Those Rocket Eating Weeds

[Bowman]

Has anyone with a dog ever tried attaching a piece of meat to a shock cord?View attachment 487429
Actually, maybe I should go back a bit ... Has any ever brought a dog to a launch?
Random thoughts.

Never thought of using the meat, but I did bring my German Shepard to a launch years ago.
He barked at every launch, not good! He didn't seem scared, just barked at the noise.

My last GSD was a female that was offspring of a mother with tracking credentials.
She was pretty good herself but I never thought of using her to find rockets.
Might be too busy for her nose at a big launch.

 

[brockrwood]

Has anyone with a dog ever tried attaching a piece of meat to a shock cord?View attachment 487429
Actually, maybe I should go back a bit ... Has any ever brought a dog to a launch?
Random thoughts.

Ha!

Funny you should say that. When my buddy and I were launching rockets, were not too far from an off-leash dog park. We waited for the dogs to be be on the far side of the dog park before we launched to keep the sound of the launches from bothering the dogs. Our other fear was that one of the rockets would land IN the dog park. The "fetch and retrieve" instinct is strong in some pooches. A big, old, slobbery dog mouth would ruin a BT-50, BT-55, or BT-60 body tube rather quickly, don't you think?

 

[MidOH]

You just give the dog a treat for fetching old engine casings. No need to stuff your rocket with cheese. Lolz.

Retrievers can smell that burnt engine smell a mile away. 4th of July gets interesting though.

 

[brockrwood]

I HATE losing rockets! I would rather crash one than not find it.

Amen to that. At least with a crash, you know what happened. With not finding it, you always wonder, "if I had looked for five more minutes, would I have found it, intact?"

 

[brockrwood]

On my iPhone, I now use software named GAIA GPS. Learning how to add a waypoint to emulate Sight-N-Go was a bit tricky, but very easy once I got the hang of it.

Going to try this. Also going to try the "spiral" walk pattern search. Makes sense! Thanks!

 

[BABAR]

Ha!

Funny you should say that. When my buddy and I were launching rockets, were not too far from an off-leash dog park. We waited for the dogs to be be on the far side of the dog park before we launched to keep the sound of the launches from bothering the dogs. Our other fear was that one of the rockets would land IN the dog park. The "fetch and retrieve" instinct is strong in some pooches. A big, old, slobbery dog mouth would ruin a BT-50, BT-55, or BT-60 body tube rather quickly, don't you think?

My Yellow Lab is a “RINO”, Retriever In Name Only.

Lucy barks like crazy at the COUNTDOWN, doesn’t react to the launch itself at all. Funny, because aside from rocket launches she almost never barks at anything or anyone.

as for retrieving, you throw a ball once, she will go get it. Throw it twice, she just looks at you like, “Dude, if you don’t want it I don’t either.”

only way she’s gonna fetch rockets is if they have dog biscuits inside. She’s a natural blonde, she doesn’t do anything for free.

 

[Cape Byron]

Our dog, Poppi, starts barking when I walk out of the house with a rocket. The barking continues throughout setup, prep, countdown and launch.

She doesn't care at all about the recovery.

 

[brockrwood]

“Dude, if you don’t want it I don’t either.

Ha! Ha!

 

[tOD]

my understanding is the AERODYNAMIC effectiveness of streamers peaks at a 10/1 ration of length to width. On the other hand, the VISUAL effectiveness (how easy it is is to see) has no limits that I am aware of, and since streamers are much easier to pack than chutes, unless you are an altitude hound and the extra weight matters, like in competition, extra long streamers are your friend, particularly in places like soybean fields where the rocket will likely penetrate to ground level but a long enough streamer will likely trail up and over the tops of the bushes.

I haven't done it yet, as I don't fly with Mid South Rocketry anymore as I don't live there and it was a long drive (great bunch of guys and at least one gal, though, while I was there), but the flying field was variously planted with soybeans, corn, maybe cotton, anyhooo, I thought even on parachute rockets that adding a long thin shiny streamer to the apex of the parachute might make rocket recovery a bit easier in soybean season, probably cotton too. Flying in corn? just hope it lands in an unplanted section. I've seen mixed reviews on this forum on noise maker effectiveness.

A pox on soybean fields!

 

[boomtube-mk2]

While primarily a man eater, the Audrey II has been known to chow-down on a rocket or two as a source of fiber.

 

[cls]

reminds me of the time my LOC 7.5" V2 with 8 foot fluorescent oramge chute disappeared in an alfalfa field! saw where it landed, had eyes on a landmark for a bearing... couldn't find for over an hour. whew!

I have had best results using a hand compass to walk the bearing line. better than trying to use land marks, such as a phone pole, or mountain peak, which one again?

 

[teepot]

I have vinyl stickers from Stickershock that have my name, phone number, my TRA and NAR numbers and most importantly the word "Reward". I would like to get the rocket back. But I really want my electronics back.

 

[BigMacDaddy]

Has anyone with a dog ever tried attaching a piece of meat to a shock cord?View attachment 487429
Actually, maybe I should go back a bit ... Has any ever brought a dog to a launch?
Random thoughts.

I had a random dog eat a nose cone off a rocket that landed near him after a longer than expected drift on a parachute...

 

[BABAR]

I have vinyl stickers from Stickershock that have my name, phone number, my TRA and NAR numbers and most importantly the word "Reward". I would like to get the rocket back. But I really want my electronics back.

Since address labels are dirt cheap, like 100 for a few dollars, I got a bunch with my name and cell phone number.

a little hesitant at times, I used to launch at a city park. 98% of the time they landed in the park. Once in a while they ended up in someone’s backyard. Never sure if that might get me in trouble or not.

 

[BABAR]

I had a random dog eat a nose cone off a rocket that landed near him after a longer than expected drift on a parachute...

Gotta stop using that biscuit colored paint!

 

[brockrwood]

What I found is have a sight line to a distance landmark, a Tree, hill or something. Then one person stays near the launch site and directs the searchers to stay on the sight line. We use our cell phones to communicate. The searches then keep walking and looking until they find the rocket.

Distance is very hard to judge but staying on the sight line will get you to the rocket.

Used this method to find an Estes Maniac that drifted on the wind. It worked! Wouldn’t have found it otherwise. Thanks!

 

[bad_idea]

I take a bearing on the descending rocket with the compass on my phone. Then I walk to the rocket with the phone in hand, correcting my bearing every so many steps. They usually end up further away that I would have thought. Had a rocket land in a milo field at Airfest. Seemed to me to be about 20-30 rows in. Found it in the 140th row.

I've bought a GPS tracker but have some soldering to do on it which I keep postponing due to more pressing rocket projects.