U.S. Rockets brand KITS

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Jerry Irvine

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I wanted to start a thread to discuss kits people have received from USR (U.S. Rockets) (https://www.usrockets.com).

There seems to be quite a few shipping now and the Instaship program (https://www.v-serv.com/usr/instaship.txt) is working pretty well. It allows the relatively fast shipment of orders of products that are actually readily available.

It is also helpful for people to send the contact information for local dealers that might consider stocking the BMR series of USR kits. That series is doing well with dealers.

My favorite thread so far on TRF is Enertek.

Been there, done that, have the t-shirt.

Jerry
 
Neither have I, only heard bad things...



Who owns USR?
 
Two things:

1) This really should be in the Vendors forum, as it is a thread about a company.

2) Welcome to TRF... :)
 
I have no experience with US Rockets kits. I checked out the website, and I'd like to see more photos of completed rockets. I'd definately like to see a few in-flight photos of the "Sentra SRB 12"... even though there's no chance I'll ever be able to afford to spend CAD$2000 on a rocket (US$1100, plus shipping, plus import fees and duties, then exchange rate). Still, fall-away boosters are cool.

Would I buy a US Rockets kit? Maybe. There are three that I'd consider buying. First would be the 4" version of the "Sentra SRB", because as mentioned, fall-away boosters are cool. Once I'm certified high enough -- and spent some time breaking a couple of records with scratchbuilt designs ;) -- it's a definite possibility. I could imagine myself buying an "F Dart", I've never done gliders before. I could also possibly do a "Longhorn", converting the upper section to a finless second stage ignited by a timer in the booster. Could be fun. The "Transition" is interesting, but it's priced higher than I'm willing to spend on an LPR/MPR kit.
 
I've never built a USR kit but I did buy a bunch of specialized tubes for scratch building from USR. I found the service to be great and the product is exactly what I wanted. I won't hesitate to order again.

The tubes? Full length coupler tubes that I plan to use as sacrificial mandrels for rolling my own carbon fiber minimum diameter rockets. They are very good quality tubes and unfortunately I am kind of wasting them.

BTW, you can learn a lot about USR tubes from the strength of materials website as USR apparently sent a ton of samples. Sorry, I can't find the url for that right now but a search will find it for you.

Len Bryan
 
Guys,

He did ask a question, very valid for our forum...please show some courtesy and allow the user to speak. I have removed unnecessary posts that had no bearing on the question.

Yes, we are moderated, but everyone should get a chance here to speak.

Carl
 
Hear Hear!!!

The first step to peace must be taken by you the TRF members.
 
Originally posted by CTulanko
Guys,

He did ask a question, very valid for our forum...please show some courtesy and allow the user to speak. I have removed unnecessary posts that had no bearing on the question.

Yes, we are moderated, but everyone should get a chance here to speak.

Carl

This is one of the reasons to love TRF! You guys are very fair moderators.

Len Bryan
 
Hi Jerry Welcome to TRF.
Carl, I am sorry but am I missing something?
I have read this entire thread, or whats left of it, and I can't seem to find the authors question.
What is the question?
Anyway I have considered US Rocket kits but maybe a few pictures would put me over the edge and make me pull out my wallet.
 
to tell you the truth, I have no expiernce with USR. In fact, I have not even seen a USR rocket for sale or already built. There seem to be *few* vendors who have the kits. From what I have heard, they are pretty good, except them being a tad bit pricey. Some/all include balsa nose cones!!
 
I've never built a USR, however I have seen a Banshee fly. If I were to think mainstream, I would have compared it to an Estes Executioner in build. In appearance it kinda reminded me of a Maxi Alpha.

EMRR has active reviews on 4 USR kits. The reviews are all over the place.

USR kits pop up from time to time on eBay and on ROL. They always seem to go for somewhat less than MSRP.

Welcome over Jerry, now let's see the fruit of your experience. Everyone here will welcome your years of skill sans the RMR noise. ;)

Al
 
Welcome Jerry. I have two USR kits from back when but have never built them. I had aquired them from someone else and never being into the mid-hpr size models (no place to fly them in the north east :) ) I never got around to building them.

From what I've heard from others ,however, is only good, for what that's worth.

jim
 
Gee, Jim, instead of letting those kits just sit in your basement/attic..... ;)
 
I also have no experience with USR. I've heard, for the most part, bad things, but that's other people's experiences. I would be willing to try out USR, just to see how my experience goes.

Jason
 
First & foremost, welcome to the forum Jerry! I for one, am quite interested in your future participation here on TRF & certainly hope that you become as active here as you have been "other places" :) No one can be involved in a hobby for as long as it sounds like you have & not have some quality information to share with less experienced folks (a category I know I fit into!)

