McCoy's Wonder Works Current "Second Fleet" (1976-Current)

[Micromeister]

This Thread will discribe and show my current "Second Fleet" of Flyable LPR & MPR rockets. These re-sized photos may be a bit grainy due to this enlargment. but I hope will be useful in showing how construction and finishing techniques change as the years and decades go along. Many of the original "first release" of these model are still flying today with some internal repairs to shockcords and recovery systems.
Model 000: Stretch Phamtom Rocket: I modified this Estes Demonstration model to fly with an internal protective replacable tracing vellum sleeve allowed me to fly this "visible rocket" at many Grade and middle School demonstrations without damaging the clear Polyethylene body tube & styrene nose cone.

Model 001: Original Estes 1:100th Saturn-V: This is one of the surviving rockets from my first fleet. Completed 05-17-1970 and flown up until 1999 is still flyable but retired with 139 flights matching our club Section Number during the 40th anniversary of the Apollo-11 moon landing celebration at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland.

Model 002: Original Estes 1:70th Saturn-1b: Another first fleet surviver, She is still flown on occasion today on a cluster of 4 C6-3 motors.

Model 003c: Estes Goblin: was the 3rd first fleet surviver which I flew until she had to be rebuilt after 50some flights on D13 & D12-5 & 7's between 1972 and 2008. What a great flying model returning on 2" x 120" orange crepe paper streamers from out of sight many times.

Model 003d: Estes Goblin: Is my complete rebuild, using as many of the original parts as possible from Goblin #3. Had to replace all four fins as the bottom areas were burned badly by the launch blast blowback.

Model 004: Original Estes 1: 42nd Scale Mercury-Redstone: Saved from first fleet this rocket is still flyable today. In fact is was recently flown as part of the opening cerimony at Naram-50.

Model 005: Original Estes Cononial Viper: from 04-26-1979:

Model 006: Original Estes Cobra-1500 04-26-1979.

 

[Micromeister]

Next are a few very old buy still flying Kit;s & clones from the 1970's.

007a-c: Delta Star: this Old two stager has a wonderful flight history. I've flown this origial rocket over 20 times before loosing the sustainer on a C6-7 motor. 007b lasted only 11 flights before drifting the sustainer away on a long streamer again on a C6-7 motor. The current replacement is still using the original booster with completely new sustainer while it flys on the same C6-7 out of sight I've reduced the size of the streamer to 1" x 40" to keep it within the fields I usually fly.

009 Interceptor-2: is another kit #1250 purchased back in the 70's an only built after an unfortunate motor mix-up the caused Interceptor-1 to Crash, that so serverly damage the rocket it could not be repaired. Interceptor-2 now has more the 50 flights and is still going strong.

013 SR-71 is actaully Blackbird-II which was my first 3 motor cluster conversion of this Estes kit. This particular kit used a Core C6-5 and 2- C6-0's in the outer motor pods. This is a super combination as the booster motors self eject at burn-through giving the model a bit more altitude during the coast phase. The only bad part about using this set-up is if the core C6-5 or 7 does not ignite the rocket makes a wonderful Up flight but a very bad ballistic return..Crunch! I'm now on SR-71 Blackbird-5 after litterally wareing out blackbirds 3 & 4 flying on a Core C6-5 & 2-Outboard C6-7's in the motor pods ducted into the main BT-50 Body tube. Thus solving the outboard only ignition problem. Actually since making this change and going ALWAYS to a relay ignition system I have not had any ignition failures on these 3C clustered birds.

 

[rstaff3]

Cool stuff!

 

[Micromeister]

The next 10- 2nd fleet photos:
015: Estes Dragon Fly BG: a pretty good sport Boost Glider, would not be good in competition as its made way to heavy but does a nice job as a sport flyer.
016: Estes Icarus: This Payload model has been in my fleet in one form or another for a very long time, At one point I tried to fly it away for an entire year but either I or someone else always brought it back so I still have it and continue to fly it to this day. it is one of many 1979 era model in my current fleet still flying with over 100 flights.
it has been repainted at least twice, coated with Art-Foil and many other additions.
017: Original Star-Wars R2-D2: After breaking the provided plastic fins I replaced them with .040" clear Lexan and still have the model today. I lost at some point the nose weight which made the Odd-Roc unstable until I realized what had happened and re-weighted it. Now He flys just fine.
018: Estes Liberty: Nothing more then an elongated Alpha but it flys well on 1/2A to C6 motors.
019: Original Estes Flying Saucer: These were so much fun flying on C6-0's I purchased 6 so I'd have replacements as I melted the motor mounts or otherwise broke the aeroshell. As it turned out they are a lot more durable then expected, I have sold several from my stash in recent years.
020: Estes Charokee-D: OH Man What a super flying LPR rocket. Designed to fly on D12-5 or 7's it's out of sight for a long time on either motor. Much better flights and more recoverable on our East Coast flying fields with a 12" X-Form nylon Chute and 18mm C6-5 motor adaptor.
021: Another Estes Rocket that just Screamed to be clustered was "the Geo-Sat HV" rocket: I've been flying this one with 3 C6 motors from the very beginning. it is another the flys with a core C6-5 and 2- C6-7s in the outboards ducted into the core body. Just incredible flights with very long recovery walks.
022: Wallops Island Welter: My Odd-Roc adaptation of an Estes Mosquito that still flys on 13mm motors with feather weight somewhat ballistic recovery. usually sticks in the ground up to the end of the toothpick.
023: Estes Nova Payloader: an outstanding B6 and C6 flyer very easily converted to use small LED lighting packages for night flying.
024: Estes SkyHook: Another wonderful 1/2A- C6 18mm flyer. This model is one of my first NO filler, Auto primer only finishing technique rockets. over the years i've noticed a few cracks in the Candy Green over Gold Testors paint runing about half of the balsa nosecone.

 

[Micromeister]

The Next 10 Rockets in second Fleet:
025: Estes Echo: A very fine little 18mm rocket.
026a: Estes 2.6" V-2: My version is painted with the WhiteSands Bumper scheme.
026b: Same Estes V-2 signed by both Vern Estes & G. Harry Stine.
027: Estes Gemini-Titan: A fairly good semi-scale rocket.
028a1: Estes Courier: Built in 05-28-1989; A very good 1/2A - C6 18mm motor, extremely high flying streamer recovery rocket, flown until the lower fins and motor retainer area were charred & burned to the point that the model had to be rebuilt.
028a2: Same Courier: Rebuilt 09-11-2006: I kept the other parts to use on a replacement. The new colon flies as well as the original.
029: Estes "Blue Bird Zero": I don't generally paint rockets to match the facecard...it's about the only artistic option we as builder have. Mine is a metallic Candy Apple Red over Gold "Red Bird Zero".. Great flying models with hand painted white Name decals.
030: Estes semi-scale Honest John: 22.6414 scale. Not a bad semi-scale out of the bag but with some work can be a basic Scale model.
031: Scratch built Birdie: I decided to weight this Little Odd-Roc to be able to fly on any motor from 1/2A to C6. This birdie flies very nicely on all of those motors.
032: Estes Crusader Swing-Wing Glider: I don't know who designed this rocket glider but I just Love the way it flies.

 

[Micromeister]

The Next 10 Second Fleet static photos:
033: Estes Jupiter-C: this 1:35th scale rocket is a joy to build and fly.
034: Estes Mini Mars Lander: What a funny little rocket! I liked building it so much I went back to the local hobby shop and picked up 10 more so I could spread the wealth later...I didn't think this little mostly cardstock rocket would hold up very long but to my surprise the first one built is still flying today.
035: Estes Astrocam-110: one of the first 110 cartridge film flying cameras it has long been a very good flying rocket.
036: Estes Phoenix: 2.6" semi-scale rocket with recessed motor mount that greatly increased the the liftoff noise.
037: Laser-X 1.41D: This Scratch Built 1.41 Up-scale of the Centuri Laser-x flies on D12 motors to very impressive heights.
038: Estes 2-stage UFO: Well not really an Estes product, I staged a pair of Estes flying Saucers in 1989 for low altitude staging demos. Fun to fly and recover.
039: 13mm 1/4A - A Streamer Duration: Scratch built BlackShaft (paper phenolic) body HP streamer duration competition model.
040: 13mm 1/4A-A Streamer Duration: Scratch built Silver Shaft light weight body HP streamer duration competition models.
041a1: 13mm 1/4A-A Helicopter Duration: Scratch built 12" rotor Rotaroc Helicopter duration model - My first built and still flying today Rotaroc. Photo with Rotors Up
041a2: 13mm 1/4A-A Helicopter Duration: 2nd photo of my first and still flying competition helicopter duration rocket. rotors down.

