Flash forward a few decades, and I'm getting back into model rocketry. About five years ago my friends and I built and launched a bunch of Viking rockets with our kids. That was fun, but it wasn't until the last year that I started building regularly again.

Why? While cleaning out my parents' garage, I came across a bunch of my dad's un-built Estes and Centuri rockets. Not wanting them to go to waste, I've been slowly building them. I started off with a few easy rockets (an Alpha, the Eggspress, Starship Excalibur) and then moved onto some more challenging builds (Nova and the Orbital Transport, before I learned Estes was bringing that one back).

Right now, I'm working on the original Starship Enterprise. It's been a heck of a challenge, in part because the bag was open a few pieces (thankfully, all relatively minor) were missing. I've been chronicling the build on my website.

The build is almost done; next weekend I'll probably start painting it. The most nerve-wracking part of working with these older rockets is the decals. Sometimes they work perfectly; other times they disintegrate once they're in the water. Being subjected to the hot/cold cycle in the garage didn't do them any favors, but the plastic, wood, and body tubes came through pretty well.

My ultimate goal is to build the Mars Lander - I got that rocket when I was in high school, but never got around to building it. I want to build a few more rockets before taking on that one though. :)
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Greetings from Bucks County to Lehigh Valley - home of the Iron Pigs
 
Home of the first place IronPigs (currently tied with Durham). I do love minor league baseball, even if I don't get to as many games as I used to (darn kids).
 
NukeHavoc said:
Home of the first place IronPigs (currently tied with Durham). I do love minor league baseball, even if I don't get to as many games as I used to (darn kids).
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I recently learned that fans viewing games from the left field berm are referred to as “pigs in a blanket”.
 
Greetings from a former central PA resident! If you haven't already done so, you'll find that as the rocketeers from the 60s/70s/80s grew up, the rockets grew up too! :) My personal favorite level right now is mid-power; E, F, and G motors. They can be launched from just a few meters away and the sound-and-fury when you're up close and personal with the flight is great!

Definitely plan a road trip to the nearest NAR section or Tripoli prefecture launch. Flying with a bunch of others is a lot more fun, and you'll learn more than you thought possible about every aspect of rocketry. Tripoli even allows homemade motors if you're Level 2 certified. There is a book that details how it's done, but the author is ugly, has warts and bad breath, and his wife dresses him funny.😁

First lesson: those rubber thingies that come with the kits? Throw them away. Get some suitable kevlar cord/thread, cut shock cords at least three times as long as the ones supplied with the kits. Don't use the "tri-fold" mount to glue the cord to the rocket, the kevlar may rip right out of there. Someone whose brain is working right now 😁 will point you to the proper way to attach kevlar to a model rocket.

Best,
Terry
 
I work in Jersey City/NYC during the week, but live in State College, so drive through Lehigh Valley frequently.

As you re-blue yourself in rocketry, I would echo Terry's suggestion above to go to a club launch. It is a bit of drive for you, but I highly recommend attending a METRA launch - excellent folks, great field, good food and @cbrarick will sell you anything you need (which is good, because he owes me for some wifi switches, so he needs the money :) )

https://metrarocketclub.org/
 
DRzardoz said:
My wife and I just moved to the Springs as well - are you a member in the local rocketry club - COSROCS?
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I literally just looked up that club yesterday - I plan on becoming a member. Going to Pueblo SCORES launch this weekend - any experience there?
 
PayLoad said:
I literally just looked up that club yesterday - I plan on becoming a member. Going to Pueblo SCORES launch this weekend - any experience there?
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I was going to but two events jumped in the way. I have a project for a client I need to finish by early next week and more importantly we have our 4 month old grandson for most of Sat and Sun since his Dad (my son) is a Firefighter in the Springs and my DIL is a ER nurse and every now and then their schedules collide so Nana and Opa take Markus. I will likely go in October.
The folks at Apogee Rockets told me they go there (SCORE) for all of their launches. COSROCS has the monthly meeting on Thursday (09/07) at 6;30pm at Hobby Town North. COSROCS also launches at a ranch near Peyton but I don't have a schedule nearby.
Take care and hope to meet up with you soon.
 
I love stories like this. Mine is similar although I am a fair amount older than you are. I was born in 1954 was seriously into this hobby between 1966 and 1969. I got back in in the early 90s to introduce the hobby to my sons and learned about where it was at the time. I retired recently and I am back into the hobby with so much joy. I’ve done woodworking and a lot of military and automobile modeling for relaxation over the years, and this just adds to my pleasure. And this forum is awesome. It is a bit of a niche hobby and this is a great way for all of us to stay in contact in someway. Also, I love Open Rocket and the ability to construct and simulate on the computer before actually building something from scratch.
 
Just joined the forum today. Also in the LV. Have you found many decent launch sites? Too many anti-rocket rules in the public areas around here.
 
I wish we could find a place to fly in the Lehigh Valley area. Even a mid power field would be better than nothing. We need someone with a connection to a land owner. I know one person with property that they rent to farmers. I can check with them.

