Launching with Dad

[Planet Andy]

Now I know that to many of you Rocketry is a Father/Son/Daughter activity. My dad remembered us doing rocketry when we were kids and was kind of amused when I became a BAR a year or so ago. In that time he has progressively seen my models get more complicated and better finished. A retired IBM engineer Dad's like McGyver ya know he can fix anything with a toothpick and a pocket knife.We turned several nosecones together in his shop for some scratchbuilds etc. but he had always declined an invitation to come out and launch with me. When the weather started to get nice he began to ask me if I was going launching and this weekend he actually said he would like to come along. It was great! We launched the astron scout clone that he turned the nose on, Starlight Hyperon, Custom Ion Pulsar and an Estes Gemini DC. Best part of the video is hearing him say "coooool" the first time he saw a chute deploy. I let him hit the button every time and I video'd the liftoffs with him in frame. He really liked doing the countdown also.Unfortunately I was too quick tracking the rockets lifting off to get a really good reaction but the look on his face at ignition is pretty good also. This shot is the Ion Pulsar lifting off with my dad Al hitting the button. He said he would definetely like to launch again sometime!

Hour and a half launching with your dad...priceless.

Andy

 

[cls]

that's a good picture!

Father's Day is coming up - maybe you can get your dad a Big Daddy kit?

I am sure if my dad were still around he'd just love flying rockets with me & the kids.

 

[Rocket Guy 1317]

Thats a great picture you got there. Maybe get your dad the Estes Alpha 3 starter set its only 20 bucks great deal and maybe one other kits like an Estes Fatboy. I wish my dad was into flying rockets. My dad just likes taking me to the launches and watch me fly rockets. So how to get my dad into flying rockets?

 

[BRS Hobbies]

Great post! Some of my best model rocket launches have been with my Dad. It is so nice to be able to enjoy model rocketry and the outdoors with your loved ones.

Best regards,
Brian

 

[Planet Andy]

Originally posted by cls
that's a good picture!

Father's Day is coming up - maybe you can get your dad a Big Daddy kit?

I am sure if my dad were still around he'd just love flying rockets with me & the kids.

Ya Cliff,
So far he hasn't expresed interest in building only to the extent of turning whatever nosecones I need for scratch builds. He has built and continues to build Countless amazing pieces of furniture to specs. Yes the picture is priceless, wonderful, you hit the sentiment there exactly, I'm happy to have gotten him out and spend the time with him. Maybe this Thanksgiving he'll come out to my launch with his Grandkids, my Nephews...Three generations. If mom was still walking the planet she would've gone nuts over the chocolate pudding I made entirely from scratch this weekend.

Originally posted by Rocket Guy 1317
Thats a great picture you got there. Maybe get your dad the Estes Alpha 3 starter set its only 20 bucks great deal and maybe one other kits like an Estes Fatboy. I wish my dad as into flying rockets. My dad just likes taking me to the launches and watch me fly rockets. So how to get my dad into flying rockets?

RG,

(edited for confidentiality)For Father's day I can't say what he's getting in case he wanders into here. Currently as the only non father in the tribe I do host the Barbecue so the fathers's don't lift a finger.(edit ends) Maybe next time he's over I'll show him my drawer o' kits and see if he wants to take one back to his shop and build one...however he would first probably get the dimensions of the parts and tool up precise jigs for the cutting and alignment of each piece, determine the molecular makeup of the components, do a cost/basis analysis of the logic of the instructions, a chart comparison of the glues etc. Of course I'll tell him to just come here to TRF for that stuff. As for your dad, keep on showing stuff you're doing and maybe he'll eventually become intrigued.

Thanks Brian, you got it man,

Andy

 

[jflis]

Originally posted by cls
that's a good picture!

Father's Day is coming up - maybe you can get your dad a Big Daddy kit?

Heck, just *look* at that picture. You have the makings of a wonderful, one-of-a-kind Father's Day card there, fella

 

[Planet Andy]

Originally posted by jflis
Heck, just *look* at that picture. You have the makings of a wonderful, one-of-a-kind Father's Day card there, fella

oh yeah Jim and if any of you wanna take the jpg and photoshop your dad's head over my dad's head feel free...

A T

 

[rocketgroupmike]

My Dad's a golfer... Guess what he's doing on any day suitable for launching? I'd think he would have to be impressed by a J or K, though, if I could just get him there.