 

[Micromeister]

Next 10 2nd fleet models 041b1 to 049:

041b1a: 1/4A-A WonderWhirl HD: Next generation Free spinning hub Helicopter Duration design. with rotor tip fins. Rotors down:
041b1b: 1/4A-A WonderWhirl HD: same helicopter duration design Rotors Up.
042: Little Joe-1: Scratch built (First attempt) at little Joe-1 1/35th Scale (not a very good Scale model).
043: Centuri Thunderhawk: one super flying rocket. This rocket goes out of sign on B motors. One of my son's favorite flying rockets.
044: Estes Exocet: half of the Estes mini pack, this semi-scale exocet is an excellent mini motor flying rocket.
045: Estes IQSY Tomahawk: remaining half of the Estes mini-pack another very nice peanut scale starter rocket.
046: Estes Der Red Max: Everyone knows this design and it's wonderful flight performance! like the Goblin this rocket has been in my fleet in several sizes since it was introduced.
047: Estes Mini-Bomarc: one of my Favorite Scale subjects the 1:48th scale Bomarc is a real Blast to build and fly. a little later I used another kit to create a mini-Gliding Bomarc.
048: Estes D-Region Tomahawk: This 1: 5.4979 Scale Rocket is a great starting point for the beginning scale modeler, needs lots of added detail to be a really good scale model but with a little extra time detailing younger A & B division competition fliers can make a very nice sport scale model from this kit.
049: Estes Bull Pup 12D: A very popular semi-scale rocket kit. it is FAR from being anywhere close to scale but is a fine semi-scale or scale-like rocket. Fantastic flights on C6 motors.

 

[Micromeister]

Next 10 Second Fleet rockets:
050: Estes Nomad: this is a sport flying 1/2A - C6 Super-Roc. Way to heavy to fly in NAR competition it is however a fun model to fly.
051: Estes Black Brant II: one of Estes fine 1:13th Scale offerings. This D12 powered rocket will test your recover stamina with fairly long walks down range
052: Estes Nike-Apache: 1:12.73 Scale Starter kit with just a little research and extra building makes a pretty good Scale Altitude or Sport Scale rocket.
053: Estes Der-V3: Fun Flying D12 powered 2.6" diameter rocket.
054a: Estes #k-1 Scout-1: Original 1968 kit is the first and only true tumble recovery rocket.
054b: Semroc Golden Scout-1: Model #411 a great flying tumble recovery retro-kit.
054c: Semroc Golden Scout-1: Model #773 another great flying tumble recovery retro-kit.
055a: Estes Scout-II: Next generation tumble recovery kit.
056a: Estes Scout-III: Kit #0878 this generation did not tumble, used 13mm motors and was a nose blow recovery.
054-56: Estes Scout-1, II, III display: All 6 Estes/Semroc/Scratch built Scout models on Display.

 

[Micromeister]

The Next 8 "Second Fleet" Rockets: (057-064)
057: Estes Trident-II: Back in the day I purchased an original Trident but didn't get a chance to build it (vandels destroyed the kit). So later when Estes introduced the "Trident-II" I jumped on it and built it right away. Somewhat simplier then the original it's still a very impressive rocket on the pad and in the air.
058: Estes Meanie: A small 13mm light weight, very high flying 4 fin rocket was fun to build and a joy to fly.
059: Estes Alien Space Probe: another 2.6" (BT-80) great looking and flying Model Rocket. Flies on B and C motors.
060: Estes Optima: This Very Large 2.6"(BT-80) x 47.5" rocket was terribly under-powered flying on a single D12 motor. After flying and crashing it on it's first D12-5 flight I rebuilt it giving it a second chance on a single D12-3. Straight Up on a calm day it only got about 90-100feet. I decided to add 3 external D12 booster pods making the rocket a 4- D12 Cluster rocket. It's now a joy to fly on a D12-5 core and 3- D12-0's in the boosters.
061: Estes Super Starship Vega: Another D Powered Up-scale rocket it is an outstainding flying machine. I traded the provided plastic chute for one of my wifes 6 gore 30" Hemi-Chute to bring this nice size model down slowly.
062: Estes ACLM Cruise Missile: I got this kit on a whim and it turned out to be a better 1:14th scale kit then expected, almost all styrene body & molded nosecone making any repairs would be very difficult, I only fly it on recommended B6-4 and C6-3 motors.
063: Estes Deep Space Transport: This is another Estes kit that just Screams to be an in-line 3-motor cluster. like the SR-71blackbird and Geo-Sat HL the Deep Space Transport is built with a core motor usually a C6-5 and ducted twin (weight) C6-7's in the outer boosters venting into the main body just ahead of the main motor stop. I learned this little trick after Crashing my original SR-71 when the core motor refused to lgnite. I'm looking at possibly having to either retire or make some major repairs to the booster shrouds as 68 3-motor flight has pretty much burned up parts of both booster bells and a little on the lower edges of the fins. Luckily I have a number of these kits in my unbuilt stash.
064: Estes Leprechaun: purchased to St. Patricks Day fun this little 13mm rocket is truely a high performance little jewel. Flying on an A10-3T easily puts it out of sight for several seconds making recovery a little heart stopping.

 

[Micromeister]

Next 10 "Second Fleet" Rockets 065a - 072:
065a: Estes Javelin-1: Finishing Altitude test (Rock-It). in an attempt to discovery if the finishing of a rocket make much difference in actual flight altitude two identical rockets were built. One finishing with very rough granite like finish. Smooth but very grandular painted surface. The other finished and polished to a Super smooth finish. Both rockets were then weighted to have identical empty weights. motors were weighed and the rockets were adjusted on the field to have identical Lift-off weights. Both models were flown and tracked by optical 2 station theodolite closing within 2%. over a two days. over 8 paired flights the Smooth finish Always gained 22% higher altitudes then the rough finished Javelin-1. It was an interesting investigation I think was worth the time and effort.
065c: Estes Javelin-1 & 2: Composite photo of both Finish Test Rockets and findings 07-15-1990.
066a: Estes Javelin-2: Smooth Finished test rocket. Painted, and polished to high polished finish with finess-it-II. Than coated with one coat of Nu-Finish polymer.
067: Estes Comanche-3: Wow! what a great High flying, High performance 3 stage rocket, I've flown in only once on it's highest motor combo D12-0,C6-0,C6-7. That flight was completely out of sight for over 2+ minutes. Had I not replaced the small kit chute with two 1" x 72" fluroescent yellow & Orange streamers I'm sure I'd have lost the 3rd stage sustainer. The Comanche-3 has made many more flights on D12-0, B6-0, A8-5 motor combinations and recovered well on our now much smaller fields.
068: Estes Hercules 2-Stage: a great little 2 stage 18mm rocket I've flown it many times on C6-0/A8-5 motors to get the sustainer back on our east coast somewhat smaller fields and over the last decade or so used it alot as a single and 2-stage night flight rocket.
069: Estes Magnum: A large BT-60 2-Stage workhorse this rocket has survived many high D12-0/C6-5 flights and a fairly long soaking in the Anacostia River before being saved by swimming out to get it I nick named it my "Magnum goes Loudly" flying "Phi-Beta-Catta" payload before outfitting it with a suitable night flying LED payload.
070: Estes The Bat: a Great looking Halloween theme rocket with outstanding white decals.
071: Estes Iris: Atlantic Research 1:13 semi-scale sounding rocket. unfortunately this rocket was never flown without a booster so can't be flown as is in NAR competition. That said it is a fine flying single stage sport rocket.
072: National Aerospace Plane: Another Semi-Scale of a proposed NASA Spaceplane project that for reasons unknown was cancelled before being flown. The model is a great flying addition to any fleet.

