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I have an E30 but might be too high. I need to order more E20s. I do have D20s which might work well. Time to sim...
The 24mm Q-jets slot in nicely between the D12 and the E20 or E30. Also should have pretty good punch off the rod. Could be perfect for your application.

Also, I haven't had a chance to try them yet and want really badly to see others do so for my entertainment. :)
 
Now that I have a successful flight, I'm picking away at the minutia and the decals. Don't want to spend hours on the details only to have it land on the 2 story roof or the swimming pool.
which pretty much guarantees the complete rocket will end up on the second story roof or the swimming pool.

Of course, depending on how many tourist hotels you have, it is possible it may land on the second story roof AND the swimming pool!
 
which pretty much guarantees the complete rocket will end up on the second story roof or the swimming pool.

Of course, depending on how many tourist hotels you have, it is possible it may land on the second story roof AND the swimming pool!
Yes, but I have the video, and a pretty good one at that. :)

Fortunately for us, the 2 story building and swimming pool are usually upwind so rockets land there if we judge the wind wrong or the chutes fail. That's how I lost my first Honest John on an E12-4. The second rocket is much better anyways.
 
Launching at Windward CC on 9/11

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ronzrocketz

Launched rockets with the WCC staff and students along with Christopher, Gary, and Roger. We also invited a nearby private high school teacher who is interested in starting a rocketry club at the school. I unfortunately forgot to bring the bag of 2020 Estes catalogs I collected. Strangely, I only have one 2021 catalog that was sent to me.

There were a lot of misfires with Jacob's launcher and the Estes launchers. No system works every time, and we all try to develop a system that works most of the time. For some reason, the 12v battery recharger did not like my starters dipped in fine smokeless powder. What did work were the new Estes Startech starters but those are pricey. I ordered the Quick Dip finally until the Estes motors start shipping with the new starters. The 12v controller also didn't like the Quest Initiators so switched to my DIY controller with the 2x9v batteries.

I think the A10-3T had a Cato but I shouldn't really call it a Cato since there was no damage to the rocket except a short flight. I bought the A10-3T motors recently knowing there's a higher chance for a Cato. Later, I dropped my water bottle on the rocket and broke the tube above the fins. I think the tube was weak from the multiple launches, so I'm rebuilding the MM except I'll upgrade it to 18mm.

I set the JLCR in the Mercury Redstone to 100ft. When I launched it the other week with the same C18-6W, it seemed to go much higher but didn't have the JLCR inside. It looked like the JLCR released inside the tube before the ejection. Other than a dislodged side of the escape tower, my lucky rocket landed in one piece.The Big Bertha flights were heavily laden with a 9v battery to power the extensive electronics that Nikki was testing. Jacob and several students are traveling to Black Rock, Nevada next week to launch their avionics in their big rocket (I think 14ft).

The DARC-1 worked as well as can be expected. Next time, I'll include a sheet of wadding in the tube so the ejection charge doesn't go off like a shotgun blast. It's not a complicated build, the hardest part is slicing off the excess plastic without slicing off a finger, and I somehow managed not to.

00:00 Intro
00:11 Jacob's Snitch
00:26 Mini Mean Machine 3pts
01:05 Gary's Starfire
01:25 Gary's Nimbus
02:12 Falcoln Heavy 4 pts
03:16 Nikki's Big Bertha
03:26 Nikki's HiJinks
03:54 Gary's Javelin
04:14 Jacob's Snitch
04:43 Gary's Turbo
05:51 Gild Navigator 5pts
06:39 Gary's Mini Exocet
07:03 Mercury Redstone 5pts
08:59 Nikki's HiJinks
09:19 DARC-1 4pts
10:42 Nikki's Rascal
11:16 Total 21pts + 10 bonus = 31pts

 
I remembered that the ejection charge on the X-24 Bug also sounded like a shotgun blast. I think it's because of the "megaphone effect" of the DARC-1's shape. Congrats on being the first one to post a flight video here.
 
Before anybody complains, allow me to clarify some details about the Ansari X Prize cuz I was relying on my (faulty) memory in the video:
It was a 10 million $ prize that would go to the first non governmental organization that could launch a crewed craft into space and relaunch the same craft within two weeks. "Space" was defined as 100 km i.e. the Karman Line.
The prize was won by the Tier One Project flying White Knight One/Spaceship One designed by Burt Rutan and built by his company, Scaled Composites.
The Virgin Group only became involved some time later, partnering with Scaled Composites to develop White Knight Two and Spaceship Two.
What's interesting to me is that Spaceship Two is not capable of exceeding the Karman Line, while Spaceship One did.
Anyhoo, I hope to launch both Estes versions of Spaceship One at the next launch (18mm and 24 mm).
Should be interesting "heads up" launches.
The small Spaceship One flys fine. You might be aware that you need 4 of the putty squares in the nose rather than two. I think the instructions called for only two. Looking forward to see the big foam Maxi version! Good luck!
 
