Sounds like you're in a situation like a colleague referred to, when asked "How do you get to Murray, KY?" "Well, you fly out to the Middle of Nowhere. Then you drive for two hours...and you're almost there."
What did you do rocket wise today?
- Thread starter BeerorKid
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I down loaded the flight data from my RRC3 using mDACS. I flew on Sunday with the WWAR Club at the Grantsburg WI. Airport. I modified a LOC 3" Caliber ISP to be a dual deployment rocket. It was a perfect flight. It's nice getting your investment back ready to fly again. 
tOD
Sinking in the quicksand of HPR
Tacking fins with BS 30 min.
SteveNeill
SNG Studio Ventura
In this case the story might be titled “My Rocket Building Frenzy”.Every picture tells a story don't it.
Doug Holverson
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I'm getting three Swingers ready for a planned launch tomorrow. Two are about 20 years old built from '99 kits. The stickers were about falling off the wings so I peeled them off and reapplied them with spray adhesive. As some of you have probably guessed or intuited, those stickers were inspired by '70s pony cars and are supposed to be slightly kitschy. I also found the surviving Swinger II prototype from the early 2000s. That project stalled because the thing is bi-stable and sometimes settled into flying upside down. Maybe it's karma biting me for the aerodynamic sins of kludging a lifting tail. The nosecones are missing, but I'll either substitute some from the Estes PNC-20 pack or resin some slightly scaled down Centuri PNC-70s on the OMG resin printer tonight.
Doug Holverson
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I probably should talk about this in the Swinger clone thread, but a late post about "nostalgia for dangerous toys" scared me off. The Swinger is what happens when somebody who could use another year or two of experience designs a RG that pretty much works right off the bat. How do you know that you need a year or two more experience until you had a year or two more experience? Today, I also come across the original prototype from '98 which had around 27-8 flights until the tail snapped off and it was retired so it worked.
beantownJPL
Up up and away... Wait! Come back!
My favorite brown truck made a delivery today!
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The Magician has finally reached flight-worthy status (or so it seems). The motor mount has dried, the chute and shock cord rest in their proper places. Everything is glued down hopefully solid enough to survive the blast of flight. It probably needs something more design-wise, but I think I'll wait until after the first flight. Up to this point it's the largest rocket that I've built. We'll see how well it phooshes.
Since coming out as a BAR, I have built six rockets: 2 Mosquitoes, an Alpha III (it came with a launch kit), an Estes Black Brandt III, an Apogee Blue Streak and the Magician. The Sky Shenzhou still has a few more steps to go. I have moved a little up the skill level ladder from BAR Beginner (Alpha III) to BAR Intermediate (Mosquito, which I still can't believe now qualifies as intermediate, Black Brandt III and Magician). Many categorize the Shenzhou as a skill level 3, but I wonder if level 2, or maybe 2.5, makes more sense. For my next kit, I ordered an ASP WAC Corporal (the 24mm to 18mm model), which sounds fairly challenging. I haven't built a 2-stager yet. We'll see if glory or shame results. I haven't stopped building yet since my epiphany only some months ago, but eventually I'm guessing that I'll run out of room. Epiphanies take up a lot of space.
Since coming out as a BAR, I have built six rockets: 2 Mosquitoes, an Alpha III (it came with a launch kit), an Estes Black Brandt III, an Apogee Blue Streak and the Magician. The Sky Shenzhou still has a few more steps to go. I have moved a little up the skill level ladder from BAR Beginner (Alpha III) to BAR Intermediate (Mosquito, which I still can't believe now qualifies as intermediate, Black Brandt III and Magician). Many categorize the Shenzhou as a skill level 3, but I wonder if level 2, or maybe 2.5, makes more sense. For my next kit, I ordered an ASP WAC Corporal (the 24mm to 18mm model), which sounds fairly challenging. I haven't built a 2-stager yet. We'll see if glory or shame results. I haven't stopped building yet since my epiphany only some months ago, but eventually I'm guessing that I'll run out of room. Epiphanies take up a lot of space.
Unloaded the trailer after a week in the rocket pasture. Doing laundry since then, and will continue tomorrow with cleaning big motor casings.
Spent a couple of hours getting the 98mm XL casing out of my Ultimate Darkstar, only to find a bubble at the top. Brand new GEN2 casing:
Front room after we unloaded all the goodies we picked up at LDRS 38:
Tomorrows cleanup:
Good news is that I won't have to cleanup the big 98 casing.....
Spent a couple of hours getting the 98mm XL casing out of my Ultimate Darkstar, only to find a bubble at the top. Brand new GEN2 casing:
Front room after we unloaded all the goodies we picked up at LDRS 38:
Tomorrows cleanup:
Good news is that I won't have to cleanup the big 98 casing.....
rharshberger
Well-Known Member
Finished upacking the truck from SodBlaster 2, and downloaded my RRC3 from the one and only flight I had time to make.
BAR? = BadAssRocketeer? Is there a post somewhere here with Acronyms and meanings?
“Born Again Rocketeer”. A good rocketry glossary is over on Rocket Reviews: https://www.rocketreviews.com/glossary.html
Estes has changed its rating system. Anything beyond RTF/ARF/E2X is now called Level 2, which includes plenty of former Level 1s. See this thread.