 

[Micromeister]

Next 10 "Second Fleet" Rockets: 073 to 079b:
079a: Estes Super Big Bertha: A fine flying D12, BT-80 (2.6") Bird. Built in May of 1990 this rocket logged more than 30flights before I altered it to serve as a Bail-out rocket by adding a foot of Clear polyethylene mailing tubing.
079b: Estes Super Extended Big Bertha: Adding a 12" section of 2.6" Clear Polyethylene mailing tubing so i had room for 43 small Army men with individual para-chutes, above the 30" nylon hemi main chute for a Fun club contest in July of 2005. flying with a elastic spring loaded clam-shell holding the army-men it worked great. and still flys today mostly without the added army men but still a fun flying machine
074: Estes Althena: This Plastic fin & Chrome Nose cone Rocket was purchased for a building demo with a BSA cub scout troop in 1990. it's enjoyed a fine long life with 20 or so flights since that build session.
075a: Custom F-104A Starfighter PMC: One of my first competition grade PMC conversions this 1/48th scale Starfighter, was a basic wheels up all-weather competition flyer. It placed 3rd or 4th in several local and regional competitions with its built in barrel roll under thrust. it was destroyed by a C6-5 Cato in June of 2012.
075b: Custom F-104C Starfighter PMC: After some searching I found another Lindberg kit in 1/48th Scale that is almost identical to my original. This PMC however was built with Wheels down and added weapons for extra static judging points. the Decals are custom printed from a Scan of the original model depicting one of the Drone squadron targets with their unusual orange & silver coloring. This model has only flown once with great success on a C6-3 motor Just for fun.
076: QCR Fokker DR-1 Tri-wing BG: Qualified Competition Rocket company was owned by Mr. Brown a member of Novaar for many decadeds these "Builder Kits" were packaged in recycled news paper plastic bags. Sometimes the instructions left a little to be desired but all in all Mr Browns Kits were very good flying machings.
This Tri-Wing glider was one of my very first B-Motor competition BG's. Never won anything with it but it was a very fine flying rocket.
077: Custom Maxi Bomarc: My very first Clusted Up-Scale Attempt this 1:13.25 Scale 3- D12-3 motor Rocket is completely Scratch built going on drawings found on-line. It's logged over a dozen very cool flights and is now awaiting a motor mount replacement.
078a: Whoosh: This Odd parts built rocket was made as a paint finishing test rocket. It's my first attampt at several new painting techniques.
078b: Whoosh: Up-dated, reworked paint technique test bed, I've tried in vain to fly this rocket away for over a decade but it keeps coming back,.
079a: Rota-Roc B&C: Compitition B & C motor helicopter duration rocket. Rotors down.

 

[Micromeister]

Next 10 "Second Fleet" Rockets (080-089a):
080: Scratch Built .5A SuperRoc: SuperRoc Altutude or Duration rocket built from Apogee Blackshaft phenolic tubing and plastic parts. 13mm lower/6mm upper x 100cm (39.37") Long. During my active competition years I've built and flown at least 3 of this size Superroc.
081: Estes America: Another Scout build session demo rocket in the early to mid 1990's.
082: Estes Little Joe-II: 1/100th Scale rocket.
083: Estes Alpha-III: Customized "Competition SD" Alpha-III: Replacing the body tube with Quick Silver Ultra-light tubeing, Hollowing out the Nose cone to remove excess mass, filing down the fin thickness and sanding the fin-can walls. Using Ultra-light 50lb Kevlar and 2" x 96" Gold Mylar streamer. Worked really well for local compettions.
084: Scratch Built A-SuperRoc: Next 13mm motor size SuperRoc. 13mm/6mm x 150cm(59.05")long BlackShaft & Apogee plastic components competition rocket.
085: Estes Mosquitos: I call this display my "Swarm of Mosquitos" These 6 mosquitos have never been flown but used as a scale component in most of my fleet static photos.
086: Estes NASA Pegasus: As with many of my Estes rockets with in-line tubing I retrofitted this rocket to be a 3- motor cluster with a B or C in the main and a pair of 13mm A10-0's in the outside tubes.
087: Scratch built Dijon Vinaigrette La Zoom Zoom: First in a series of "Flying Food" Odd-Rocs. A real blast to fly.
088: Centuri Laser-X: 1968 Kit built in November of 1990 it's still flying today and looking almost as good as the day it was finished.
089: Scratch Built .5A-A Competition PD: 13mm to 24mm blackshaft & Apogee parts w/ 18" to 36" mylar chute and 70lb kevlar shockline. Great flying Competition model.

 

[Micromeister]

Next 10 "Second Fleet" Rockets (090-099):
090: M48-A5 Vampire Tank Odd-Roc PMC: This 1:72nd PMC was a result of a challange: Bet you can't make a tank fly..LOL! Well this little tank flies just fine on an A10-3T witht the turret turned with the Gun backwards as Tanks do when running on roads. It little 8" Mylar Chute is housed in the driver area.
091: Estes New Years Sparrow: little 13mm motor Rocket used for the McCoy Family's first Night Launch.
092: NCR Aerobee-Hi: Cluster Converted North Coast Rockety Mid-power Rocket. Very nice flying 3-D12 powered Cluster.
093: Estes Yellow Jacket: Wonderful flying rocket.
094: Estes Phaser: Another 18mm High flying sport rocket.
095: Estes Skinny Mini: Estes Minimum Lenght A-SuperRoc.
096: Estes Wizaard: Great flying 18mm sport flying rocket.
097: Estes Helio-Copter: first released 2-piece Helicopter recovery rocket, Nose has rotors, body has chute.
098: Estes Mini Mean Machine: Mini Mean Machine make a fine flying minimum length A-SuperRoc rocket.
099: Estes Argosy Intergalactric Fighter: a Futuristic design that is a fine little flying machine.

 

[Micromeister]

Alrighty Next 10 "Second Fleet:" breaks the 100 marke 100 to 109:
100: NCR Brighthawk 5-D12 Cluster Conversion: This 2.7" diameter , 53" long Heavy Duty MPR Clustered Coverted rocket, just because I do Not fly APCP motors I took this kit and coverted it to fly on a 3-D12-3 cluster in the main and 2- D12-0's side strap-on boosters. With a multi-Color 36" nylon hemi-chute bringing it back to earth after some very good altitude flights. After it's 10th flight this rocket has been converted to a Night flying rocket with LED's illuminating the Nose and Payload sections.
101: Scratch Built C-SuperRoc: This competition 18mm to 13mm black Shaft 98.875" long Super-Roc's are as much fun to fly as they are to build. Only important thing to keep in mind when flying Black Shaft Phenolic tubing is to keep it out of direct Sun-light as it will warp to that side making the rocket to some very funny circles in the sky. Otherwise it makes for some very competitive rockets.
102: Estes orignial Scissor-Wing Transport BG: This is a 1982 kit and the model I actually got my first qualified flight in B BG competition section meet.
103: QCR 1/4A competition Rota-Roc Helicopter Duration: This Rota-Roc Helicopter is another Qualified Competition Rockets design. Unfortunately Mr Brown passed away several years ago which ended the company but the design lives on.
104: QCR 1/4A Competition Rota-Roc Helicopter Duration: Second of perhaps 8 of these Cloned QCR kits in my fleet.
105: NCR K-81 D-E Rota-Roc Helicopter Duration Rocket: I've flown this rocket on D12-5 motors many times since building it back in 1991. It Still a little on the Heavy side so duration times do not put it in the top three places but it is a "Flight points" quailfier.
106: Estes Pathfinder: Fairly large BT-60 x 42.25" long, single D12-3- or -5 sport flying rocket
107: Scratch built 13mm Competition 1/4A BG Glider: This fine small 1/4A boost glider works fairly well with long glide times. Later I changed the pod to T2+ tubing to fly on MMX motors. Unfortunately; its just a bit to draggy as a micro BG.
108: QCR 1/4A Slide-Wing RG: My first Slide-Wing Rocket Glider this basic QCR kit worked pretty well on 1/4A motors. As with most of QCR's kits it was a "qualifier" kit not a super competitive kit. It did however teach me a great deal about slide wing rocket gliders.
109: Revell X-15-A2 Rocket Plane 1/72 Scale PMC: This 1/72nd kit makes a very nice but low flying A10-3T.

