How do you store your rockets?

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HemiLess

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Greetings - I rediscovered rocketry when I purchased a starter kit for my son Christmas 2007. But we didn't really get heavily involved until this past summer when his Cub Scout Pack had a summer launch. At which time our fleet was at a modest three rockets. Now almost 6 1/2 months later our fleet has grown to 64 rockets, with approximately 20 more to build.

Needless to say we are out of space and in need of storage solutions. I'm also interested in solutions to transporting rockets safely.

Thanks.
 
I stand them up, or lay them on their side, on my shelves, drawers, desk, etc. Some are in the basement, others are in the closet. Haha.
 
... well, currently I am storing one at the bottom of a hole about a half mile from where I launched it. All the others get their own little stands, or a place of honor hanging on the wall of my work shop.

Regards,

FlyBack
 
I've taken some 1" x 4" and drilled holes to mount dowels. The dowels fit into the engine mount. You either have to get smaller dowels (and built up with tape/paper) or have a lathe. I built some shelves to put all the 1x4 on. I've got over 100 rockets stored this way (but my shelves are getting full and I've run out of room to build more (well, I can think of places to put shelves but the wife does not agree:p))
 
I get the square and round plaques whenever unfinished wood is on sale at Hobby Lobby. Then I give them a coat of dark varnish, such as cherry or walnut. Attach a spent motor casing at the center of the top side with a 1.25" general purpose screw and you you have a nice display base for a small model. Use bigger bases and larger spent motors to mount larger models. A CHAD base can be fashioned from black plastic primer trays leftover from metallic cartridge reloading. (Inquire at local gun shop or shooting club.) These can usually be had for the asking. You will need to drill a hole for the screw.

Some rocketeers also hang their models from the ceiling when they aren't flying them.
 
i've nearly taken over a store room at my school, they are organised in tray into gliders, stubbies, Blurrzz, R2D2 (i have a few) and then theres an entire side about 4 metrs long with then stood up - and a few boxes in my lab, and then there's a room in my house, and there's one of the stair cases where every step has something on it (fortunately we don't use those stairs) - i need to get myself organised.
 
Well, it depends on whether you're storing or displaying, and that ground has been pretty well covered here. CD-ROM case bottoms, with the 'spike' sticking up, are handy instant display bases.

As for transport, it's hard to beat those big plastic tubs from Walmart. A cheap and easy solution to vibration isolation is, instead of packing peanuts or balls of newspaper which can smudge ink on your rockets, I get a couple boxes of various cheap ziplock style bags, like gallon-ish size and sandwich size. Open the bag, then zip it about 90% back shut, leaving only about the last inch of the corner un-zipped. Pinch the zipper with one hand and push in on the end of the open corner with the other hand, and the zipper will 'pop open, and then you can blow the bag up like a balloon. Once it's full of air, while still blowing on it, zip it shut right quick. Now you have a handy air filled storage pillow. Fill a bunch of them and you can stack your rockets in the tubs and they'll be cushioned from bumps and smacking into each other. It's also handy that you can see through the air-filled bags, unlike packing peanuts and other such stuff, and of course they're light since it's 99% air...

Good luck! OL JR :)
 
I store mine in their Dr. Zooch crush-proof boxes :rolleyes:

Every few loads of boxes that I get for the kits has some damaged to the point where they cannot be used for shipping kits that I want to sell to my customers. Uline replaces the damaged ones in 24 hours or less and lets me keep the damaged product, which I use to store company components and rockets. Works great- they stack nicely and it does not matter to me if they are dinged.

Slightly OT... A quick word about Uline... they are THE BEST at customer service. Last time I called the phone didn't even ring before a REAL PERSON answered. No "Press 1 for english" or "Listen closely because our menu has changed" junk. My problem was fixed to my 100% satisfaction in less than 3 minutes!

Now... back on topic.
 
That's good to know Doc. I don't know how, but I got on the Uline mailing list. The catalog is awesome.
 
You were in the Navy for 20 years? You should know hot to pack things tightly.
Low power
rocket002.jpg

Mid/High power
rocket180.jpg
rocket073.jpg
 
I appreciate all of the feedback from everyone. And glad to know that as I was over thinking the solution to my problem. It appears that I'm in step with everyone here.

fox_racing_guy -> Just short of 20 years. Only 17 (Active Duty and Reserves combined). But you're right I might need to a few flashback moments and pack them in tightly. Especially to make peace with the wife.
 
I know there are several of us on TRF who've been in the hobby for "awhile".

