Joey's Rockets

[Gus]

My nephew Joey built several new rockets which he flew this weekend, along with some old ones.

I figured he'd like your comments.

Launch report, supplied by my brother:

joey spent the last couple of weekends building three new rockets to add to
his arsenal. we headed out to a desert area north of town on a hot (95 +/-)
slightly breezy day. we removed all parachutes & substituted streamers to
keep em from drifting too far in the wind. only shade was from the open
tailgate on my jeep. we used that as our staging area. the car still reeks
of burnt rocket engines.

we lauched about 25 times. results:

mini green rocket - about 4 inches long. exploded in mid-flight. turns out
joey had painted the nosecone to the body. on the second charge it self
imolated. joey was quite pleased. thought it was cool. only cost 3 bucks
so he didn't care like a $10 model.

totally tubular - the yellow one - flew great every time. also descended
most gracefully on it's streamer. our new favorite.

generic red - second highest flights. lost a fin on its second or third
landing. we'll make a new one.

green & black - highest flyer by far. went or exceeded its 2000 foot
claim. first launch on a c64 put the thing in the jetstream and it landed
over a mile away. took 3 of us about 1/2 hour to find. after that we cut
back to b engines. still went plenty high.

fat boy - came with the launch pad kit from walmart. not much bulding
involved but they loved it. put about a 20' streamer in it. used up all
our c engines on it after we switched to b's for the little guys. lost the
launch lug after a few fights. literally put a drink straw on with about 4
pounds of tape & it still flew well.

yellow & red - joeys oldest rocket (that's still alive). flew great even
with dinged up fins.

 

[Gus]

Prepping his rocket.

 

[Gus]

Launch! (Great pic by my brother)

 

[Gus]

Found it!

 

[kenobi65]

Originally posted by Gus
totally tubular - the yellow one - flew great every time. also descended
most gracefully on it's streamer. our new favorite.

That's a sweet design...I love mine, she performs just like yours.

 

[jflis]

Great launch report and I love the pictures. It took me back to when I was a kid and would launch rockets in the gravel pit near my grandfathers house in Schroon Lake, NY

good memories

 

[wscarvie]

Hi Gus,

Thanks for sharing. It sounds like Joey had a great time! Nice pics, too. Especially the launch photo.

If Joey likes inexpensive high fliers, you might consider recommending the Estes Wizard, and the Fliskits Midnight Express (which will challenge him a bit more, too). Boy, those rockets really scoot on any motor!

Thanks again.

 

[Fore Check]

Nice desert launch pics!

The Quest PipSqueak and Custom Razor are also very good cheap high altitude birds.

 

[Len B]

One thing that makes me happier than seeing old guys like me launching rockets is to see young kids doing it. It really takes me back.

Nice report and nice rockets!

Len Bryan

 

[jpasqual]

Great job Joey!!! - I really love the pict's. Sounds like everyone had a great time. I had the same problem with my Alpha 3 - drifted for about a half mile ( or seemed like it) and didn't manage to get it back. Whats on the agenda for you next rockets. Keep us posted eh - John

 

[pleiade]

My 6 year old grandson loves to build and fly model rockets. I agree, its more fun watching the kids enjoying the hobby than doing it by yourself. We had a launch day on Easter Sunday afternoon and again about 2 weeks later. Out favorites are the Totally Tubular and Ram Jet. Estes' Snitch flying saucer was also a favorite.
Dan

 

[matt_taylor]

Looks like you guys had alot of fun, it may be B and C now but soon it will be E and G and those days are somthing to really look foward.

keep up the good work guys

 

[g_boxwood]

Originally posted by Gus
we lauched about 25 times. results:
our new favorite.

That's great!!! Never had the chance to launch *that* number of times!!! How about when the promising fellow will become an HPR-addict ?!

Hey Joey, You've got a large amount of really nice rockets! And it seems You don't fear to test them close to their limits! Now *that* is the attitude!!!

Great lanuch site too...

Ciao,

Giacomo

 

[WiK]

I had a PipSqueak! But then the kevlar burnt through and the streamer stayed with the nose cone and drifted across the channel to France, and the body fell back next to the pad!


Glad you had a good time, and I hope you keep going with rocketry.


