What kind of person would damage someone else's rocket?

[billdz]

Launched an Estes Vagabond on an E9-4 motor today at the BARS launch at Vista View Park. It caught a wind gust and landed outside the park about 3000' from the pad in an upscale gated community. The rocket has a sticker, "If found please call [my number], reward." Someone calls me a few minutes later and says, "Your rocket landed in my yard, how much are you going to give me?" I said $5 and he laughed. I said the rocket only costs $15. He said OK and gave me his address. We drove there after the launch and my rocket was in his driveway, crushed. It had been run over by a car. Rang the bell but no one answered, no cars in the driveway.

Now I'm wondering what happened. He said it landed in his yard and did not mention any damage, which makes me think he broke it intentionally. Would someone living in a $+500k home do that, did he think my reward offer was insultingly low or what? I suppose it could have been an accident, maybe he left it there for us and forgot about it by the time he left home in his car.

 

[dhbarr]

Person A puts it in the driveway on the way out. Person B backs over it on the way out. No one is home to answer.

 

[billdz]

I hope you are right.

 

[terryg]

Nope, It was done deliberately. There are a lot of sick suckers in the world.

 

[MaxQ]

Person A puts it in the driveway on the way out. Person B backs over it on the way out. No one is home to answer.

So you think person A framed person B ? to the extent he gave person B's address to pick it up? Possible.
Not sure what issue person A would have with person B ....but anything is possible.

How did you gain entry into the gated community BTW?
Were you given the name of person B?

 

[dhbarr]

If a couple, probably not; if roommates, almost definitely :-D

 

[billdz]

How did you gain entry into the gated community BTW?
Were you given the name of person B?

The guy gave me his address but not his name. I told this to the guard and surprisingly he let us in.

 

[MaxQ]

The guy gave me his address but not his name. I told this to the guard and surprisingly he let us in.

Sorry you had to deal with such well to do low lifes.

 

[Marc_G]

What type of person? An a$$hole.

From your account I'm reasonably sure that he deliberately drove over it.

At a launch 2 years ago or so, there were some soccer folks (adults, 30 years old ish) on our field who wandered over from the soccer field. Despite clearly marked caution zones they started kicking a ball around too close to the pads. We asked them to stand behind the caution flags, be alert, and not approach any rockets that landed nearby. We like spectators and we're very welcoming.

They grumbled despite there being plenty of room to kick their ball.

My Ellipse second stage landed 15 feet away from them; one of them rushed over to it and soccer kicked it right in front of me, crushing the upper tube.

I was pissed and uncharacteristically nearly started a fight (I'm 50 and not in great shape, the guys were 30ish sporting types). But I had my kid with me, controlled myself, and asked for payment ($20). They laughed and walked away.

I should have snapped their picture and told them it was to give to the cops.

People suck, sometimes.

Sorry about your rocket.

Marc

 

[aerostadt]

I often say that people are God's version of quantum mechanics on a macroscopic scale. In other words there is no telling what people will do or why.

 

[3stoogesrocketry]

What type of person? An a$$hole.

From your account I'm reasonably sure that he deliberately drove over it.

At a launch 2 years ago or so, there were some soccer folks (adults, 30 years old ish) on our field who wandered over from the soccer field. Despite clearly marked caution zones they started kicking a ball around too close to the pads. We asked them to stand behind the caution flags, be alert, and not approach any rockets that landed nearby. We like spectators and we're very welcoming.

They grumbled despite there being plenty of room to kick their ball.

My Ellipse second stage landed 15 feet away from them; one of them rushed over to it and soccer kicked it right in front of me, crushing the upper tube.

I was pissed and uncharacteristically nearly started a fight (I'm 50 and not in great shape, the guys were 30ish sporting types). But I had my kid with me, controlled myself, and asked for payment ($20). They laughed and walked away.

I should have snapped their picture and told them it was to give to the cops.

People suck, sometimes.

Sorry about your rocket.

