What's gonna keep you busy over the winter??

[JStarStar]

I can see right now I'm gonna have stuff to do until the flowers bloom...

And that doesn't even count the half-dozen other crazy little projects I have on the side burners...

 

[Donaldsrockets]

Since I live in FL, I can pretty much build and fly 365 days a year. But if Santa brings me either a Binder Design Raptor or Samurai, I'll most likely be busy with that!!!

Think you'll have all those done before spring? On the other hand, you can have that Redstone built in a day.

 

[JStarStar]

Hmm, yep... Yeah, I would like to have 'em all done by the time flying season rolls around again in April or May...

The Redstone and Little Joe II put together shouldn't take a full day ... although I'm hoping to use the wraps done by Erik (te_groen31) in the Scratch Built forum to give the Redstone really good scale detailing, as opposed to the bare-bones detail of the stock-built Estes kit.

I'll probably dress up the LJ II model too, but it still shouldn't take an awful long time. If the winds are kind, and blow the capsule of my previously-lost Mercury-Redstone out of the tree it's currently stuck in, I might take that capsule and whip off a scratch-built Little Joe I, just to have the "complete set."

My Gemini-Titan scratch built, my guess, should take 2-3 sessions of a couple hours each to do. (Once I settle on a design, which I am about 80 percent set on.) The tubes and cone I have in that picture now are a BT-60 (courtesy of Sandman), but I think the version I build will be done with BT-70. so I can use larger motors to fly.

Those 3 will be the "easy" ones - then come the toughies. The Estes Saturn V will take a couple weeks of pretty consistent 3-4 hour sessions to do a good job. The model I built 10 years ago took me 3 weeks of working 4-5 days a week, 3-4 hours at a shot - or, probably 30-40 hours total. Now at that time I was just getting back into rocketry after a 20-year hiatus, I'm sure a good chunk of that time was wasted by me making goofy mistakes and having to go back to fix them. So I'd knock off maybe 1/4 of that estimate now, since I'm a little more back in "game-condition."

I suspect the Saturn 1B will take just as long as the Sat V, because of the increased complexity of the first stage fuel tank assembly, etc. Most of the reports I have seen say the 1B takes as long to build as the V.

The Mercury-Atlas, from most reports, is another full-week project. Getting the transitions just right, and the aluminized skin on correctly, supposedly is quite tricky.

I've never built an Estes Shuttle, but my brother did, about 20 years ago ... he didn't produce a showroom model, but he did produce something that flew (in a fashion). He says that's another one I can plan on spending probably a full week to get done.

Luckily, sometime in the next couple of months (I'll find out probably this upcoming week), I'm probably going to have foot surgery which will keep me stuck in the house for a couple weeks or so. So I just gotta make sure I'm all stocked up with glue, paint, supplies, etc.... lol


PS - Don, yeah, you can build and fly 365 days a year - except when you're getting blasted by hurricanes!!!


Serves ya right - you get dumped on by hurricanes for 3 weeks, we get dumped on by snowstorms for 4 months. (Speaking of hurricanes, our forecast for tomorrow is thunderstorms and winds of 25-45 mph!! )

I was thinking of trying to fly tomorrow, but I think we better just forget that!!

 

[Rocketmaniac]

I get to fly all year long..... (and I don't have as many hurricanes as FL)

I have two big projects that will keep me busy for a few months.... The first is a scratchbuilt HPR cluster rocket, with (1) 54mm and (2) 29mm motor mounts...... The second is scratchbuilt 5.5" rocket, about 9' long and will use a Hybrid "L" motor (this is to prepare myself for my L3 Hybrid "M" project)

 

[rocketkid88]

but i also have an old Estes Solar Sailer, and a Big Dady i'm going to mod, and a few other models i'm still tweaking. I also wan't to do an upscale Estes Tidal Wave I've never up/down scaled anything, and since that was my first rocket thats what i wan't to do... i'm looking at a 2" or so upscale (mailing tube).
I also have a two stage scratch 'mace' that i'm working on, and a 3x18mm swoard rkt i'm making for by brother.
and sooo many other things that i've thought about, but havn't gotten to

 

[Stymye]

theres already a thread going

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12363&highlight=winter

 

[hokkyokusei]

I have a Roachwerks LJII, British SpaceCraft X-15, a Cosmodrome Vostok, some other kits, and a host of scratch built projects. Unfortiunately I'm not expecting to get to work on any of them much

 

[jrogers]

We ( the BRG ) have a full scale PAC-2 on the drawing board.