 

[Micromeister]

Next 10 "Second Fleet" Rockets (110a-c to 119):
110a-c: 1/4A-A Streamer Black-Shaft Druation: Black Shaft phenolic tubing was one of many very important components in the late 1980's & 1990's competition community. Apogee Components was the source for it , light weight adaptors and nosecones and Wafferglass (very thin G10) for fins. Black Shaft was notorious for being very brittle after being process sanded, but the weight loss after sanding was worth the extra care needed to keep the rockets in one piece
111a-c: 1/4A SuperRoc (13mm x 50cm): Another minimum diameter 13mm Black Shaft competition Super-Roc still flyable today.
112a: 1/4A SurperRock (13mm/6mm x 50cm): This 1/4A Competition Super-Roc it Lighter then then it's Straight 13mm counterpart by more then 3 grams. making it the preferred contest entry. This particular rocket has several 1st and 2nd place ribbons from Section and Open meets in the 1990's.
113a: B SuperRoc (18mm/6mm x 200cm 75.75" Long) Another Black Shaft Creation from the 1990's that I still have in my fleet.
114: Pepsi Flight Odd-Roc: This Flying Food odd-Roc gets lots of laughs at any launch it's flown.
115: Long Tall Grumpy Dog: A modified Grumpy Dog my rocket is a full 10foot tall 2-Stage BT-70/BT-60 D12-0/D12-5 Sport flying super roc. it's called Grumpy Dog because it doesn't like any breeze at all. but on the calm days it's a awsome flying machine, with 2- 15" nylon chutes this rocket is exactly one pound launch ready.
116: The Big Point (Floatation Duration Odd-Roc): One of several "Maryland Funny Meet" rockets the Big Point is a D12 powered Styrofoam cone rocket.
117: Brick unscale (Odd-Roc): Unscale was another of the "Maryland Funny Meet" entries. this brick is a styrofoam block that flies very well.
118: Dee Egg-Go (Odd-Roc w/ Chicken): Another UnScale Odd-Roc this D12 powered Egg also has a bail-out 6" chute recovery Chicken just for fun. A very good flying Odd-Roc.
119: Estes Mars Snooper: My second Mars Snooper this model is one of my favorite demo rockets flying on as little as an A motor.

 

[Micromeister]

Next 10 " Second Fleet" Rockets (120 - 130):
120: Mars Super Snooper 1: 1.41 UpScale: This D12 powered Upscale was a whim I had to try. All those Nosecones and paper shrouds were a fun build. Flights are incredable on a single D12-5 motor. Finished in burgundy metal flake with custom Alps printed decal.
121a: 13mm SD comp. rocket: Early in 1992 I began experimenting with Tracing vellum body/wafferglass finned competition rockets, to better compete with the BTC's single wrap fiberglass rockets for both Streamer and Parachute Duration events. This adaptation of Alberto De La Iglesia from the NAR competition files back in the mid 1980s seemed to be an ideal way to get great flights in the 3.6g to 5.5g rockets.
122a-b: 18mm HD comp. Rockets: Like the Paper Tiger SD above these rockets are also single wrap of tracing vellum with hollowed balsa cones and .005" fins.
123a: Custom single Egg Lofter: Simple B-C motor Egg lofter using Apogee egg cone.
124: Teen Angle B-C BG: I lost the photos of this glider due to a computer glitch. Unfortunately the Glider was lost during testing so I can't even retake a photo. Since this was an experiment I just moved on.
125: Quest Explorer RX-25 w/ 2nd Stage & Payload Add-on's: A very niffty 18mm rocket purchased and built as a Demo rocket for grade school demonstrations.
126: Estes Explorer Aquarius: A blast to build and fly this rocket takes a bit of patients during building but the finished rocket is well worth it.
127: NarTrek Gold Level "Goldie DX": This D12-5 or 7 powered scratch build earned my Gold Level NarTrek patch.
128: Estes Original Ram-Jet: a very kewl kit... So good, I had to build several up and down scales of this great flying model.
129: Estes Ram-Jet-D: first 1: 1.336 Up-Scale as a single D12 this rocket Rocks! Nearly teleporting to wonderful heights.
130: Scratch Built Ram-Jet-3D: This 3x Up-Scale flys on 3- D12-3's and is a BT-60 ID with BT-101OD. Outstanding Clustered Upscale.

 

[Micromeister]

Next 11 "Second Fleet" rockets: (131 - 134j1).
131: Quest Nike-Smoke 1:12 Scale: This "Quest Kit" starts out as a fairly decent scale kit but has the worst 2-piece Smoke nose cone I've ever seen. This Mold must have been over used or old as the halves didn't match-up at all the entire length of the cone. working with putty and sanding my rear off I finally got the seams to a decent shape but am still not completely satisifed with the outcome. The Kit Launch lug is grossly oversized (I didn't even try to change it) but the flight performance is OK on Estes B6 and C6 motors.
132: 1/2A-A Flex-wing BG's: Flex-wing BG flying is as much art as it is science lol! My adaptations for this event have for the most part alway done very well. The 12" spruce spars and .020" stainless steel custom springs covered with 1/4mil mylar have shown exceptional stay aloft times..more times then not floating out of sight on raising air currents. stuffing the flex-wing in it's 13mm body tube is sometimes a chore but the end result is usually a very long walk to attempt to get the glider back.
133: D-SuperRoc (24mm/18mm BlackShaft 297.5cm(117.125") long: Last in my series of Black Shaft Super Rocs this bird has flown to victory 4 times in it's section, open and regional contests. At a bit over 9-3/4 feet long keeping it out of the sun as much as possible is critical to getting a vertical boost. It works for both Altitude and Duration events.
134a-j2: In 1992 I began experimenting with different configuration for a 3x 1/2A Cluster Altitude competition bird. Since I was dubbed by the club president "MrCluster" because I'd been cluster converting everything that looked like it would hold multi-motors. I was given the task of coming up with a few designs that our club members could use in the upcoming contest years flying. Some were OK, some were real clunkers while the final couple actually faired pretty well in all but National level competitions. Over the years I've learned more about aerodynamics and made even more improvements to many other cluster altitude designs.. most we'll be seen later.