As an alum, I've often thought about approaching Lehigh U. about the large field near Stabler arena but that could really be a can of worms, especially since all the profs and people that I knew there are gone by now.

Randy
Coopersburg
 
RCBrust said:
I wish we could find a place to fly in the Lehigh Valley area. Even a mid power field would be better than nothing. We need someone with a connection to a land owner. I know one person with property that they rent to farmers. I can check with them.

As an alum, I've often thought about approaching Lehigh U. about the large field near Stabler arena but that could really be a can of worms, especially since all the profs and people that I knew there are gone by now.

Randy
Coopersburg
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Also a LU alum, and former employee. Unfortunately my old acquaintances in the campus police have retired.
 
kev1833 said:
Just joined the forum today. Also in the LV. Have you found many decent launch sites? Too many anti-rocket rules in the public areas around here.
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Unfortunately, no. The closest I've found is Garden State Spacemodeling Society's launch site:

https://www.gsss.club/launchsite.php

It's at North Branch Park, which is near the junction of NJ Routes 22, 28, 202, and 206, near Somerville, NJ. That's about 45 minutes from Easton (on a good day), which isn't unreasonable.
 
RCBrust said:
I wish we could find a place to fly in the Lehigh Valley area. Even a mid power field would be better than nothing. We need someone with a connection to a land owner. I know one person with property that they rent to farmers. I can check with them.

As an alum, I've often thought about approaching Lehigh U. about the large field near Stabler arena but that could really be a can of worms, especially since all the profs and people that I knew there are gone by now.

Randy
Coopersburg
Click to expand...

Agreed. The Lehigh Valley is a big place, so you'd think we'd be able to find *some* place to launch. In the past, I got permission from Easton to launch at Hackett Park, but it's not ideal - there are just too many rocket-eating trees (I think we lost half of the Viking rockets we launched, even using streamers for recovery).

I approached Forks Township (north of Easton) a number of years ago, since the fields next to the community center would be great, but was declined.

My son goes to Easton Area High School, and they just formed a rocketry club there. They're looking for places to launch and I'm planning on helping them with that. It maybe easier to find something by working the high school angle (rather than just being some random person who wants to launch in a field :))

Ken
 
PayLoad said:
Go Iron Pigs - Just moved from Orefield to Co Springs
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Nice - Colorado Springs is beautiful. My son and I spent two days there in 2021 on our way out to Philmont Scout Ranch for our big backpacking trip. The Garden of the Gods is beautiful!
 
NukeHavoc said:
Agreed. The Lehigh Valley is a big place, so you'd think we'd be able to find *some* place to launch. In the past, I got permission from Easton to launch at Hackett Park, but it's not ideal - there are just too many rocket-eating trees (I think we lost half of the Viking rockets we launched, even using streamers for recovery).

I approached Forks Township (north of Easton) a number of years ago, since the fields next to the community center would be great, but was declined.

My son goes to Easton Area High School, and they just formed a rocketry club there. They're looking for places to launch and I'm planning on helping them with that. It maybe easier to find something by working the high school angle (rather than just being some random person who wants to launch in a field :))

Ken
Click to expand...
I’ve been sifting through all the park rules in the area, and the only places I’ve found so far without explicit restrictions are N/S Whitehall Townships. (But I have yet to test those.) Also Lehigh County does not have written restrictions but it’s unclear which are municipal parks vs those run by the county. Long ago, there was a LV rocketry club. Maybe it’s time for one again. After all, we are the 3rd largest metro area in the state. The Philly Area club is kind of inconvenient.
 
kev1833 said:
I’ve been sifting through all the park rules in the area, and the only places I’ve found so far without explicit restrictions are N/S Whitehall Townships. (But I have yet to test those.) Also Lehigh County does not have written restrictions but it’s unclear which are municipal parks vs those run by the county. Long ago, there was a LV rocketry club. Maybe it’s time for one again. After all, we are the 3rd largest metro area in the state. The Philly Area club is kind of inconvenient.
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When I first got back into rocketry I went looking for a club in the Lehigh Valley. The NAR site had one listed, but it wasn't operating. After emailing with a few of those folks, the lack of a launch area is what did them in. I have to think if we can find a launch area, there'd be interest.

And yeah, Philly's inconvenient - I think it's easier to get to NJ or New York (unless, of course, there's bad traffic, but I'll take my chances on 78 over the PA Turnpike (not that either is great, but the drive into Philly occasionally feels like a scene from Mad Max).
 
If the Philly club you're thinking of is PARA, their field isn't near Philly. It's on Rte. 611 on the other side of Lake Nockamixon. I've flown there a couple of times. It's an OK field but quite a few trees as I remember it.

Randy
 
Hmmm. That's closer than I thought; for some reason, I thought it was further south. I don't mind losing a few rockets; I have limited space at home, so one of my assumptions is that I"ll lose some, which makes room to build some more. :)
 
If you're familiar with taking 412 down to 611, it's a few miles down 611 from where 412 hits.

I think they were limited to G motors the last time that I was there but that was quite a few years ago.

Randy
 
Heh, I've never launched anything larger than a D, so G would be a substantial step up for me. :)
 

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