Just take it slow and careful, follow the directions, and you'll be fine. Staging requires new steps or techniques, but not many and not really harder ones as long as you don't try to rush it.
Nicely put.
Looks great, I love that rocket. Judging by the number of people that have reported losing them, the Magician phooshes very well indeed.
Sounds like you got your custom title.Thanks Neil. Although I do like the sound of Bad Ass Rocketeer.
SteveNeill
SNG Studio Ventura
More of the same but always enjoyable. Zephyr is coming along. Waiting for paint to dry thoroughly takes longer than anything else. She's got her gloss white and today I can paint the fins and start adding the decals.
Little Joe is finished, Redstone is getting there. Painting to do there still. And the other Estes I found (forget the name again) is white primered so I can see all the bad stuff and start filling and sanding.
Little Joe is finished, Redstone is getting there. Painting to do there still. And the other Estes I found (forget the name again) is white primered so I can see all the bad stuff and start filling and sanding.
Attachments
So, what you're saying is that your day has been as exciting as watching paint dry.
SteveNeill
SNG Studio Ventura
Watching paint dry on a rocket is more exciting than watching paint dry on anything else. The anticipation of getting to the next stage(no pun intended) of the build is the excitement. You forgot the filling and sanding and filling and sanding and the filling and sanding.
Matt_The_RocketMan
Well-Known Member
Problem with the fin details... have done them before, and they tend to break when the rocket comes back down... but in all, the paint job and bottom half looks exceptional...
SteveNeill
SNG Studio Ventura
After and event and a launch it gives us something to do. Rockets like model planes are in a constant state of repair. Although it can become a little annoying looking at the kit pile and not being able to get to it as soon as you would like.
Matt_The_RocketMan
Well-Known Member
Made some alts to my Astron Explorer they looked nice but the rocket had a bad landing and destroyed one of the fins, i was not happy.. spent hours doing details all for it to crash and destroy the paint job... I should try not to get to emotionally attached to my work...After and event and a launch it gives us something to do. Rockets like model planes are in a constant state of repair. Although it can become a little annoying looking at the kit pile and not being able to get to it as soon as you would like.
That's one good reason I am happy with pretty good, good at 30 feet, good enough finishing work. (The other reason is just plain laziness.)
Yesterday:
Assembled a Quest DC-Y Space Clipper. My kind of rocket. No filling, sanding, primer or paint.
Crummy cut and peel paper decals. The white on black nose cone decal is usable, but the flag and USA decals are on a white background and the shroud is gray.
Found good subs in my spare decals baggie. (I build plastic models as well).
Just need to finish up by clear coating, applying decals, and another clear coat.
Only recommended motor is a C6, at 300' apogee. Good candidate for the Quest C and D QJets.
![0904190944[1].jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/rocketryforum/data/attachments/309/309288-6a4a966614b5c8dbf2fcb0c2fd2774fb.jpg "0904190944[1].jpg")
Today:
Started an Estes Space Ship One (Ansari X Prize winner).
Sticker on bag warns that this rocket has been known to fly erratically.
Sounds like a challenge.
![0904190945[1].jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/rocketryforum/data/attachments/309/309291-bb45b02251242047aae4611ad5e2f86c.jpg "0904190945[1].jpg")
![0904191054[1].jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/rocketryforum/data/attachments/309/309295-044e51c4a9d9fb587fc883050f6a327e.jpg "0904191054[1].jpg")
Pre-filled and sanded the wood prior to gluing, to make it easier on myself.
Decals are stick on plastic. Will re-scan and print on laser decal paper.
Gives me the chance to try out my laser printer that's been lying in the box for a couple of months.
Scratch two more from the build pile, having a ball, too much fun.
Build, build, build.
Assembled a Quest DC-Y Space Clipper. My kind of rocket. No filling, sanding, primer or paint.
Crummy cut and peel paper decals. The white on black nose cone decal is usable, but the flag and USA decals are on a white background and the shroud is gray.
Found good subs in my spare decals baggie. (I build plastic models as well).
Just need to finish up by clear coating, applying decals, and another clear coat.
Only recommended motor is a C6, at 300' apogee. Good candidate for the Quest C and D QJets.
Today:
Started an Estes Space Ship One (Ansari X Prize winner).
Sticker on bag warns that this rocket has been known to fly erratically.
Sounds like a challenge.
Pre-filled and sanded the wood prior to gluing, to make it easier on myself.
Decals are stick on plastic. Will re-scan and print on laser decal paper.
Gives me the chance to try out my laser printer that's been lying in the box for a couple of months.
Scratch two more from the build pile, having a ball, too much fun.
Build, build, build.
No one can burn through a build pile like you. Never ceases to amaze me.
Nytrunner
Pop lugs, not drugs
Was that from the O3400? What was the failure cause and potential mitigation? (any word from Dehate? He was helping you build it if I recall)
Cape Byron
Rocket kits from the Land of Oz
Great kit, as most of the Aeroshrouds were. What is Quest up to these days? I'm about a 3 hour round trip from any decent hobby store.
New QJet composite 18mm motors. No new kits in years.
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