Greetings from Oakland, CA

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Hello Folks. My son and I have gotten into model rocketry after he devoured the Make: Rockets series from cover to cover and after playing with KSP for several years. (Good excuse to get him out of the house...) We are flying with our local club (LUNAR) and have built and flown a few Estes kits/scratch builds using 18mm BP motors. I'm hooked now and interested in moving up to mid power / larger rockets with payloads / electronics. More projects lined up! Best Regards.
 
Hello Folks. My son and I have gotten into model rocketry after he devoured the Make: Rockets series from cover to cover and after playing with KSP for several years. (Good excuse to get him out of the house...) We are flying with our local club (LUNAR) and have built and flown a few Estes kits/scratch builds using 18mm BP motors. I'm hooked now and interested in moving up to mid power / larger rockets with payloads / electronics. More projects lined up! Best Regards.
Welcome aboard!

Me personally, I currently have two rockets that I’ve taken into the mid-power range: A Hi-Flier XL and a Star Orbiter. It’s difficult to go wrong with either.

Regardless of what you’ve got, please share some photos. We love those here.😁
 
Thank you for the welcome! Here's one that we named Pinna Crassa (fat fin) since the 1/8" balsa fins on the BT50 tube caused OpenRocket to flag a warning "Thick fins may not be modeled accurately".

Also, thank you for the advice on mid-power rocketry--a Star Orbiter is definitely on my to-do list.
 

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Welcome!

You may also want to take a look at the Aerotech rockets. They are designed to fly Aerotech mid-power motors. You can fly their 18 mm or 24 mm motors in Estes rockets, too.

I like the HV Arcas from Aerotech. It’s a fairly big rocket that can fly well on small mid-power motors and is a great high power Level 1 rocket if you slightly modify it.

Good luck to both your son and you!
 
Welcome!

I fly with LUNAR too. Another semi-local club you might want to check out is SARG (Sacramento Area Rocketry Group). They are another family-friendly low power and mid power club, no high power. Like LUNAR, their flying season is likely over until rains return in winter.

I have some friends who like to attend launches in Nevada at the Sierra rocketry club because their season starts about when LUNAR’s ends. I’ve never flown there due to the long drive.

You”ve got a lot of great rocketry ahead of you! The first step is probably some D and E motor rockets with 24mm motor mounts and body tubes around 2-3” in diameter.

And then F and G powered rockets with 29mm motor mounts and 3-4” body tubes. That’s often where you start using heavier materials, like plywood centering rings and fins, kevlar and tubular nylon shock cords, nylon chutes, etc. some of the 4” G motor rockets straddle the line to high-power and can fly on H motors and serve as good L1 certification rockets.

Enjoy!
 
Welcome!

You may also want to take a look at the Aerotech rockets. They are designed to fly Aerotech mid-power motors. You can fly their 18 mm or 24 mm motors in Estes rockets, too.

I like the HV Arcas from Aerotech. It’s a fairly big rocket that can fly well on small mid-power motors and is a great high power Level 1 rocket if you slightly modify it.

Good luck to both your son and you!

Aerotech does have some interesting rockets. The one thing unique about them is the way the fins are made of molded plastic, and the way they lock into place. I’ve only built one, and it was actually one of my favorite rockets of all time — the G-Force. And that’s also a great example of what I was talking about when I mentioned 4” rockets that fly great on G motors at non-HPR launches and Level 1 H motors at high power launches. I flew mine all the time to about 1,500’ at LUNAR on H motors, and 700’ or so at SARG on G motors. Perfect for both fields. One of their kits that I think looks really cool for F motors is the Strong Arm.
 
Welcome, from Las Vegas, NV! Lots of great people and good info here. I recently completed and flew a mid-power scratch built rocket. I never could have done it without the help I got on this forum. Good luck to you and your son!
 
Aerotech does have some interesting rockets. The one thing unique about them is the way the fins are made of molded plastic, and the way they lock into place. I’ve only built one, and it was actually one of my favorite rockets of all time — the G-Force. And that’s also a great example of what I was talking about when I mentioned 4” rockets that fly great on G motors at non-HPR launches and Level 1 H motors at high power launches. I flew mine all the time to about 1,500’ at LUNAR on H motors, and 700’ or so at SARG on G motors. Perfect for both fields. One of their kits that I think looks really cool for F motors is the Strong Arm.
TB is right. Another good AT 4 inch rocket is the Sumo. It flies well on G motors and does great on H motors. Just remember to shorten the delay grain so it deploys the chute at the proper time.
 
Thank you all for the kind advice--we certainly have a long journey ahead! I'm currently building an Estes Olympus (BT65 body tube with 24mm motor mount) and using it to improve my technique--adding balsa centering rings, epoxy fillets / paper skins to fins, and kevlar shock cord. I will definitely take a second look at Aerotech kits as I progress to 29mm motors. Looking forward to more flying when the winter rains return here.
 
Thank you all for the kind advice--we certainly have a long journey ahead! I'm currently building an Estes Olympus (BT65 body tube with 24mm motor mount) and using it to improve my technique--adding balsa centering rings, epoxy fillets / paper skins to fins, and kevlar shock cord. I will definitely take a second look at Aerotech kits as I progress to 29mm motors. Looking forward to more flying when the winter rains return here.
You may also want to take a look at the AT Enerjet 24mm motors, too. They really give a kick to the Estes rockets that black powder motors can’t beat! 🚀
 
Aerotech does have some interesting rockets. The one thing unique about them is the way the fins are made of molded plastic, and the way they lock into place. I’ve only built one, and it was actually one of my favorite rockets of all time — the G-Force.

STRONG ADVICE : If you build any of those AEROTECH rockets, be SURE to put a motor or motor casing into the motor mount, BEFORE atttempting to "Snap-In" the plastic fins. If EXTRA FORCE is required to make the fins "snap" into place, you might get a "nasty surprise", unless the motor tube is internally braced.

Dave F.
 
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