 

[Wps63]

My Dad and I, have been launching rockets together for 30 years.

I am 41 and he is 78!



Bill

 

[BrnAgainRoc]

yeah my dad seems to be coming around. I got my mom into it!!!! Its great she built her first Estes Baby Bertha the other day and man she was so excited when she launched it on an B engine.Iam into HPR and just seeing her face when the thrust came up and her lil rocket left that pad it was great. Her and i sat in the living room floor for hours building our rockets and she would say how do i mix the epoxie and where does it go and how do i make this work and whats this "drinking straw " (launch lug) for? It was great. But ill admit my dad got me into rocketry when i was 10 years old when he spent his last $10 on a estes bullpup from walmart when i was a lil boy. We put it together and 2 days later launched it in the front yard to watch it float off into the distance to land in a 80 foot pinetree.I think we both got really depressed since we spent all that time making it look flawless. Well when i say flawless the building of it was nice but he let me spray paint it and ill tell ya first hand the paint had ran everywhere it look like a mess . My dad is still around but its hard to get his attention. I work with him every day and today we were headed across town when he turned the truck around and said we were going to hobby lobby. As weird as it was coming from him to go or enter a GIRLY store he said we had to get mom something to do. Went to the rocket isle and he bought well over 50 kits for him and her to build. So maybe ill get lucky and he will launch with us. sorry for my spill here. But one thing thats precious is time and time with your mom and dad is as valuable as any amount of money. One day they're here and the next they're not. Spend as much time with em as posible cause one day you may wished you had.

 

[Rocketmaniac]

Great picture...... I've never done anything like launching rockets together with my dad. But I hope my daughter and I can enjoy something similar together. Right now she likes to "supervise" me when I'm building rockets. At night when my wife goes to work, I'll take things into the kitchen and my daughter will sit up on one of the bar stools and watch.

The greatest story about my daughter (when she was 4) and rockets was one day she was at church with my sister-in-law. The preacher was doing somekind of top 10 list. Then he repeated the list. My daughter(in a much louder voice) says 5-4-3-2-1 blast-off!!!! The whole church busted up laughing. Now everyone at that church knows Brianne's daddy likes rockets!!!!!

 

[Dr.Zooch]

That image shows that the best part of rocketry is that it is a family thing these days.

My dad got me my first rocket- against mom's wishes, when I was 12. It was late summer 1969 and the kit was an MPC Flair Patriot. Buy the time I got it built we only shot it a few times before winter and the school year set it- Dad loved it, and so did I. The following spring I started shooting and building a lot more kits. Dad would bring engines home after work and insist that we shoot them off right away. That wooosh from our back yard drew every kid in Sheriden Park and there was always a large crowd of chasers.

Last spring I got an MPC Flair Paitriot off of e-bay, built it and took it back home to Michigan so Dad and I could launch it together. That visit, however, got crowded with other things and I never got the chance to fire it- so I left it there figuring to launch it this summer.

Dad passed away in December. Last month I went back home to get some of his tools and help sort stuff out for mom. I got the Flair and brought it back. Dad and I got to do lots of stuff together before he passed away, from just watching the Red Wings games on TV to research trips for my books and I made it a point to spend as much time as I could with him. He got to see the prototype launches of my Dr. Zooch Saturn V kits and was tickled at the fact that I lost both prototypes that evening because they flew way higher than expected. He LOVED the fact that I was starting a company to make model rockets. So not flying the Flair Patriot isn't a giant hurt, but a simple lesson: No matter how hard you try, there's never enough time. The Flair Paitriot WILL fly this summer- and Dad will smile from above.

Take a launch rod- stick it in the ground. Take your dad, son, daughter, wife, mom, grandfather, grandma, and don't be shy. Shoot your rockets. Chase 'em, lose 'em, laugh at 'em- HAVE FUN! Life is short, but memory is long. For those who are adults- keep this in mind: You're all grown up- so now you act like a kid if you want! And if some snob sneers and turns their nose up at you for it, WHO CARES! Have fun with your rockets until the nursing home staff takes your igniter wires away.

 

[BrnAgainRoc]

amen

 

[Planet Andy]

Wes and Dallas
Exactly my point. Thank You.
Andy

 

[Dr.Zooch]

By the way- I LOVE that picture of your dad. Reminds me of my own dad. You should have that blown up and framed! It is terrific!