Personal launch: 4th December 2005

[adrian]

Background:
My two nieces have taken some interest in my rockets, although they've never been to any flying events. Some time ago I built them each a model rocket using some scrap tubing. The older one got to design her fins, which ended up as slightly undersized delta shape; for the younger one, I drew out a clipped delta shape. The kids got to colour in six of each shape, which I then cut out and glued to the sides of similar shape balsa fins. That meant the kids decorations went onto the fins, and also that the fins, being laminated, were strong enough to survive being played with - a more hazardous mission than actually being launched! The nose-cones were rolled from paper and the kids got to decorate those as well, and more recently they did a lot of work with felt pens on the body tubes. And so finally on Sunday we got to launch them. I had a couple of my own smaller rockets along as well.

First: the larger, heavier of the two rockets, belonging to younger niece Sophie. Loaded with a B6-2 and a parachute borrowed from my SpaceShip One, this weathercocked a bit but drifted most of the way back to where it had started from.

 

[adrian]

Second: a thinner rocket belonging to older niece Jennifer. Also loaded with a B6-2, this went a lot higher. Under another 12" Estes parachute, this one with a spill hole cut out, it drifted past the launch pad but still landed safely in the field.

 

[adrian]

Third: my 1:1 scale model of Research Rocket 1 (RR-1), the first rocket to be flown by Scottish rocket group Paisley Rocketeers. This was loaded with a 1/2A3-2T (mainly because I had no full A3-4T's). Being very small and light, it didn't even need a streamer. Being relatively fat, it didn't achieve much velocity; being light as well as fat, it soon lost that velocity, and actually drifted downwind while still ascending. The last time I saw that happen was with an Estes Dude.

If I'd been able to launch this the previous Sunday, it would have been exactly the 70th anniversary of the flight of the real one. Especially if it had been about an hour later. The original had an "interesting" flight, since it was powered by a cluster of seven fireworks - neither Estes motors nor the UKRA safety code had been invented in 1935! So it is quite appropriate that the later model also had a quirky, if safer, flight.

 

[adrian]

The children had also been busy in the kitchen earlier in the day, decorating biscuits with icing. Mostly they adopted a Christmas theme, but there were two exceptions.

 

[jflis]

ya gotta love those paper rockets!

Kewl cookies too

 

[adrian]

What paper rockets? The nose cones were rolled from paper, true. The body tubes are cardboard - one had previously held wrapping paper, I don't remember what was previously on the other. They're heavier - and stronger - than official body tubes from Estes or Totally Tubular. Which, in view of the rockets' owners, is a good thing. The fins are balsa laminated with the kids' paper decorations.

 

[spacecadet]

They look like mine, Adrian. Only snazzier
Must try wax crayon myself.
Well done.

 

[Reed Goodwin]

I also had a personal launch Sunday, though the rocket launched was not mine. My sister launched her first rocket, an Estes Patriot, three times on A8-3s. I took videos of the launch so the launch pics are not the greatest especiaslly since the camera had some issues focusing. Here's the first launch pic. The flight was a success.
Reed

 

[Reed Goodwin]

The second launch went up fine put the parachute separated from the rest of the rocket. Because the rocket was so low, however, it suffered no damage on landing.
Reed

 

[Reed Goodwin]

She used her last motor after fixing the parachute for another successful flight.
Reed

 

[jflis]

Originally posted by adrian
What paper rockets? The nose cones were rolled from paper, true. The body tubes are cardboard - one had previously held wrapping paper, I don't remember what was previously on the other. They're heavier - and stronger - than official body tubes from Estes or Totally Tubular. Which, in view of the rockets' owners, is a good thing. The fins are balsa laminated with the kids' paper decorations.

whoops! Looking at the pictures, I thought they were made entirely out of card stock paper!

kewl

 

[paulk]

Originally posted by adrian
The kids got to colour in six of each shape, which I then cut out and glued to the sides of similar shape balsa fins. That meant the kids decorations went onto the fins, and also that the fins, being laminated, were strong enough to survive being played with - a more hazardous mission than actually being launched! The nose-cones were rolled from paper and the kids got to decorate those as well, and more recently they did a lot of work with felt pens on the body tubes.

I just love those rockets decorated by kids. That may just work to get my daughter interested. She really doesn't like rockets (probably just because her little brother does), but she loves decorating stuff, maybe I'll build her a rocket, paint it with white primer, and give it to her as an *art project*.

-Paul

 

[buzz]

Cool rockets adrian! Definitely unique graphics.
I wish my family was as interested in rockets.