Launching at Windward CC on 9/11

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ronzrocketz

Launched rockets with the WCC staff and students along with Christopher, Gary, and Roger. We also invited a nearby private high school teacher who is interested in starting a rocketry club at the school. I unfortunately forgot to bring the bag of 2020 Estes catalogs I collected. Strangely, I only have one 2021 catalog that was sent to me.

There were a lot of misfires with Jacob's launcher and the Estes launchers. No system works every time, and we all try to develop a system that works most of the time. For some reason, the 12v battery recharger did not like my starters dipped in fine smokeless powder. What did work were the new Estes Startech starters but those are pricey. I ordered the Quick Dip finally until the Estes motors start shipping with the new starters. The 12v controller also didn't like the Quest Initiators so switched to my DIY controller with the 2x9v batteries.

I think the A10-3T had a Cato but I shouldn't really call it a Cato since there was no damage to the rocket except a short flight. I bought the A10-3T motors recently knowing there's a higher chance for a Cato. Later, I dropped my water bottle on the rocket and broke the tube above the fins. I think the tube was weak from the multiple launches, so I'm rebuilding the MM except I'll upgrade it to 18mm.

I set the JLCR in the Mercury Redstone to 100ft. When I launched it the other week with the same C18-6W, it seemed to go much higher but didn't have the JLCR inside. It looked like the JLCR released inside the tube before the ejection. Other than a dislodged side of the escape tower, my lucky rocket landed in one piece.The Big Bertha flights were heavily laden with a 9v battery to power the extensive electronics that Nikki was testing. Jacob and several students are traveling to Black Rock, Nevada next week to launch their avionics in their big rocket (I think 14ft).

The DARC-1 worked as well as can be expected. Next time, I'll include a sheet of wadding in the tube so the ejection charge doesn't go off like a shotgun blast. It's not a complicated build, the hardest part is slicing off the excess plastic without slicing off a finger, and I somehow managed not to.

00:00 Intro
00:11 Jacob's Snitch
00:26 Mini Mean Machine 3pts
01:05 Gary's Starfire
01:25 Gary's Nimbus
02:12 Falcoln Heavy 4 pts
03:16 Nikki's Big Bertha
03:26 Nikki's HiJinks
03:54 Gary's Javelin
04:14 Jacob's Snitch
04:43 Gary's Turbo
05:51 Gild Navigator 5pts
06:39 Gary's Mini Exocet
07:03 Mercury Redstone 5pts
08:59 Nikki's HiJinks
09:19 DARC-1 4pts
10:42 Nikki's Rascal
11:16 Total 21pts + 10 bonus = 31pts


Ron,
I really liked the Dr. Zooch Falcon Heavy launch and recovery.
As usual your sons commentary on the retrieval of your Mercury Redstone cracked me up 😆
 
Hate to be a KillJoy, but are those Snitch flights on standard motors, rather than 0-delay boosters? They fly perfectly well on both, but with the delay motors the ejection charge fires (as demonstrated here) after landing. It’s entertaining when it lands in a moist grassy field, but if it ever lands in Dry grass or brush it is a real fire danger.

maybe I’m wrong, just wondering.
 
Babar, your concerns are legitimate.
However, this was on the windward side of the island, where rainfall is abundant.
The grass was lush, the clouds were threatening rain.
The rocket was owned and launched on a couple of occasions by the RSO, a Tripoli prefect.
And there was a fire extinguisher on the ready.
I think it was pretty safe.
 
Babar, your concerns are legitimate.
However, this was on the windward side of the island, where rainfall is abundant.
The grass was lush, the clouds were threatening rain.
The rocket was owned and launched on a couple of occasions by the RSO, a Tripoli prefect.
And there was a fire extinguisher on the ready.
I think it was pretty safe.
Concur, (and I have done it too!), my comments are more for the peanut gallery who may see this and think it’s just an okay practice. It’s kind of like medicine, there are lots of times when the standard rules can be broken, you just have to be clear as to your justification for doing things outside the box.

you are right, you couldn’t light that field on fire with a blowtorch!
 
Two rockets completed. I’ve already flown both and were spectacular. The Cosmic Interceptor comes in at 323g. I wonder if an E30 is in it's near future?