Marc

Almost as bad as the person ( full size blue pickup ) in NY that picked up my extended magnum and drove off with it . I was 100 yards behind them walking down the road to retreive it . As soon as they stopped , I started running but they threw it in the back and took off . That was a 800 dollar hit .

Eric

 

[billdz]

Need new NC but maybe the airframe can be made round?

 

[markjos]

That's too bad. We've had some unpleasant experiences when we've had rockets land around a baseball field in a park complex adjacent to our primary site. Players' family members have been known to throw the rockets in the trash cans, even though we're obviously right there. (and most memorably, one with an onboard video camera that captured the act...) That's one group with which we can anticipate repeated problems. Fortunately, most folks are much more pleasant about it.

Mark

 

[samb]

I agree with aerostadt. With people, no tellin' . My guess ? You landed in the wrong yard. I'm curious, is that neighborhood normally in the recovery zone ? I'd be worried about disgruntled homeowners making trouble for future launches there.

 

[PBic]

Person A puts it in the driveway on the way out. Person B backs over it on the way out. No one is home to answer.

I'll take your option. Since nobody can say with certainty what actually did happen, it'll make it easier for me to get up in the morning. Thanks for the alternative.

Paul B.

 

[MikeyDSlagle]

Some folks are just jerks. The soccer story really gets me riled. Sounds like stereotypical high school BS, no offense intended here but Nerds vs Jocks. Jerks will be jerks for no apparent reason. Even still it always seems like the athletes are the worst of em. This was actually a crime, a misdemeanor, and he could've been prosecuted. In Louisiana it is up to 6 months in jail and $1,000, iirc. I'm not one to get the police involved but jerks, and sometimes idiots/simpletons, need to be taught a lesson and since we can't go around shooting people in the knees with shotguns, well, we have to get the boys in blue involved.

The OP though. Some folks are dumber than they are mean or inconsiderate. He could have set the rocket in the driveway not thinking and accidentally ran over it. But he could've been angry that the thing landed in his yard. Folks not actively involved in certain hobbies or who are unfamiliar with the hobby tend to lose their patience more easily than the hobbyists. Every hobby has haters even for no reason. You have his address? Send him a nice thank you card or something from a fancy adult toy store. LOL.

 

[billdz]

I'm curious, is that neighborhood normally in the recovery zone ? I'd be worried about disgruntled homeowners making trouble for future launches there.

No, I think my rocket was the only one today that left the park, or even came close to doing so. The maximum size motor allowed is G. My rocket flew on an E and landed over half a mile from the pad.

 

[MaxQ]

Send him a nice thank you card or something from a fancy adult toy store. LOL.

I was thinking something else, maybe from the local dog park, with no return address of course.

 

[afadeev]

Launched an Estes Vagabond on an E9-4 motor today at the BARS launch at Vista View Park. It caught a wind gust and landed outside the park about 3000' from the pad in an upscale gated community. The rocket has a sticker, "If found please call [my number], reward." Someone calls me a few minutes later and says, "Your rocket landed in my yard, how much are you going to give me?" I said $5 and he laughed. I said the rocket only costs $15. He said OK and gave me his address. We drove there after the launch and my rocket was in his driveway, crushed. It had been run over by a car. Rang the bell but no one answered, no cars in the driveway.

Now I'm wondering what happened. He said it landed in his yard and did not mention any damage, which makes me think he broke it intentionally.

If the guy gave you his address to retrieve the rocket, it's unlikely that he would then bothered to damage it on purpose.
Not impossible, but less likely.

Unless he gave you a neighbor's address, and tried to sick you onto to that said neighbor to settle some kind of a score. That would make him a 3x douche-bag, but those do exist in nature.

Would someone living in a $+500k home do that, did he think my reward offer was insultingly low or what? I suppose it could have been an accident, maybe he left it there for us and forgot about it by the time he left home in his car.

Yes, maybe.
Most likely an accident, but if you think not, you can always have fun with that address.

