Just curious How many Rockets do you keep ready to fly

[sinbintd1]

I tend to bring eight to ten "ready to fly" rockets to a monthly launch. Usually get to fly all 10. I have approximately forty built and ready for rotation, depending on the wind during the time of year. I also have @ (cough) fifty on the build pile and two or three in the building stage.

 

[Paul Howard]

I tend to bring eight to ten "ready to fly" rockets to a monthly launch. Usually get to fly all 10. I have approximately forty built and ready for rotation, depending on the wind during the time of year. I also have @ (cough) fifty on the build pile and two or three in the building stage.

Where I live, Rocketry is the "new skateboarding" (if you grew up skateboarding in the 70's, 80's and 90's you know what "that" means), so generally I take one to 1-3 that I can fit in my cardboard "rocket box" strapped to my backpack full of launcher, launch controller, motors, the doo-dads box with igniters, igniter plugs, etc, binoculars and ride my bike to launch after a short reconnaissance ride and look with the binoculars. If everything is "clear" then I launch, have a blast and move on after 2-8 launches.

 

[Antares JS]

Roughly the same as OP, though I'm pretty sure I have more than forty built rockets, but who's counting... Which ones I fly in a month just depends on which ones haven't flown yet, which ones I have motors for, and which ones I feel like flying.

 

[Bill S]

I usually pick out between 10 and 15 rockets to bring with me to a launch, typically 3-5 days beforehand, then I prep them (minus engines) the day before the launch. I've got 40+ to choose from, though about 1/3rd of them are my wife and son's rockets so I don't bring them unless they are coming along.

 

[Back_at_it]

I typically only take around 12-15 out for any given launch day as I get tired of chasing them.

As for completed and ready to fly. I don't have a number on it. Somewhere north of 100

EDIT: You guys made me go count. Actual number is 114.

 

[Hobie1dog]

10 or 12

 

[Zeta]

It totally depends on how many CATO's I had last time.... seriously not having good luck lately !

 

[brockrwood]

I tend to bring eight to ten "ready to fly" rockets to a monthly launch. Usually get to fly all 10. I have approximately forty built and ready for rotation, depending on the wind during the time of year. I also have @ (cough) fifty on the build pile and two or three in the building stage.

I only fly LPR, so this answer only applies to LPR rockets

Define “ready”. If you mean flyable condition but otherwise not prepped for flight, about 8 or so.

If you mean with engine, igniter, recovery wadding, and folded parachute all installed and ready to slide down the launch rod, then the answer is zero.

I fear an accident if I keep an engine and igniter installed in a rocket.

I install the engine and the igniter the morning of the launch day. At the launch site, I put recovery wadding into the bird, powder the parachute, and then carefully put the shock cord and parachute in.

I like to keep a plastic parachute unfolded and uninstalled until right before launch to prevent the dreaded “para-wad” phenomenon.

 

[afadeev]

The answer depends on the type of rockets I plan to fly.
If I'm planning to fly HP, I rarely bring more than 2 to fly on any given day. Between DD prep, tracking setup considerations, batteries and what not, more than that gets hectic.

For LP or MP, you can definitely fly many more. At the same time, I don't think I ever flew more than 6-8 LP/MP rockets on any given day, and safely transporting that many gets tricky.

For an average half-day launch, I will usually bring 4-8, and fly 2-5. Or 1 HP + 1-2 LP/MP.
Usually because I ran into someone and haven't seen for a while, and chatting and catching up takes precedence over flying.

YMMV,
a

 

[tsmith1315]

Right now I have 5 that could be prepped for flight. There may be some parachute sharing. Hmm, with nosecone sharing, maybe 6 ready to prep. 4 HPR, 1 MPR, 1LPR.
Haven't flown much lately, but typical club launch day for me would be 2-4 LPR, 1-2 MPR, and 1HPR. I prep at the field, slowly, and enjoy the day watching the other flights.

 

[Bartlebear]

What’s a CATO?

 

[Bartlebear]

Forgot to answer. One. I’m still new to this and getting my mistakes out as much as I can On my first. Thread coming.

 

[crossfire]

What’s a CATO?

When your motor has a failure it goes kaboom.

 

[cerving]

Ready to fly? Almost none... unless there's one that I didn't launch the last time that I went out. I'm a little different than most flyers... when I launch it's usually to test out "something"... firmware, hardware, AV bay configurations, etc. I usually do the prep a week or two ahead of the launch. Almost all of them are HPR dual deploy with trackers, so they take a bit more work than an LPR with a B6-4.

 

[boatgeek]

Like a lot of other people here, my fleet is pretty much never ready to fly unless I'm actively headed out to the field. Even then, I usually keep things like chutes in my recovery box, motors in the motor box, etc. so that I pack the appropriate rockets and then the general boxes. I'm usually flying 2-3 rockets at the same time as my TARC team is working, so I'm not trying to get as many flights as possible. I'll probably try doing more prep for a high power launch this Labor Day.