6183143E-C06F-4CB9-8330-A7167894BB32.jpeg

The hardest part with the DARC-1 is cutting the excess plastic without slicing a finger or jugular. Somehow managed to avoid either. The other hard part is attaching the rubber cord to the outside of the booster then paint around it. Chris M probably figured out a better way. Hopefully the rubber cord doesn't snap but shouldn't since it's on the outside of the motor tube. I'm wondering if using a sheet of wadding in the tube will help prevent the shotgun blast in the cone. I still have to paint the cockpit but not in a hurry. I meant to paint the NC emerald green and the cockpit black.

95596E59-71BC-4457-ACA2-E1BFFBF21825.jpeg
 
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Very nice. It's about time for some fleet pictures I think... you must have a pretty hefty collection by now at the rate you've been cranking them out.
 
Very nice. It's about time for some fleet pictures I think... you must have a pretty hefty collection by now at the rate you've been cranking them out.
Maybe. That would require me vacuuming my living room. I could bring them out to my front lawn but then the neighbors will think I'm really nuts. 😜🤪
 
I have my $15 Estes and $5 eRockets rockets ready to go. I still haven’t got a 2021 catalog from Estes yet. Fortunately someone else sent me one.

2DB83B85-30A2-4848-8789-CF3E23066C4F.jpeg

Vinyl tape is great for masking. I have to remember to peel it slowly so it doesn’t pull the paper off the tube.

On the Venture, I used the last of my old Ivory spray. It took a long time to dry and reacted with the newer blue spray. Still, it works.
 
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...The Cosmic Interceptor comes in at 323g. I wonder if an E30 is in it's near future?

sweet build. mine looks like crap. just watched a roc fail vid and one of these had a spectacular disassembly. too much fin for the force of whatever they used.
 
Some successes on windy day with 3 JL Chute Releases and 1 FS altimeter

Visit my Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/ronzrocketz.

It was a windy day so small kine rockets with no son and no jokes, just simple rocketry in the park. I had the park all to myself and winds were between 3 and 8 mph. I was having trouble with the starters. I've had several launch days on the existing 2x9v batteries with no more problems after changing them out in the field. After several long videos over the past month, it's nice to have a short video.

I bought two Labor Day sale rockets from Estes plus several $5 rockets from eRockets. I wanted to do the Double Ringer but was worried the tube gliders would go too far. With the Space Crater, I shoulda known better than to use the B6-4 after my experiences with the Egg Lofter. I cut the crinkled part of the tube off and ready to go again (new egg of course).

With the Shuttle, I lost the glider last year when the E12-4 went cruise missile. We found the rocket next to the canal. This time, I used a styrofoam glider which worked well. I forgot about the glider in the Handycam but captured it in the GoPro. With the JLCR, the stability was crap with the relatively short body tube. The only damage was a few dented boosters. Maybe someday, I'll try it again with an E12-4 and no JLCR.

00:00 Space Crater 4pts
01:20 Venture 4pts
02:19 Patriot 5pts
03:39 Shuttle 4pts
04:45 Citation Patriot 450ft 6pts
05:38 Total 23pts

 
Some successes on windy day with 3 JL Chute Releases and 1 FS altimeter

Visit my Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/ronzrocketz.

It was a windy day so small kine rockets with no son and no jokes, just simple rocketry in the park. I had the park all to myself and winds were between 3 and 8 mph. I was having trouble with the starters. I've had several launch days on the existing 2x9v batteries with no more problems after changing them out in the field. After several long videos over the past month, it's nice to have a short video.

I bought two Labor Day sale rockets from Estes plus several $5 rockets from eRockets. I wanted to do the Double Ringer but was worried the tube gliders would go too far. With the Space Crater, I shoulda known better than to use the B6-4 after my experiences with the Egg Lofter. I cut the crinkled part of the tube off and ready to go again (new egg of course).

With the Shuttle, I lost the glider last year when the E12-4 went cruise missile. We found the rocket next to the canal. This time, I used a styrofoam glider which worked well. I forgot about the glider in the Handycam but captured it in the GoPro. With the JLCR, the stability was crap with the relatively short body tube. The only damage was a few dented boosters. Maybe someday, I'll try it again with an E12-4 and no JLCR.

00:00 Space Crater 4pts
01:20 Venture 4pts
02:19 Patriot 5pts
03:39 Shuttle 4pts
04:45 Citation Patriot 450ft 6pts
05:38 Total 23pts


Two of your rockets were aptly named.

the Crater, performed as predicted. Let’s hope they don’t come up with a name that involves ”Hole” or “Pit” or “Auger.”

also impressed that the Venture got to third base on its first date!
 