I am not aware of seeing a USR kit in the flesh, however, I have occasionally wandered onto the USR website to see what kits are available & I have to admit that I'm a bit of a visual person. While I can appreciate to a degree the diagrams showing the kit design (although the diagrams showing the motor layout is a very cool & unique feature to the USR site), I still have a preference for pictures of the actual (completed) rockets.

I also consult the EMRR website for any kits before purchasing as well. Call me a research freak ;) As someone previously mentioned, the reviews on EMRR are indeed all over the place...and there are very few reviews period considering how many USR kits are offered for sale.

Still being relatively (re)new in the hobby (~1 yr after a ~20yr absence), I don't feel that there's enough constructive comments about USR out there for me to have made up my mind whether to consider purchasing one or not.

HTH,
 
Welcome Jerry,

Good to see US Rockets expanding it's horizons here at the TRF...
 
Welcome Jerry!

I have a friend who loves his USR kit. He just got it two weeks ago and has about 30 flights on it. It's a slick looking rocket too. I'll get some pictures and the name from him.

Edward
 
I bought three kits from Jerry at last month's SCRA launch at Lucerne, built one of them (Banshee) a couple weeks ago, and used it for my first foray into reloadable composite motors, using an Aerotech 29 mm relaod about a week and a half ago atthe MDARS launch at Aerial Acres. Loved it!! Will be taking it to the ROC launch this wekend at Lucerne. If Jerry's there, may be picking up more.....
 
Originally posted by lalligood
I am not aware of seeing a USR kit in the flesh, however, I have occasionally wandered onto the USR website to see what kits are available & I have to admit that I'm a bit of a visual person. While I can appreciate to a degree the diagrams showing the kit design (although the diagrams showing the motor layout is a very cool & unique feature to the USR site), I still have a preference for pictures of the actual (completed) rockets.

I need to correct myself. I see that there are in fact actual pictures of the completed rockets. I just didn't dig deep enough... I was being lazy :rolleyes:
 
I just built a Fire and Forget and will be posted a partial review this week in the forum. Once flown a full review on EMRR. However, I only expect 1 flight (hence the name) because I have a G25-10 with it's name on it!

Nick
 
They do not hold up to modern designs.

I am sure, at one point during the golden age of rocketry (1985?) that these kits were state of the art. However they do not stack up to similar kits today.

I halped to build a Sonic 3100 kit in the late 1990s.

The fins were warped.

The nosecone didn't fit the heavy paper tube.

The chute was a piece of raw cloth cut out using pinking shears.

This might be fine for a lower powered kit, but not for a 3" x 54mm bird. If your thinking of getting it, save your money and buy LOC instead.

I'm thinking a night flight with a disposable skidmark might be the ticket to getting rid of this hunk of crap taking up space in my basement...

I've seen the banshee a few times. For the size of the rocket, it is all right. The chute still leaves much to be desired. For $36 bucks you could buy a better kit.

Just being honest.

--Alex
 
Originally posted by jflis
Welcome Jerry. I have two USR kits from back when but have never built them. I had aquired them from someone else and never being into the mid-hpr size models (no place to fly them in the north east :) ) I never got around to building them.

From what I've heard from others ,however, is only good, for what that's worth.

jim

Jim:

Bring them to Geneseo in July.


Al
 
to get anyone dragged through the mud.
i should know.
I have never read rmr (not yet, i have the archives bookmarked) so i am coming into this with no preconceived notions. I have read most of the USR website.

Personally, i was on the fence until Alex chimed in.
then i HAD to order a kit to see for myself. I believe a modeler is responsible for the quality of the finished product, so when calling a model a POC... well you built it. ;)

I ordered a Sonic 3100 Phase 2 from USR earlier this week. Customer service has been incredibly swift and friendly/informative. he even cut me a deal on extra conversion motor mounts so i can fly it with smaller motors. I got an email that it has shipped already. When i get it, i'll post my impressions. i'm no expert in HPR models, but i've built a lot of MR kits from many companies like estes, enerjet, centuri, aerotech as well as a fleet of scratch-builts.

I am rather surprised at the ship-first-pay-later routine...when it works out, it's a really good feeling to have trusted someone and they come through. kind of a reaffirmation of the good in society. lots of chances of eating into profits too much to stay in business...

Good Luck to you!
 
Originally posted by Elapid
Personally, i was on the fence until Alex chimed in.
then i HAD to order a kit to see for myself. I believe a modeler is responsible for the quality of the finished product, so when calling a model a POC... well you built it. ;)

That IS a good point... :)

Let me know how you mount your staging electronics. There wasn't enough room in mine to fit any type of electronics and recovery device in the first stage...

I'll take some pics of mine when I get home.

--Alex
 
i did take a look at a schematic that only used 4 cmos chips and a few leds, 9v batt and a capacitor...
how big can it be?
i'm planning to fly it as a single stage and only ordered it as a 2 stage for *later* when i can find a field with a decent ceiling...
 
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