 

[Micromeister]

Next 10 "Second Fleet" rockets. (135 - 143):
135a&b: Estes GreyHawk Orbital Inerceptor: These two GreyHawks were part of the Estes National Air & Space Museum build & display program. Estes provided each builder 2 or 3 of the same kit. Builders were to build both and pick the very best to be donated to the Museum for Display. The Blue/white camo on the left went to the air and space museum while the Brown/tan camo. remains in my fleet as a 3C motor cluster...It Flies SOO KEWL!
136: Custom Triad 2-stage 7motor Cluster: This rocket is a early 70's throw-back. The Original rocket was designed to fly the then "Quatrent Event" where each competitior had to fly the same rocket in 4 events, B- PD, B-SD, B-Payload & B-Spot Landing. This rocket used 18mm A6-0S/A6-3S short motors all three two stage outer rocket s and B6-4 in the core Spot Lander. This new adaptation replaces the old -S short motors with newer 13mm A10-0T/ A10-3T in the outer pods and a single B6-4 in the core. The really Kewl thing about this rocket is at Staging saperation the rocket smoke trails looks like the blue angles "bomb burst" manuver in the sky and all four pieces come done on 3 Streamer and a 12" chute for the core within about 20 yards of each other.
137a-c: Custom 18mm/19mm competition Payload altitude rockets: These competition payloaders are still in my competition fleet today and have worked very well over the years in these competitions with 18mm B & C motor events.
137d: Custom 18mm to 24mm NITE playload rocket: This is a repurposed competition payload rocket. Switching out the 19mm payload upper section with a 24mm/18mm transition and 24mm transluscent red payload section with LED & AAA battery carrier and nose cone for use at night launches.
138: Custom 24mm Dual EggLofter: This 24mm motor D & E motor Dual Eggloafter has performed very nicely in Section and Regional competitions.
139: Custom Mercury-Atlas 1: 73.3 Scale: This BT-60 based rocket Boasts 1 first place and a 2-3rd place trophy from 1 Regional and 2 Narams. the custom mercury capsule has a 44 piece excape tower.
140: Quest DC-Y Space Clipper: The finless coneish 1: 122 scale rocket is a very nice flying scale rocket.
141: Dee Big Bird Odd-Roc: I found these Mega size birdies at a dollar store in a 3 pack (red, blue & yellow). I just had to convert the yellow one into an Odd-Roc but needed to make it a D12 powered rocket. With all this extra power and added nose weight it also needed an 8" chute to bring it down safely so a pull-out plug was added beside the Motor mount to kick the motor out and pull out the chute. Works Very well and flies to about 1000 feet on a single D12-5.
142: The Space Camel BG: Can't recall who put out the D12 powered Boost Glider but it wasn't a good purchase or BG. Built of 3/16" foamcore it never flew worth a crap.
143: Quest Intruder (SpaceFighter): This Quest rocket was very plan as a kit so to jazz it up a little I added wing pods and other add-ons just for fun.

 

[Micromeister]

Next 10 "Second Fleet" Rockets. (144 - 153):
144: Dee Bowling Pin- Odd-Roc. another whim I picked up a paper mache hollow bowling pin at Micheals as a joke Odd-Roc which actually turned out to be a very nice flying D12-3 or -5 Odd-Roc. Small triangular .063" thick Lexan fins stabilize this rocket quite well. Recovers under a 12" Estes type plastic chute.
145: Dee Piggie Odd-Roc: This one I had to do "When Pigs Fly" LOL! Well Now at least this one can! Originally a yellow piggy bank it's been outfitted with a BT-50 core tube holding D12-3 motors and custom fitted .063" Clear Lexan fins, and Navy Blue flight curchief with hand painted "Narhams" Logos on each loose end. To date Dee Piggie has Logged 28 flights since completion in October of 1993. Still flying strong today.
146: Mini Bomarc Gliding 1:47th Scale: A fun Scale rocket converting this Mini Bomarc to glide posed a few challenges but once I got the Gliding mass right it is an OK Sport flying rocket. Glides like a Brick but does transition to a stable glide. Oh! I also added 6mm "No Thrust" FX smokers to the ram-jets just for fun. Internal pod recovers on a 1" x 30" Streamer.
147: SS-N-2 Styx: This 1: 11.346 Scale Soviet Anti Ship Missile is a competition Scale rocket that has done well in regional and National competition.
148: Cloned Original Orbital Transport: Cloned with Estes parts from my "first fleet instructions sheets files" it has been flying great since completion.
149: Ultra Orbital Transport: Scratch built 3X Up-Scale 4-D12-3 Cluster was a wonderful flying machine. The BT-70 orbital glider worked perfectly having great glide times after seperation. Unfortunately on her 15th flight and after appearing in an article in Sport Rocketry Mag a burn through of the Core BT-55 stuffer tube caused the laundry not to deploy causing a ballistic return from a great UP flight. It's still waiting from a rebuild of both mothership and orbiter.
150: Hobby Goblin 3X UpScale: One of my Favorite 5- D15 Cluster BT-101 airframe rockets the Hobby Goblin has logged over 20 flights since completion in 1994.
151: Revell V-2(A4) 1:54th Scale PMC: Another custom conversion competition rocket the V2 with Wagon Launcher (does not fly from the launcher) is a rear ejection 13mm A10-3T motor pod that drags out the 12" Estes type chute. Truely this one has spent more of it's life in a Local Hobby Shop Display that it's 4 logged flights.
152: MRC Flare Patriot: This Large 1.75" dia x 25" long rocket has interchangable motor mounts for 18 & 24 mm motors along with an 18mm set-up with 2- 6mm FX smokers. Great flying model, Long Opp it's a shame as it would be a pleasure to have in anyones fleet.
153: US Corn Odd-roc: This Last rocket for this page was actually picked up during one of the Clubs Monthly Sport Launches when I drifted a rocket into the ajacent corn field. It is actually all Corn Stalk. the body lenght was hollowed out and a BT-5 inserted. the Noce Cone is a section of Stalk split and drawn in to form the cone. the Launch lugs are 3/16" sections of Root hollowed out to pass the 1/8" launch rod. Drag fin area is the root system trimmed as best I could to give it some symmetry. Needed a good bit of nose weight so only flies on A10-3T's but does a decent job of getting to a couple hundred feet before deploying the 9" chute.

 

[Micromeister]

Next 10 "Second Fleet" Rockets: (154 - 162):
154a: Scratch Big Bertha: Back in the day I had a 3-C6 cluster Ranger but never bought or cloned a Big Bertha just seemed like a waste of good BT-60 since I had the Ranger in the Fleet. Well in 1994 I decided to clone a Big Bertha with the intention of being able to fly it on any motor from 1/2A-D12's by using a custom twist lock motor mount. Adding enough nose weight to fly well on the D12 made the 1/2A not possible but allowed the bird to fly to about 80feet on an A8-3 I called it my Big Bertha Heavy.
154b: Scratch Big Bertha: At the same time I built a Standard Big Bertha using as light weight parts as I could muster, to use in some Open spot landing and Section PD events just for the heck of it. It came out pretty well and as a spot lander worked well flying on A-C 18mm motors.
155: Scratch Long-A "Practice A-SuperRoc: used to test Black Shaft Straight 13mm A-SuperRoc flight patterns and duration times it is a staple in my "practice fleet" used between contests or just for sport flying.
156: Listerine Kicker - Odd-Roc: Another in the "Flying Foods" catagory Odd-Roc this one sports .063" lexan fins and flying on 18mm motors. recovery is an 18" Estes type chute popping the flat top for a gentle return from about 1000 feet on a C5-3. Yes, I still have a supply of these Oop motors in my range box.
157: Edmond Aerospace EC-18 Take-V: The Fifth clone of my orignal this B-C Canard Rocket Glider is a hoot to build and fly. The first 4 have been flown away in competiton flying catching thermals and lifting out-of-sight in three states over the years... I've even lost on to thermals on a B6-2 over Middletown Park, MD. on a test flight these RG's are Fantastic gliders.
158: Quest HL-20 Lifting Body BG: Quest attempted to re-create the Centuri X-24 Bug with this kit but missed the mark miserably. This little lifting body it more of a hazard to fly then lots of unstable rocket I've seen. went trimmed to glide well it is all over the sky under thrust. I do not recommend building this little cardstock rocket.
159: NCR Mini Nomad 1/2A-A RG. Wow! I can not say enough about this unique elevator actuated RG. It is something of a challenge to get trimmed correctly but man is it a GREAT Design glider. I've won more then a dozen Section, Open & Regional RG competitions with this single glider. I cloned and built a back on back in 1994 but I've never had to fly it. LOL the orignal has flown and recovered in more the 15 contests over the years.
160: Mini DC-Y Space Clipper: This "Non-Flying" Cardstock door-prize from Quest during Naram-35 was never intended to be flown. I just had to give it a try. It flies very well on 13mm A3 and A10 motors.
161a: Edmonds EC-13 Canard RG: This 13mm Canard glider is not quite as good a RG glider as the EC-18 but still worth every penny if you can find one. Flying on 1/4-1/2A's this little canard glider is as good as any I've flown for fun and competition.
162: F-100-D Super Saber 1/48th PMC: This way over weaponed PMC is an all weather PMC, if the wind is up or gusty this is a really good PMC to have as an entry. I've flown it only twice in it's long stable time but when needed it's been a great flying PMC on C6-3's.

