Looking to start a build session weekly for kids who are fighting cancer. Any thoughts on where a good place to start would be?

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Jtgreig

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A friend of mines son is fighting cancer and has fallen in love with my rockets in particularly the building process. I think it would be really cool to help teach to build and fly with him and some of his friends he had made at the hospital where he gets his treatment. I don't have tons of money to spend on rockets supplies and kits to support a medium to large effort but I really want to give some sort of experience for these kids. I am wondering if anyone has any ideas to achieve c this goal on a budget. Please if you have any thoughts or 8deas let me know I would love to see the excitement of rocketry in these kids eyes so I. Very open to any ideas you all may have.

Thanks

Jonathan
 
If you need that many of them, Estes does sell 12-kit bulk packs for educators and 24-motor bulk packs that are considerably cheaper than buying 12 individual kits or 8 3-packs of motors.

If you already have a pad and a controller, I would think you can just buy a 12-pack of Alphas and a 24-pack of B6-4's or A8-3's and you'd be good to go. If they are really little kids who probably can't glue fins on a body tube, you can get Generic E2X's or something.

Plus you can get them from AC Supply for 40% off MSRP. I'd be willing to chip in to make this happen if you need help with money.

https://www.acsupplyco.com/estes-model-rockets/educational-bulk-packs
 
If you need that many of them, Estes does sell 12-kit bulk packs for educators and 24-motor bulk packs that are considerably cheaper than buying 12 individual kits or 8 3-packs of motors.

If you already have a pad and a controller, I would think you can just buy a 12-pack of Alphas and a 24-pack of B6-4's or A8-3's and you'd be good to go. If they are really little kids who probably can't glue fins on a body tube, you can get Generic E2X's or something.

Plus you can get them from AC Supply for 40% off MSRP. I'd be willing to chip in to make this happen if you need help with money.

https://www.acsupplyco.com/estes-model-rockets/educational-bulk-packs
Wow! Thanks for that offer. If anything I would rather take donations in the form of building supplies or kits.i was thinking of doing more large to midpower rockets and have it be a group build of one or two larger rockets. The kids are early teens so I feel they can handle that quite well. Plus it helps them learn some of the more advanced techniques that go along with building a mid power size rocket.
 
Yes, a group mid-power project sounds appropriate for young teens, and sure, I can help you buy the kits if you can make this happen. I'm always up for helping people build rockets.

I would suggest figuring out how many kids you would have at this activity, then we could figure out how many kits you will need. How many would you expect offhand? Closer to a small group of 4-5, or a dozen, or a whole classroom's worth of kids?

We could probably pick out some nice LOC or Madcow kits that fly on F-G motors if that's what you're thinking. Also, big paper-and-wood kits in that range can be assembled and flown safely with wood glue so you wouldn't need expensive epoxy.

What about flying the rockets? Do you have a club in your area with a launch site you can bring them to, or do you have/need your own launch equipment and a location? These are also things to consider; you don't want to build big mid-power rockets only to not have a way to fly them.
 
Contact the crew at LOC they might be able to help with that. I would donate to this cause, no doubt!
 
Yes, a group mid-power project sounds appropriate for young teens, and sure, I can help you buy the kits if you can make this happen. I'm always up for helping people build rockets.

I would suggest figuring out how many kids you would have at this activity, then we could figure out how many kits you will need. How many would you expect offhand? Closer to a small group of 4-5, or a dozen, or a whole classroom's worth of kids?

We could probably pick out some nice LOC or Madcow kits that fly on F-G motors if that's what you're thinking. Also, big paper-and-wood kits in that range can be assembled and flown safely with wood glue so you wouldn't need expensive epoxy.

