Seeking recommendation for 8 yr old’s first rocket
- Thread starter augendoc
- Start date
Help Support The Rocketry Forum:
Custom Rockets has the Razor, another tube fin BT50, excellent performer. Honestly, for 8 year olds, BT50 or larger is better. BT20 is too hard to pack the recovery for beginners. And I just cringe when the Scout moms show up with the bulk pack of Gnomes, because they were cheap. Yeah, make the kids feel frustrated and disappointed, that'll save a lot of money when they never do rockets again.
What's the issue with the Gnome? I've never seen one up close.
I was going to recommend the Dragonite - better than many of the other ARF models.
https://www.acsupplyco.com/estes-mo...el/skill-level-0/estes-dragonite-model-rocket
Another fun rocket that does not get much attention is the Sky Cruiser... It is really impressive when it is built and what kid cannot appreciate space cops!
https://www.acsupplyco.com/estes-mo.../skill-level-0/estes-sky-cruiser-model-rocket
Wacky Wiggler is a fun one (but maybe as a 2nd or 3rd since it is an oddball) -
https://www.acsupplyco.com/estes-mo...-0/estes-85260-wacky-wiggler-model-rocket-kit
This one is the biggest bang for your buck in ARF (although the Sky Cruiser may be more impressive and fun)-
https://www.acsupplyco.com/estes-mo...el/skill-level-0/estes-shattered-model-rocket
The Sky Cruiser is a sweet flyer. One of my club members brings his to club launches almost every time and it works very nicely each time he flies it. I think the biggest knock against it (or Galaxy Glow or Nova or any of the others where you have to glue together the ARF parts) is that you really need at least two different adhesives to build it and have it stay together.
It's BT-5-based so is very hard to work with. Anchoring the shock cord and still being able to get the recovery system out is quite the frustrating challenge. That silver-colored body tube is soft and easily damaged, too.
More detail in the next post.
Scott_650
Well-Known Member
I helped out with a Cub Scout build and fly using Gnomes. BEC is right, it’s not a good choice for young beginners and here’s why:
- to assemble it you need a sharp knife and either plastic cement or CA - not ideal for very young children or maybe not even 7-8 year olds.
-to fly it you have to get the streamer into that tiny minimum diameter body tube rolled tight enough to fit but loose enough to deploy - again, not an ideal task for small children.
-the body tube isn’t very rugged, small children don’t have the best fine motor skills - we repaired a fair number of tubes with some tape to get them at least flyable once.
-the small size makes watching the launch a bit of a hit or miss proposition, even on the lowest 1/2A it’s almost a blink or you’ll miss it event.
Thanks for the clarifications. Definitely one I'll avoid recommending.
If you kid is relatively patient and careful and you use fin jigs you can do balsa or cardstock fins glued to body tubes.
The Mini Mean Machine is a nice mini engine powered rocket and the Viking gives a bunch of options for "custom design". I did Vikings with my older one's scout troop when they were 8 and it worked well w/ adult assistance (part of my purchase decision was 12 packs being on sale for $11 at Hobby Lobby a few years ago).
The Mini Mean Machine is a nice mini engine powered rocket and the Viking gives a bunch of options for "custom design". I did Vikings with my older one's scout troop when they were 8 and it worked well w/ adult assistance (part of my purchase decision was 12 packs being on sale for $11 at Hobby Lobby a few years ago).
Thank you both. I wasn't at risk of buying one, but I was curious. Several experienced outreach-minded rocketeers of my acquaintance curse the name of the Gnome, and I'd wondered specifically why but had yet to ask. You've both satisfied my curiosity and put me on guard against Gnomes if I ever think of a bulk buy for new rocketeers.
I still have a few in our club's giveaway-to-new-members box. If you want to "experience" one first hand, I'll gladly send you one for just the postage. Just drop me a PM (AKA "start a conversation"). This offer is open to @CalebJ as well....
I appreciate the offer, but you've definitely convinced me.
The discussion did remind me that I've got a Star Trooper kit floating in the pile that's also a BT5. Is there a good solution for anchoring the shock cord on those without using the tri fold method? The last time I built one it was a great small flyer but the cord is a point of frustration.
The discussion did remind me that I've got a Star Trooper kit floating in the pile that's also a BT5. Is there a good solution for anchoring the shock cord on those without using the tri fold method? The last time I built one it was a great small flyer but the cord is a point of frustration.