 

[Micromeister]

Next 10 "Second Fleet" Rockets: (163 - 172):
163: Sputnik Semi-Scale Odd-Roc: This 4" diameter styrofoam ball with 1/8" x 18" "Antenna" makes a wonderful and easy to build Odd-Roc. I made the C6-0 power pod ejectible on a streamer to lighten the "Bounce" recovery. It's logged a lot of flights, enough that the top of the ball is now somewhat flattened
164: Night Converted Estes Warp-II: This Estes rocket kit has a very nice BT-60 White NoseCone, Transition & clear payload section ideally suited for holding lots of Payload including a custom fitted 15 LED light system and additional LED's in the transition & Nose Cone to Illuminate it all with a single 3V Lithium Cell. This Night Launch Rocket has been flying since completion in Nov. 1994 in both Single and 2-Stage flights. As of today this rocket has over 25 flights and is still flying today.
165: XFY-1 Pogo 1:48th PMC: I Had a blast (NO PUN intended) converting this propeller driven aircraft to C5-3, C6-3 motor power. I was able to get the counter rotating props to work under thrust, and eject the Lead filled nose with props on it's own chute while the body came down Horizontally on another 15" chute. Really a Fun Flying PMC, what also won our OLD team two first place trophies in Open and a Regional competition.
166: Centuri Flying Saucer: This Clone is all 110lb Cardstock (except the landing Antenna) I painted it purple and call it my Flying Purple People Eater. Lots of fun on B6-0 or C6-0's
167: Scratch 3x Up-Scale Laser-X: A very Large Rocket this rocket can be flown as a single stage 3-D12-3 Cluster or 2-Stage 3- D12-3/A-C motor Upper-Stage sustainer
with electronic upper stage ignition from a 9V battery and rubber incapsulated mercury switch. Man What Great flights the Second flight 2-Staged using 3 -D12-3s and an A8-3 I almost lost the sustainer which flew out-of-sight for over a minute.
168: Estes Strike Fighter: An outstanding Kit! as a Sport Flying Rocket it's one of those "had to have" rockets from the 1990's.
169: Revell X-15 1:65th Scale PMC: This PMC takes just about any 18mm motor but is a very good flying PMC on B6-4's and Outstanding on C6-5's.
170: Revell F-104-G StarFighter 1/32nd PMC: The Revell kit was press in Red styrene which proved to be extremely hard to cover with primer and paint as its RED bled through both primer and 3 coats of base white. After the 5th coat I got a decent base coat and decided to use a camo pattern of darker colors to finish the model. Extra wing mounted stores and wheels down this PMC recovery with 2- Nylon Chutes and has placed first in two section and one Open meet. Still Flyble today it is also a great looking static display model.
171: 5- D12 Clustered Crayon: The 4" OD x 36" long Crayon just had to be converted into a flying Odd-Roc (Sky-Writing series) The 5 D cluster has 4- .063" clear Lexan fins, No stuffer tube and a 36" multi-color hemi-chute. Flies like a dream and after 23 flights is still as solid as the day it was completed.
172: Revell 1:72nd XF-92A Dart PMC: Another Competition "Quailifier" PMC this small aircraft is an A10-3T Rear Ejection pod rocket that pulls out a 12" plastic estes chute.

 

[Micromeister]

Next 4 "Second Fleet" Rockets ( 173 - 176):

173: Quest Viper: Another Scout build demo rocket this little rocket was easy for Tiger Cubs and Cub Scouts to complete in less then an hour meeting. Flies great on 1/2A6 -C6 motors depending on the field conditions can be Chute or Streamer recovered.
174: Quest Eagle: A large 1.38" diameter x 21.8" long A-C Rocket it is also easily converted to take D12 and/or composite E - F motors for very high flying Demonstrations.
175: 1/2A - A Edmonds Deltie BG: This 13mm motor No Sand Glider is an outstanding glider. The fact that building this glider require NO airfoiling of any kind makes it the perfect 1st glider for just about any age group. It can be painted or Magic marker colored as one wishes, trimmed with a tiny bit of clay to turn right or left to ensure recovery and best of all can be constructed if necessary on the field. A all around GREAT Little glider.
176: Omage 2-Stage w/ Cineroc: Back in the 1970's when the Omage 2-stage first hit the market I jumped on the kit. and married it to a brand new super-8mm Cineroc movie camera. Wanting as straight up flights as possible I sysmmetric airfoiled all 8 fins forgetting that the camera would be running during all the powered flight as well as the coast phase. Will I loaded up the camera, set it on my tri-pod launcher, started the camera, count down and pushed the button...WOW! The rocket Leaped off the pad straight as an arrow, spinning so fast I really couldn't see the fins from the ground. after coast it ejected the chute and drifted slowly down to the ground. Apon retrieval I quickly removed the Film, dropped it into an envelope for Estes to develop. Eagerly awaited the return mail from Estes with worms on my tongue (Baited Breath) finally the film showed up along with my brand-new film packs. I hurriedly set-up my bell & howell projector and loaded the film. Started the projector to the countdown (silent film) then Lift off and WOW The spinning actually made me sick to my stomach! SOOOOOOOOOOO quickly spinning the only part that can be watched without getting sick is the liftoff and after ejection LOL! Unfortunately my original Omage 2-Stage was in the Storage locker and destroyed by vandels. I do still have my original Cineroc and one film pack that is still in working order and won another brand new in the box Cineroc a couple years later along with a single film packet.
I decided in late 1995 to clone the Omage 2-stage and fit it with my original Cineroc. I think the hardest part was making the fins with rounded leading and tailing edges only. This Clone is an excellent flying machine, I've only flown it two staged once without the cineroc and almost lost the sustainer I'd forgotten just how high a D12-0/D12-7 can send a rocket LOL! It's a wonderful flying clone.

 

[Micromeister]

Next 10 "Second Fleet" Rockets: (177a1-177k1a - 180)

177a1: Custom 4xA Cluster Altutude research rocket: Beginning in 1994 I begin designing 4xA cluster/altitude competition rockets. 177a1 is the first in a series of experimental designs.
177a2: Another 4xA Cluster/Altitude rocket.
177a3: Another 4xA Cluster/Altitude rocket:
177a4: Another 4xA Cluster/Altitude rocket.
177g: 10.5mm 4xA Cluster/Altitude Rocket: These Grumpy-Old-Men team rocket Set a new National Record in 6-2000 of 1217ft (371m).
177i: 18mm/13mm 4xA Cluster/Altitude Rocket: This 2005 new design used the the available motors and did very well in it's first flight.
177k1a: 18mm/13mm Stacked 4x! Cluster/Altitude Rocket: an Experimental design which is difficult to wire for launch but flies very well with a relay ignition system.
178: VonBraun 3-Stage Ferry Rocket PMC: 1: 288th Scale PMC flies on A10-3T, it's a very interesting construction build.
179: Nike-Hercules PMC: Revell 1:40th Scale single stage Nike Hercules is a real challenge to build to fly on an A10-3T motor. which it displays on it's launcher it does not fly from it.
180: Army-Redstone Missile PMC: Another Revell 1:110th Scale works well on A10-3T 13mm motors. It's flies from a standard 1/8" rod.

 

[Micromeister]

Next 10 "Second Fleet" Rockets: (181 - 190).