@rklapp Describe you camera. The one on the tripod is a Hero? What is the one on the ground and how do you have it set up to look up at an angle? And what are you hand shooting with? Thanks.
The tripod is a GoPro8 at 1080p240. The ground is a GoPro3 at 720p120. I used to have problems with the GoPro3 battery. I used it extensively in 2015 for snorkeling (videos in my channel). Now it's working like a charm. The GoPro8 tends to overheat and run out of power, so I have to keep it out of the sun when not filming. It came with two batteries so suspect the manufacturer knew it had battery problems. I got it on sale at Costco so can't complain too much.

I have the ground cam in a handheld case. I was having problems angling it yesterday because the Parks has not been taking care of the grass so was difficult to keep it balanced.

1632072302785.png
 
Two of your rockets were aptly named.

the Crater, performed as predicted. Let’s hope they don’t come up with a name that involves ”Hole” or “Pit” or “Auger.”

also impressed that the Venture got to third base on its first date!
The Venture rocket ventured where no man has gone before. :D
 
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Gorgeous flights with the crew on a Hawaiian autumn morning

I have a Patreon account now. I appreciate any help with creating the launch videos. https://www.patreon.com/ronzrocketz

I had a heck of a time rendering this video. I spent half of Saturday putting the video together and most of Sunday trying to figure out why it kept crashing the program. An error occurred the first time and corrupted the file. I suspect it was a problem with the video text. I finally was able to render portions of the video then put it together.

Launching with Gary, Roger, and Christopher. Gary launched 9 rockets, I launched 8, and Roger launched 2. At the park, we were greeted with a delicious smell of BBQ pork or something like it. This was an unexpected relief from the often sewage smell that permeates through the park. The winds were between 2 and 7mph with several breaks. Most of the rockets descended slowly and all stayed within the park. I’ve decided to give a point if the device went on the flight but didn’t work such as an altimeter or cam because I’m still risking the device if the rocket is lost.

Finished the decal and paint job on the Cosmic Interceptor. I was nervous about using the E30 because it seems overpowered and didn’t want it to cruise missile with an E12. It’s not like I can accurately sim the complicated rocket. Turns out the E30 was perfect going about 500ft. It’s difficult to judge the altitude when the rocket goes straight up. We successfully retrieved the Viking from its 8th flight. I regret losing the Qjet motor because it’s plastic. I found an old A8 motor that had been in the grass for a while. I recognized the tape I put on the casing.

In the DARC-1, I thought I had the C5-3 but had a B6-2 instead because I was going to launch it last week in the wind. It wasn’t as dramatic as the previous C5-3 with the shotgun report. The Space Crater worked much better now that I’ve read the instructions properly. After the tube crinkled, I cut off the damaged tube and reglued to the fin can. With the Shuttle, the rocket flew exactly like last time except without the JLCR. I got great video of the glider so time for it to retire.

Both of Roger’s mini V2 and 3D printed Gridly worked great. He was worried that the Gridly was unstable, so he shortened the tube and added more NC weight. Hard to say what effect it had because it’s difficult to sim a grill fin. Gary’s MAV worked great despite the long delay. He’s working his way through his supply of Quest black powder motors. The pink Mix n Match 60 was weird because the Quest motor had a studder after leaving the rod but is difficult to see on the video. It kinda sounded like it was a boosted rocket.

The Double Ringer was another of the Estes Labor Day sale rockets and didn’t disappoint. Someday when I’m tired of the rocket, it will fit the Booster-55 so wondering how far it will go on a C6-0/C6-7. Would the gliders stay on? With the SWAT, I can only speculate that I failed to properly arm the altimeter because it showed my previous results when I performed a suction test on the altimeter. The Red Nova was spectacular with the Flightsketch altimeter and JLCR. It was Gary’s idea to try the 18mm composite rather than the D12.

00:00 Intro
00:09 Cosmic Interceptor 4pts
01:41 Gary’s Star Hopper
02:09 Viking 3pts
03:30 Delicious food smells in the park
04:05 DARC-1 4pts
06:20 Gary’s Mini Bomarc
06:43 Space Crater 5pts
08:59 Gary’s Mini DRM
09:39 Shuttle 3pts
10:28 Gary’s Lunar Scout
11:22 Roger’s Mini V2
12:15 Gary’s Tooboh
12:42 Roger’s Gridly
13:22 Gary’s MAV
14:10 Double Ringer 6pts
14:48 Gary’s DC-Y Space Clipper
15:44 Gary’s Mix n Match 60 (black)
16:20 SWAT 6pts
17:09 Gary’s Mix n Match 60 (pink)
18:01 Red Nova 534ft 6pts
19:06 Total = 37pts + 10 bonus = 47pts

 
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