I've not yet built around BT5, but for minimum diameter BT20, I've tied a steel fishing leader through a perforated baffle epoxied immediately ahead of the motor, and I've epoxied steel or kevlar with a blob of expoxy against the wall of the tube ahead of the motor. The latter approach would be very hard with a tube as small as BT5. Perhaps epoxy to a motor block, and shove the block into place with a motor? The former approach would leave nearly no exhaust for the ejection charge so probably isn't feasible until someone develops a deployment altimeter small enough for a 13mm tube.
I would try to use Kevlar line since it takes up so much less room and can be tied to motor mount (or tied to exterior of rocket even).
There is such a device….though getting a cell to power it that would fit in a 13mm tube might be kinda fun: https://northcoastrocketry.com/products/adrel-deploymax-altimeter-single-event-deployment
@BigMacDaddy The thing about Kevlar is that a few ejection charges in such close quarters would burn it through. I think if I were to try to build one of these beasts and fly it more than once I might use a bit of Kevlar (maybe a foot or so) and glue/tape/tie it to the outside of the body tube, then tie the kit’s shock cord to it. Run the Kevlar back in past the nose cone shoulder.
Thinking about it a bit further with a Gnome kit in front of me (destined to go to @bad_idea ), I’d use about 18 inches of small Kevlar (100# or smaller) and tie it to the top of the motor hook — which is installed on the outside of the body on this model —then run that Kevlar back down inside the tube as I suggested above. Or tie it to the plastic loop that goes around the body above the motor hook and serves as the upper launch lug….
@CalebJ I expect an external Kevlar line would work on the Star Trooper as well. Poke a hole through a fin root to give the Kevlar a place to attach. Or just lay a length with a knot or two tied into the end at a fin-body intersection and pot it into a fin fillet.
Gus
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2009
- Messages
- 1,841
- Reaction score
- 377
ALPHA III and/or the SKYWRITER . . .
https://www.acsupplyco.com/estes-model-rockets/estes-by-skill-level/skill-level-0
Dave F.
https://www.acsupplyco.com/estes-model-rockets/estes-by-skill-level/skill-level-0
Dave F.
user 35280
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2021
- Messages
- 1,468
- Reaction score
- 869
user 35280
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2021
- Messages
- 1,468
- Reaction score
- 869
Lots of good recommendations here.
My first was an Estes Alpha III, assembled together with my grandpa over the course of a couple hours. Although he designed electronics packages for the Atlas missile, he had no model rocketry experience. We still managed to decipher the instructions and throw the thing together well enough fly it a couple times on B and C motors. I’d probably start with a 1/2A or A if I were doing it today.
Nothing wrong with going for prebuilt or snap-together rockets, though.
My first was an Estes Alpha III, assembled together with my grandpa over the course of a couple hours. Although he designed electronics packages for the Atlas missile, he had no model rocketry experience. We still managed to decipher the instructions and throw the thing together well enough fly it a couple times on B and C motors. I’d probably start with a 1/2A or A if I were doing it today.
Nothing wrong with going for prebuilt or snap-together rockets, though.
While those are "cute", I believe that rockets, especially first rockets, should "look like a rocket", in order to instill the basic principles of what makes a rocket fly.
Dave F.
user 35280
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2021
- Messages
- 1,468
- Reaction score
- 869
DarthDaddy762
Active Member
An Alpha III® Launch Set would be a great start.
Cannot go wrong also suggest building 2 rockets just in case!
My boys loved model rocketry!
Enjoy!
Not entirely surprised....I just hadn't looked for one. That one (maybe sans protection circuit so it will be more likely to be able to actually fire an ematch) would probably do the job.
An Alpha III on a 1/2A6-2 will do maybe 70 feet. Around 200 on an A8-3 and ~500 give or take fifty on a B6-4 (I flew one today as the first flight of our club launch - 497 on a B6-4 per FS Mini stuffed up in the nose cone).
Yep, I did the 1/2A in an Estes Phantom. Not super impressive, but it pops the thing up and deploys the chute. It works for a test or demonstration flight. I wouldn’t want to go to the field with those being my only motors on hand, but I’d be OK doing one of those and then upgrading to an A8-3.
I admit though that I find more satisfaction than most in a very low hop.