Sign the guy up for a few gay porn magazine subscriptions...!
Might get interesting, especially if he is married.
:smile:

a

 

[Marc_G]

The guy laughing at the $5 reward makes me think the damage was spiteful.

 

[markkoelsch]

The guy laughing at the $5 reward makes me think the damage was spiteful.

Unfortunately I do agree.


Sent from my iPhone using Rocketry Forum

 

[MikeyDSlagle]

I was thinking something else, maybe from the local dog park, with no return address of course.

Back in my younger days I may or may not have been party to a chicken and/or stray house cat accidentally finding their way into someone's mailbox...on different occasions of course.

 

[K'Tesh]

The cat/chicken story reminds me about a situation that a certain Marine told me about. While living in Louisiana, he played a joke on his CO. You see, armadillos are rather easy to locate, and not terribly hard to catch. However, keeping one inside a filing cabinet for a weekend apparently was a little difficult. It managed to get out some how, and managed to defecate, urinate, and generally play merry hell around the room it found itself confined in.

Then again, a certain individual I know was tempted to use a long dead squirrel or raccoon to express his displeasure with a place of business. To my knowledge, the act was never done.

 

[ksaves2]

Need new NC but maybe the airframe can be made round?

If the fincan is O.K. get a new NC. Check the fit with the BT. If loose you might be able to build it up with CA and sand it down with progressively finer sandpaper
to finalize the fit.

I would have thought if it was some PO'd stupidhead, maybe they would have stomped all over the rocket. I think you can salvage it. I've brought worse stuff
back to life. Kurt

 

[ericm541]

There are people who are rude directly, then there are other rocket enthusiast who search for lost rockets to strip down for motor hardware, electronics,etc.

 

[samb]

No, I think my rocket was the only one today that left the park, or even came close to doing so. The maximum size motor allowed is G. My rocket flew on an E and landed over half a mile from the pad.

Well it sounds like you had the bad luck flight of the day. Launch day conditions prompt us to modify total impulse or move the range head to keep things in the field. Doesn't sound like this was the case for you though, just a bad luck gust.

 

[Marc_G]

Sadly the Vagabond's PNC-60RL is a tough cone to replace, short of buying a new Vagabond kit. If they are available separately somehow, let me know and I'll buy a few

I vote for rebuilding the rocket from a new kit, doing something different with it. My first Vaggie was built stock; the second one I did it a bit different with a baffle in it and center-split arrangement. This version tumbles better on the way down, and is less likely to break fins on impact. Due to field size limitations I usually fly it with streamer instead of chute.

 

[rcktnut]

Looks to me like it was stomped on rather than driven over. Took a look at your launch area (Google Earth), nice sized. That being said I feel the same way as samb, post #26. It is our responsibility to keep them in the field. I'm sure other than rocketry enthusiasts, people don't especially care to have them land in their yards. It could have landed close to something dear to him, car, dog, kid, favorite plant or something and pissed him off.

 

[K'Tesh]

Sadly the Vagabond's PNC-60RL is a tough cone to replace, short of buying a new Vagabond kit. If they are available separately somehow, let me know and I'll buy a few

I vote for rebuilding the rocket from a new kit, doing something different with it. My first Vaggie was built stock; the second one I did it a bit different with a baffle in it and center-split arrangement. This version tumbles better on the way down, and is less likely to break fins on impact. Due to field size limitations I usually fly it with streamer instead of chute.

Actually the PNC-60RL isn't so hard to score. It's available (or it was when I left the USA) in the BT-60 Nosecone assortment pack...

https://www.brshobbies.com/store.ph...MIhdGYrPXX2AIVjNlkCh06ewGZEAQYASABEgLWj_D_BwE

 

[Marc_G]

Actually the PNC-60RL isn't so hard to score. It's available (or it was when I left the USA) in the BT-60 Nosecone assortment pack...

https://www.brshobbies.com/store.ph...MIhdGYrPXX2AIVjNlkCh06ewGZEAQYASABEgLWj_D_BwE

That's awesome. I'll have to stock up. Thanks for the note. I had no idea!