What about flying the rockets? Do you have a club in your area with a launch site you can bring them to, or do you have/need your own launch equipment and a location? These are also things to consider; you don't want to build big mid-power rockets only to not have a way to fly them.
There are 6 kids with a possible 7 so a decent size. I was thinking that 3 kids per rocket would be a good split. I feel that there would be enough work to keep them busy without overwhelming them. These kids feel good one day and another day they may not feel so well depending on if they had a treatment that day so being able to split up the work I think is a good idea. I am a member of a local club. Out club name is MASA and they have sufficient equipment for launching mid power rockets as well as plenty of people to help out on launch day if I need it. The parents really seem to be on board and I hoping to get this started sometime in the next 2-3 weeks hoping that Minnesota will have a normal winter and we could plan on launching sometime in the beginning of March. Weather permitting of course. Any help towards this is greatly appreciated. I will most likely place my order with erockets coming up shortly here as I have always had great luck with them and there selection is sufficient enough for what I am trying to do here.
 
Sounds like you're more or less set except for materials, that's good to hear.

Send me a private message when you've picked out the kit(s). Depending on the price point, I can either send you a donation to put towards the kits or buy them for you outright.
 
This sounds like a wonderful project. Please document your progress.

Do you plan on having a common workspace for them all to build together?
I will do that!! Yes we will have a space to build together!! I am currently communicating with a local community center for a room that we could use for this. We will meet once a week after school or treatments for a couple hours. So far everyone had been very willing to help in any way they can.
 
Sounds like you're more or less set except for materials, that's good to hear.

Send me a private message when you've picked out the kit(s). Depending on the price point, I can either send you a donation to put towards the kits or buy them for you outright.
I can help as well. More than happy to pick up a kit or 2 for this! @Jtgreig PM me to.
 
Sounds like you're more or less set except for materials, that's good to hear.

Send me a private message when you've picked out the kit(s). Depending on the price point, I can either send you a donation to put towards the kits or buy them for you outright.
Sounds great!! Thank you so very much I will do that. The kids are very excited for this so I will more than likely be moving quickly to get this started. You know teenagers they want everything yesterday especially when the are excited about something.
 
Count me in. I can donate a couple of kits. I have two of the Balsa Machine 3 inch kits that I haven't built. These would be perfect to get started with. Pre-slotted tubes, plywood fins and the parts are large enough that you can easily handle them.
 
Count me in. I can donate a couple of kits. I have two of the Balsa Machine 3 inch kits that I haven't built. These would be perfect to get started with. Pre-slotted tubes, plywood fins and the parts are large enough that you can easily handle them.
Sounds great I would more than happily take them and use them and put them to good use I'm sure the kids will love it
 
Jonathan, hello. I am also in MN. Belong to the Tripoli clubs here. Launch in North Branch, just north of the cities. We would love to have you and all the kids come out and fly.
This is our website TripoliMN – High Power Rocketry Club
Keep an eye on it for launch dates, directions and such. We host all kinds of flyers, from cub scouts to college teams and a few of us old guys.
Would be more than happy to help with your project at hand. Please feel free to pm me for contact info. Dave.
 
Just wanted to post an update for everybody that helped out by getting this project started I am hosting my first class this weekend I'm very excited looking forward to it I will post pictures and updates as they come along once again thank you to everybody who helped out I'm really looking forward to this and it is a great privilege to be able to work with these kids.
 
Did you decide to jump directly to mid-powered?

Personally, my approach would be to start w/ a decent size / performance low-powered rocket (e.g., Boosted Bertha) so that students could see fast progress and launch rockets quickly, learn by doing, get inspired, and reflect on how a mid-powered build is different than low-powered.

Anyway, many approaches can work and this is a great initiative!
 
My only suggestion would be to mix it up a bit. Some kids may struggle with more complex kit, have dexterity issues and such due to treatment and I would hate to see them get frustrated. So kits with plastic fins for easy and quick assembly for them is an option. Other kids my be up for a more challenging kit. The end state is the same - they get to launch it.
 
Pick a good kit. I would go to Hobby Lobby and get kits for the whole family to join in with the build.
 
I scanned through the replies but I'd also suggest low smelly wood glue for any balsa kits and avoid any cement with organic solvents in it like Duco cement type stuff. Kurt
 
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