Phil

 

[jerryb]

fliskits.com has cheap (free) paper rockets... that are easy to build from a sheet of cardstock.. and fly remarkably well on B and C motors.

https://www.fliskits.com/products/01prod_fs.htm

we built several and launched them at this past months launch... incredible value... <g>

later
Jerry Boudreaux
St. Martinville, LA

Originally posted by wscarvie
Hi Gus,

Thanks for sharing. It sounds like Joey had a great time! Nice pics, too. Especially the launch photo.

If Joey likes inexpensive high fliers, you might consider recommending the Estes Wizard, and the Fliskits Midnight Express (which will challenge him a bit more, too). Boy, those rockets really scoot on any motor!

Thanks again.

 

[jflis]

Jerry, thank you

The free rockets (The Midnight Express (Skill Level 2) and the Caution: Rocket Launch In Progress (Skill Level 1) can be found on our site here: https://fliskits.com/products/free_stuff.htm

Great fun. The Midnight Express design has been flying for about 15 years and has seen uncounted thousands of flights all over the north east (and now all over the world). A proven performer. I used to provide them to classes who were tight on a budget.

The Caution: Rocket Launch In Progress is a newer design taking some aspects of another design that I have that will find its way into production some day. I came up with it primarily to provide an easier to build paper rocket.

they both go like gang busters on even A motors and will zip out of sight on C motors

jim

 

[Gus]

Jim,

From the looks of the rockets Joey built, it seems like he might be ready for a solid Level 2 construction kit.

Don't you think it would be even better if Joey's uncle actually went to the Fliskits site and ordered Joey a Praetor, a Cheetah, or a Long Overdue?

You're the expert here, I'm just the uncle. I know Joey and his dad are following this thread and I want them to know that when it comes to rockets, I wouldn't do anything rash (who, me?).

Your guidance, please.

 

[jerryb]

I have built a half dozen of the Midnight Express and Tour De Deuce models and all have flown wonderfully.

I at our last launch i sent up a Tour de Deuce up on a c6-5 and it did indeed go "out of sight" I never saw it once it left the pad.. and luckily one of the other folks saw it just before touchdown.. one of the longest landings of the day. landed probably 1/4 mile from pad. well worth the walk to get it and effort to build a very sharp looking kit.

also attempted the caution rocket, on two occasions, but may be missing something, as both of them FLEW beautifully, but when the ejection charge blew, the bodys ballooned, causing the cone to hang in the tube.. and both times the gasses bypassed the wadding and torched the streamers. not one to give up.. i have another one printed and ready to assemble, will try overstuffing next guy with wadding a flew great and very easy to assemble, just the two snafus with the ejections.

Originally posted by jflis
Jerry, thank you

jim

 

[jflis]

Originally posted by Gus
Jim,

From the looks of the rockets Joey built, it seems like he might be ready for a solid Level 2 construction kit.

Don't you think it would be even better if Joey's uncle actually went to the Fliskits site and ordered Joey a Praetor, a Cheetah, or a Long Overdue?

You're the expert here, I'm just the uncle. I know Joey and his dad are following this thread and I want them to know that when it comes to rockets, I wouldn't do anything rash (who, me?).

Your guidance, please.

Yep, you gotta move'em along at *some* point

The Cheetah may be a bit much yet. That would make a good *later* Skill Level 2 kit. The Praetor, the Long OverDue and even the Pheord X150 would be good kits. The Pheord X150 is riddled with dry humor about red-necks and the kids tend to get a kick out of it (adults too ) Plus, with all the stickers, there isn't anything to have to paint

Go for it! We have them all in stock

Also, keep us posted on how he does with this and other kits!

jim

 

[Gus]

OK Jim,

A Praetor and Long Overdue it is. Order is in.

And when Joey builds these, and posts flight pics, he gets to choose the next one from your lineup himself.

 

[Bob Stephenson]

Hey Joey,

seems that Gus is one very proud uncle and from the look of your rockets in the photos he has every right to be. They look like a 'rickapoonie' and a 'fandooglie' (which is an old Austraian way of saying they look great ).

I've got to say that I'm impressed with 25 launches in one day as we have been in drought down here for the fourth year and it is too dry to launch safely over summer.

If you take any more launch photos be sure to post them here on the forum. There's nothing that I enjoy more than seeing rockets heading straight up into the blue !

Cheers

(Evil) Bob