I'm working on Fleet #2 after loosing most of my models to break-in theif/vandels in the mid 70's. At the time I was living in an two bedroom apartment so most of the fleet was stored in our storage room...Big mistake:(

Currently my fleet of 319 models mostly resides in a sears 10' x10'x 12' shed mostly standing up on motor mount stands that take the weigth off the fins. some of the longer models are stored laying down in the rafters.
Many of my better scale models are sorted through out the house along with some PMC's and a few MPRs.
My 800sq ft townhouse is on the small size so you can see Room is always a problem, which is one of the reasons i've all but stopped building standard and Large model Rockets.. downsizing to Micros which now count 161.
Having most of the bulk....rockets and gear out in the shed help a bunch.

The last couple photos are of a 1"x 3" x 48" long, doweled rack system I worked out for carring sets of 8 models that can stack or interlock so they can be staked down out on the field or while ride vertically stable in the van.
 
I made this one weekend for about $30 in materials It will hold more than 50 rockets

P4150077.jpg P4140075.jpg
 
I hang my taller ones from strings in my garage. Most of what have will stand up on their own. When I need a stand I will take a spent motor casing and epoxy it to an old CD.

ga1ba2, that is amazing! I'd like to see more shots from other angles.

I was an MT2 (SS) and was in for 10 years. Now I'm a RT (R). See avatar.
 
I agree with Judo, that is truly amazing ga1ba2. Any additional shots? Building plans, supply list would be great.

I was stationed in San Diego, Philippines, and Atlanta.
 
Here are a few more pics, I"ll look for my rough drawings and parts list.

P4140076.jpg P4160082.jpg P4150079.jpg
 
For LPR, one of the handiest things I did was take a 2x4 and drill a series of holes down the length. Each hole got a short length of dowel, the right size for an 18mm motor.

The 2x4 was then mounted on the garage wall at a 45 degree angle with inexpensive angle brackets. It made for a convenient, out of the way place to store LPR.

Our current garage doesn't lend itself to that, so now they're primarily stacked on a shelf, set in a bucket that I haul to launches, and packed in a plastic storage tote. The latter, because that's what I haul when I talk to groups of kids.

HPR, primarily, hangs on lengths of tubular nylon strung between bicycle hooks on the garage ceiling.

Except for stuff that requires a storage unit. That's a totally different ballgame.

For the latter, the livingroom of unsuspecting friends who are out of the country and silly enough to leave you their house keys is a handy place.....

-Kevin
 
The extra large tinker toys are your friends. I use them all the time to make all diferent sizes of stands. and other helpfull building devices. I have an entire room dedicated to my rockets. as well as the tv in the living room ( i build wile sitting in my recliner).

the tinkiner toys i nab at savers and salvation army all the time. the only thing different from the photos is that now i have slightly wider peice under it to help the prevent from tipping. on the tops of the pegs i use expent motor caseings.

100_1922.jpg

astron space plane 1.jpg

Cluster Bomb.jpg
 
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That's good to know Doc. I don't know how, but I got on the Uline mailing list. The catalog is awesome.
For some reason, I got one too a little while ago. Lots of good stuff in there. I was eyeing the large-diameter tubes... :D

MarkII
 
I store mine in large Rubbermade type containers with layers of bubble wrap between layers of rockets. That is also how I transport them to launches, so they are always packed and ready to go. For a few that I don't fly that are always displayed on a shelf, Semroc makes a pretty cool rocket rack.
 
Here's my crew, standing behind my rocket transport and storage solution:

20080927-074-my-crew.jpg


That's Justin, my "protege'", his sister Jaclyn, and my daughter Taylor. Just in case you were interested.
 
fox_racing_guy -> Just short of 20 years. Only 17 (Active Duty and Reserves combined). But you're right I might need to a few flashback moments and pack them in tightly. Especially to make peace with the wife.

I seen the gold chevrons and maybe my memory is slipping but I thought you got those at 20? I do know thats not a photo of the Ranger CV61, I was on her with VF-1 in 1990-91. I imagine it's much different now with "waves" aboard. Thank you for your continued service to our country.

PR2 Mark
 
You're correct, thats not the Ranger. I built the signature image at militarysignatures.com, and they didn't have an image of an aircraft carrier. I remember VF-1, I was on the ship from 1984 to 1988, when they filmed Top Gun and Star Trek onboard her. The gold is awarded after 12 years of good conduct.
 
I put most of my rockets on a shelf in the basement, in a pile. The only rocket that I can't put on the shelf is the Talon, the darn thing is too big!

Maybe I can convince my parents to let me hang it from the ceiling in my room. Wouldn't THAT be a fun thing to explain to friends! :rolleyes: :eek:
 
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