181: Revell Mercury-Atlas w/ Pad 1: 110th Scale PMC: I purchased 3 of these kits when they first came out, put them away and promptly forgot about them until 1996. Looking forward to a PMC event coming up I decided to give this little Mercury-Atlas a look to see if I could convert it to fly. Sure enough it was perfect for a 13mm A10 motor.
after building the Rocket I had all these Launch complex parts left over so decided to complete the structure as a static display. Mounted on a 1/2" plywood bass with a 1/8" clear Acrylic dust cover it now sits on top of my PMC kit storage cabinet. The little Merc-Atlas flies like a dream, with 2 flights under it's belt.
182: AirFix 1:144th Saturn-V PMC: This 3 D12 cluster is another nice competition PMC. flies well on three D12-3 motors, recovers on a pair of 18" nylon chutes.
183: B- Helicopter Duration: A Hinged Rotor, Free-wheeling hub 18mm compitition HD rocket. Not very competitive in it's original configuration. Way to much dihedral. After greatly reducing the angle stops it does much better.
184: Dr Rocket Odd-Roc "Flying Food Series": Just another 2 liter 18mm motor Odd-Roc.
185: Edmonds 1/4-1/2A Ivee BG: Competition 13mm BG, a very competitive flying Boost Glider.
186: Revell F-100-c SuperSable 1:65th PMC: Another very successful 13mm A10-3T rear ejection Plastic Model Conversion.
187: V2-#2 White Sands 1:72nd PMC: Another competition & sport flying PMC...YES I fly PMC just for fun!
188: Revell F8-E Crusader 1:72nd PMC: Another very successful competition PMC. Rear ejection, drag out 12" plastic chute, flies on A10-3T's only.
189: AirFix Pan-Am Space Clipper Orion PMC: This replacement for a mid 1970's Revell PMC has been modified into a 2001 Orion, had to recreate the Pam-Am decals.
190: Coffee,Cream & Sugar Odd-Roc (Flying Food Series): Spoons help this Odd-Roc spin on the way up under D12-3 motor power. Suger packet fins.

 

[Micromeister]

Next 10 Second Fleet" Rockets: (191 - 199):

191a: 5xB Cluster/Altitude 18mm Rocket: This Scratch built 18mm x 37" 5 x B Cluster/Alt. Rocket designed in 1996 needed no additional nose weight even with 4-B6-0 & 1-B6-6 motor installed. On it's first test flight it blew all four .010" waferglass 7degree flat pod covers off at burn thru but still achieved 224m (734.9') altitude Tracked and closed within 4%. Before it's second flight 1/4" epoxy covered plugs were installed just ahead of the 1/4" exhaust ports and .005" waferglass covers were installed.
On it's next flight it gained nearly 400 feet more then twice what I expected Tracked and closed at 345m (1,131.5'). Tower Lauched with a 2"x 60" x 1/2mil mylar streamer recovery.
191b: 5xB Cluster/Altitude 10.5mm Rocket: Back in the 1990's Apogee sold a line of 1/4A - B BP 10.5mm motors that were a boon to competition flying. These great little motors helped set many a new Altitude record in a number of events. Working with Grump Old Men team I designed a built this 13mm x 42" core rocket with 4- 10.5mm, 7deg tapers booster pods just to see how high we could expect to get 4- B2-0/1-B2-9 motors to fly. Flown on June 14 1997 for Middletown Maryland sport launch field. This Tower Launched vehicle Teleported completely out of sight at ignition. about 14 seconds later the crowd watching and I reported hearing a faint pop way up there. No smoke trail was noticed or seen. No 2" x 60" 1/2mil Mylar streamer was seen. About 2 and 1/2minutes later a sling fin fluttered back down onto the range. after more then an hours team search of the surrounding fields No sign of the rocket was ever found. Wow What a flight! I still have a good supply of the 10.5mm B motor in stock that I hope sometime to give another 5xB cluster a try.
192: 2-D12 Clsuter Crayon Odd-Roc: This 2.6" x 30" crayong just had to be convered into a 2-D12-3 clustered Odd-Roc. Flies like a dream to very respectable altitude on a pair of D12-3 motors.
193: the BAT Boost Glider Odd-Roc: The Halloween theme Glider was featured in Model Rocketeer mag in the 90's. I decided to give it a go and customized it with the Bat face, ears, and fangs. It's a wierd flying BG! Under power it spirals upward the ejects the motor casing and settles into a fairly decent glide.
194: PB&J Sandwich Odd-Roc: Another "Fly'in Food" Odd-Roc this rocket is a bunch of empty peanut butter and Jelly containers with 3/16" foamcore Bread slice fins along with a couple plastic knifes to add to the stability. On the Heavy side it flies on a single D12-3 motors and recovers on an 18" plastic chute. It always gets lot of looks on the launch field.
195: Vanguard TV-4 1: 61.1413 scale: This Competition Scale Rocket is very close to my heard as my Dad worked on the Vanguard Project building the fuel systems and all the various "Grapefruit" satellites designed for the project. This Scale rocket is tower launch on 13mm motors with special foam fall away blocks.
196: Jack-O-Lantern Odd-Roc: This converted dollar store flashlite is a great addition to my night flying fleet with 4 High output LED's in the pumpkin head flies on C or D motors.
197: Salt & Pepper Odd-Roc: another "Fly'in Food" series these empty salt and pepper shaker stack flies on a 13mm A10-3t to respectable altitude.
198: Witches Broom Odd-Roc: Halloween Theme Odd-Roc always get lots of looks on the field. the 24mm Shaft is just plain old BT-50 with Drag fin made up of an actual Corn Broom stalks. Flying on a D12-3 it has had a really nice life with several straight up flights and good recovery under a 24" chute.
199: Flying Ghost Odd-Roc: Nothing more then a muslin covered 4" x 18" sputnik this rocket uses fabric stiffener to keep the ghostly look under thrust. also has a pop pod to kick out the C6-3 motor casing and sort of gently bounces on touchdown.

Thats the end of the first 200 standard size rockets in my Second Fleet, Now we skip 200 - 600 set aside numbers for my Micro Maxx rockets. The next full size standard rocket will be 601.

 

[Micromeister]

Next 10 "Second Fleet" Rockets: (601 - 610):

601: 10.5mm 1/4A Slide pod Rocket Glider: Another Edmonds AeroSpace creation this 1/4A Slide Pod RG was a fun build and fairly good 1/4A flier. You'll see this same model in the Micro Maxx fleet after I replaced the pod with a MMX-II slide pod. A little on the large side for a Single MMX-II but it is a "Qualifier" for those windy days I don't want to chase a glider for miles.
602: 10.5mm 1/4A HighWing RG: Edmonds AeroSpace does some really great BG & RG designs, Since Robert is a member of our club also we get to "beta test" many of his designs. This HighWing square body RG is another really great flying 10.5mm motor RG. Way to heavy to convert to use MMX motors it is now just a sport flying RG with my left over 10.5mm Apogee BP motors.
603: Glencoe Mars Liner 1:144th PMC: Glencoe makes some very interesting "inexpensive" models that just scream to be PMC conversions. The Mars Liner is one.
when I started this model I decided to try a different type of rear ejection pod and drag out chute set-up. The Mars Liner also incorporates Clear Lexan fins fitted into the Landing gear openings. Flying on a C6-3 she really scoots out of a launch tower.
604: Scratch 4-D12 Cluster Nova Payloader-II Night flying Rocket: This was my first 2.6" diameter Up-Scale specificly built as a Night Flying Rocket. It's 12" Payload section and PNC-80K nose cone are fitted with 51 Super Bright LED's in 4 colors and 2-flashing RBG LEDs in the nose. Completed in 1997 she has flown at just about all of the clubs 23 yearly Night launches.
605: PCS SpotLander: The "Paul Conner Special" is a wonderful example of "Designing for the Event" This BT-60 Nose cone sports 6 very small .010" waferglass fins and rear ejection pod with crepe streamer. It is super stable on any 18mm motor 1/2A -C6 and has won a number of Open Spot Landing events over the years.
606: Estes Turbo-Copter Competition modified: This Estes model (Now Oop) is designed to come down in two pieces Nose-cone with blade HD and body under Streamer. With a little work the Nose cone rotor unit was permanently attached to the body and streamer seperation eliminated. It's way to heavy to be competitive but makes a decent "qualifier" HD rocket if this event is not your focus at the meet.
607: 6xC Cluster/Altltude 18mm Nat'l Record Setting Rocket: Designed for ECRM-25, 5-17-1998. This 6XC Cluster/Alt set a new National altitude record of 666m(2,185ft) tracked & closed within 2% at the meet. It's one of my favorite 6xC flying rockets returning on a 4" x 40" Mica film Streamer. Flies on 5- C6-0/ 1-C6-7 motors.
608: Estes X-Ray: another Converted Estes payload model used exclusiverly for night flying this little 13mm powered rocket has 13 LEDs powered by 10.5 Lithium coin cell. Recovers on a dual 12" x 1/2" orange streamer.
609: Scratch Mini 10.5mm Lighted Christmas Tree Odd-Roc: Nearly all Cardstock 4" x 10" Christmas tree flies on now Oop 10.5 A2-3 motors with seed lights powered by 10.5mm lithium coin cell.
610: Scratch Mini 10.5mm Candel with Holder Odd-Roc: Custon 10.5mm body Candle with hand carved HD foam "flame" and Open bottom drag fin base with clear lexan fin/handle. Another Christmas theme Odd-Roc.