 

[les]

I try to bring about 8 per day of LPR flying. Fewer if I'm going to do any HPR.
Between LPR ~ HPR I have a selection of around 200 to choose from.
First priority is any new rocket that has yet to be flown.
After that, depends on what I feel like, expected field condition, etc.

I don't pre-prep them. Do it all at the field (again, will vary based on winds, farm growth, etc.

 

[brockrwood]

Between LPR ~ HPR I have a selection of around 200 to choose from

:-0

 

[brockrwood]

EDIT: You guys made me go count. Actual number is 114.

:-0

 

[boatgeek]

For a different bound on this, my fleet (including those that need a little repair but not those that are irreparably damaged or not built yet) runs to a grand total of 13 rockets.

 

[sinbintd1]

I only fly LPR, so this answer only applies to LPR rockets

Define “ready”. If you mean flyable condition but otherwise not prepped for flight, about 8 or so.

If you mean with engine, igniter, recovery wadding, and folded parachute all installed and ready to slide down the launch rod, then the answer is zero.

I fear an accident if I keep an engine and igniter installed in a rocket.

I install the engine and the igniter the morning of the launch day. At the launch site, I put recovery wadding into the bird, powder the parachute, and then carefully put the shock cord and parachute in.

I like to keep a plastic parachute unfolded and uninstalled until right before launch to prevent the dreaded “para-wad” phenomenon.

Ready = prepped so it just needs to be placed on launch rod, plug in the engine, igniter and start count down

 

[brockrwood]

Ready = prepped so it just needs to be placed on launch rod, plug in the engine, igniter and start count down

“Ready” includes recovery wadding (blanket, baffle, wadding, or dog barf) already installed? Parachute and shock cord all folded and shoved into tube?

By this definition, I could have a rocket “ready” the day before the launch, but only if the rocket has a nylon parachute. If it is has a plastic parachute, I fear the parachute not fully opening if it sits in the rocket compressed overnight. So I don’t install the prarachute until the last minute.

Sometimes I will cheat and insert dog barf, powder the ‘chute, and install chute and shock cord a couple of hours before launch time.

 

[brockrwood]

Forgot to answer. One. I’m still new to this and getting my mistakes out as much as I can On my first. Thread coming.

I don’t think anyone knows where the actonym (if it is an acronym), “CATO” comes from. I think it means “catastrophic failure at take off” or something similar.

For us rocketeers, a CATO event usually refers to a rocket engine that was defective or damaged in some way. Instead of propelling your rocket upwards, the engine, upon ignition, explodes, sometimes destroying your rocket in the process.

 

[tsmith1315]

Ready = prepped so it just needs to be placed on launch rod, plug in the engine, igniter and start count down

Mmm, then zero. I always take them apart and inspect/repack before flight.

 

[brockrwood]

For a different bound on this, my fleet (including those that need a little repair but not those that are irreparably damaged or not built yet) runs to a grand total of 13 rockets.

My whole fleet (squadron?) is probably about 20 rockets that have been built and flown and came back (or partially came back). Of those 20, about 8 are flyable if prepped. Another 6 are flyable if repaired (walking wounded). The final 4 are the mortally wounded unless extraordinary measures are taken to resuscitate the patient.

 

[brockrwood]

My whole fleet (squadron?) is probably about 20 rockets that have been built and flown and came back (or partially came back). Of those 20, about 8 are flyable if prepped. Another 6 are flyable if repaired (walking wounded). The final 4 are the mortally wounded unless extraordinary measures are taken to resuscitate the patient.

I don’t count rockets built but not yet flown (1), or a rocket under construction (1) as part of the fleet. A rocket has to fly and come back to earn the honor of being inducted into the “Brockster Strategic Rocket Forces”.

 

[brockrwood]

My whole fleet (squadron?) is probably about 20 rockets that have been built and flown and came back (or partially came back). Of those 20, about 8 are flyable if prepped. Another 6 are flyable if repaired (walking wounded). The final 4 are the mortally wounded unless extraordinary measures are taken to resuscitate the patient.

The “Lucky Seven” here counts as “mortally wounded”. I am doubtful extraordinary measures will be undertaken to save this patient.

 

[neil_w]

Mmm, then zero. I always take them apart and inspect/repack before flight.

Same here. I would never want to trust whatever that shiftless moron did to prep the rockets last time.

Well, I guess my Quinstars and the Odd'l Cyclone require no prep, so they're ready to go. That's why I always bring at least one of them to every launch.

 

[brockrwood]

I would never want to trust whatever that shiftless moron did to prep the rockets last time.

Ha! Ha!

 

[Zeta]

What’s a CATO?

C = Rapid
A = unanticipated
T = Rocket
O = Disassembly

 

[TheBob]

At least 3 to 7