 

[Micromeister]

New 10 "Second Fleet" Rockets: (611- 620):

611: Mini Christmas Presents Stack Odd-Roc: Last of the 10.5mm motor Christmas Odd-Roc's in my Fleet this one is as much fun to fly as it was to collect, build and finish. The Stack is several small boxes found at Micheals, a length of 10.5mm craft tubing some rubbon, enough wrapping paper to decorate each box and a home made motor hook from one of the windshield wiper blade stainless strips. Fins are cleaer .020" Lexan epoxied in place below the boxes. The top Red wrapped box top is lined inside with two layers of Stainless steel tape and the white bow is fixed in place with a small section of 70lb Kevlar forming an inside loop which attaches to 30" x 70lb kevlar shockline and small 9" plastic chute. Flies straight and true from a standard 1/8" launch rod that passes through the stack along side the motor tube.
612: 10.5mm Streamer Duration Rockets: All the rage in the late 1990's these .448" (10.5mm) x 9.5" long Streamer rockets were very competitive while the Apogee 10.5mm 1/4A- B compitition BP motors were available. These very light weight rockets could be matched up with a suitable Streamer for just about any contest motor class.
613: Scratch Mini-Manche-3: I really enjoyed flying my Comanche-3 3 stage rocket but hated the very Long recovery walks and occasional loss of a stage. I thought a 13mm version would be a Hoot to build and fly on A10-0T/A3-0T/A3-6T motors I'd collected over the years. Down-Scaling was a snap since I already had the Comanche-3 in the stable. What I found after the first flight of my Mini-Manche-3 was it like the Comanche-3 required a Very Long Recovery walk LOL! It now flies on A3-0T/A3-0T/1/43-3T to stay within the Launch site boundries.
614: King Zog Made Me Do It: As Many of you know I do NOT FLY APCP well most of the time! I do on occasion fly small APCP competition motors but rarely and almost never anything over G power BP or otherwise. Anyway the Club President gave me a pair of F62-4 motors for christmas in 1998, and instructed me to build something to fly them in. So OK I built the only 29mm x 50" rocket in my entire fleet. It has only flown once and was nearly lost as it blasted out of sight on the provided motor LOL...I still have the other motor in the range box should I ever decide to do it agian but it's not likely... I'd still rather cluster a bunch of D12's than fly APCP!
615: Estes Mini X-Wing Fighter: Wow! This little 13mm Rocket looks great on the stand and flies OK but the very Heavy ejectable pod with streamer is a hazard to everyone on the flying field. It only took one flight for the club & I to declare this rocket a NO FLY rocket at our public launches.
616: Apogee B-Liner Egglofter: This Composite APCP B7-4 powered Egglofter was a boon while the little B7 motors were available from Apogee. How it only flies on B6-6 motors without an egg. Very nice flying rocket.
617: 1/4A-B 10.5mm PD & SD Rockets: These .448" (10.5mm) competition Parachute & Streamer Duration rockets faired very will in local and regional compeitions during the late 1990's while the Apogee 10.5mm motors were available. I still have a very nice selection of these now Oop motors but rarely fly them.
618: 2x1/4A Cluster/Altitude 10.5mm Compeititon Rocket: This finial design for 2x 1/4A Cluster/Altitude competition proved to be the very best flying design using .448" tubing spliced into a pair of 10.5mm motor tubes with a ultra smooth tracing vellium transition. 3 oval .010" waferglass fins and unweighted nosecone make for a very light weight Tower launched cluster rocket. It's first flight on 2- 1/4A2-4 motors tracked and closed to 224m in testing. unfortunately the motors were discontinued before a Club or regional contest could be held with it as one of the events.
619: 2x1/4A Cluster/Altitude 13mm Competition Rocket: A little later in 1999 I decided to build and test another 2x1/4A Cluster/Altitude rocket using 13mm motors and BT-5 tubing. Like 618 the motor tubes splice into the single main airframe with 1/4" balsa blocks covered with a tapered hardened tracing vellum transition. sanded ultra smooth and polished this little rocket flies pretty well also but don't have any altitiude info on it's only flight.
620: AutoGyro 3D Night Helicopter Rocket: A 3- D12-3 or F powered Helicopter with 60" rotors each tipped with 2- 12,000mcd red LED's was supposed to fly at one of our clubs night launches after a daytime shake-down qualifing flight. Unfortunately one of the D12's Cato's blowing out part of the side of the sliding fin-can ending it's chance for a night flight. I still haven't repaired the fin-can but plan to make it a 4-D12 cluster when I do.

 

[neil_w]

I used to think you were going to run out of these eventually but now I'm not so sure.

Thanks for taking the time to post them all, I for one am enjoying seeing the whole menagerie.

 

[Micromeister]

LOL Neil!
There are still about 80 more Rockets to post to get to the end of my Current Second fleet. I'll post another 10 tomorrow.

 

[Micromeister]

Next 10 "Second Fleet" Rockets: (621 - 630)

621: Clone Centuri Point: This Almost all Cardstock rocket was a flying favorite back in the day. I finially found my copied instructions for this Old rocket and cloned a new one using 110lb cardstock. Flies just like the original kicking out the motor on a very short retainer, coming down like it's own parachute.
622: Clone Centuri Javelin: First Fleet rocket from 1965 replacement. Very nice flying little rocket.
623: Clone Estes SkyDart: Cloned this SkyDart using 1/8" Styrene for the wing & tail which eliminated the filling and much of the sanding but also made the rocket considerably heavier almost 8oz. Flies Ok and glides as well as the original.
624: Mini Mars Lander X2 RTF: Purchased just for fun this RTF flies pretty good on A10-3T's
625: MoonDog RTF: Another All Plastic RTF rocket flying on 13mm A10-3T's.
626: Love Your GroundHog Odd-Roc: A Valentine's day Odd-Roc my GroundHog is three 9" long nap roller covers and half a "Legs Egg" with clear Lexan fins. Flies very well on D12-3 motors.
627: Goddards 1st Rocket 3.4464 scale: A True Scale Of the Original designed to fly on B2-4 (10.5mm) motor. Flies from a scale launcher constructed of clear plastic tubing.
628: Mini ALCM Cruise Missile: Estes Launchables Set-1 Each set contains 2 small 13mm rockets, This little RTF is a hoot to fly.
629: Mini Maverick Missile: Estes Launchables Set-1 RTF rocket is really an out-of-sight flier on 13mm motors.
630: Space Hauler RTF: Estes Launchables Set-2 RTF, first rocket in set-2 it is a blast to fly.