 

[r1dermon]

i will be building a lvl 1 cert bird.

 

[JStarStar]

Originally posted by stymye
theres already a thread going

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12363&highlight=winter

yeah, my mistake. I surfed in the other forum and forgot all about the previous one.

 

[edwardw]

Originally posted by jrogers
We ( the BRG ) have a full scale PAC-2 on the drawing board.

I've wanted to make a 1/2 scale PAC-3....but that is my BALLS project.

Edward

 

[Missileman]

Along with finishing up old projects I plan on building a 6" Jayhawk. Along with my new hobby.
I am learning to play guitar and am taking lessons.

 

[astrowolf67]

I'm hoping to stay busy this winter working on a Public Enemy Extreme Performer, electronics bays, and some other smaller stuff. And, working on getting a LEUP.

 

[Johnnie]

Lets see here, I need to finish The Following started projects: Aerotech Strong Arm; & "Black Diamond" for the next flying season; I need to stay busy on my 5.5" BlackHawk R&D AGM-78 Standard Arm; Get Rocsim 7.0 (crossing fingers for Ms. Santa to hear that one); continue fine tuning web site; work on Experimental activities...

There is alot to do, so I will have to for go some projects, such as starting any new projects that I will not finish in a reasonable amount of time I will no longer seek getting a LEUP; I will have to put off building a Monster PVC pad...

The winter months are long, but the Holidays tend to shorten them up.

 

[Fore Check]

Hmmm.... Where do I begin?

I have wayyyy too many kits to mention. And I have wayyy too many clones to mention too.

Oh, and then there's the upscale projects I have in the works....

I really need to think about getting ready to cert Level 1 someday. All of my larger rockets are 24mm bp clusters.

So, I guess a good to do list would be to acquire a 29mm RMS system and build some 29mm powered stuff.

 

[DynaSoar]

A few things to keep me off the streets:

Das Modell Saturn V
4" Canadian Arrow (finishing)*
Estes V2 to Canadian Arrow mod
Vaughn Bros. Extreme 29
Quest Super Crusier (won on EMRR so I owe him a review)
Deja Vu (Mirage rebuild)
3"/4" Big Dumb Booster (patterned after the rocket on the front of the 2002 AT catalog)*
3" Rock-A-Chute Mk IV*
System Solaire H202/gasoline motor
Building both paper and carbon tube versions of my Sandman lifters, both 24 and 29mm
Matching up a sub-H hybrid, magnetic apogee detector and non-pyro ejection system to come up with a non-HPR hybrid system,
then getting to work on NAR and TRA to allow hybrids without Level certification.

*Using one of these to get my L1

And then come December.....

 

[GlennW]

Wow, that is pretty ambitious if you can get all those done over the winter! I will say that I have built the Space shuttle and to do it right it will take you some time, especially the finishing. I also built the Merc Redstone and yes it can be built in a day but I would check EMRR before you start it, they have some tips on doing it right that if I had not studied, I would not have had the good finish on mine that it has! Again, I believe to do it right will take more than a day.

My project for the winter is an Estes LTV Scout which I just broke out of the bag after 25 years of sitting around waiting. I have very little time to work on rockets so for me, it'll be a major accomplishment if I'm done in 3 months!

Glenn

 

[Chilly]

I've been getting settled into a new job and it's required lengthy travel for some crash-courses in aeronautical engineering (pun intended). Haven't had much time to build and I'm focusing more on "frequent-flyer" kits with my kids. If time and money allow I'll build my L2 bird late winter/early spring. Otherwise, here's the plan:

Current:
Mini-BBX - in progress, adding an altimeter bay.
Canadian Arrow - on the way from Rebar Rocketry.
SpaceShip One - same thing.

On the bubble (around Christmas):
Dynastar Snarky
Cosmodrome Black Brant II

Level 2 project:
Binder Stealth, with altimeter bay. This one will be fun - I'm going to do it up tactical stealth-gray, with Marine squadron markings and assorted operational-looking stuff like access panels and "no step" decals.

As usual for me, it all depends on what kind of deals are out there on OOP kits. If I find a good deal on an Estes Terrier/Sandhawk or Titan III, something will have to slide.

 

[JStarStar]

Originally posted by GlennW
Wow, that is pretty ambitious if you can get all those done over the winter! I will say that I have built the Space shuttle and to do it right it will take you some time, especially the finishing. I also built the Merc Redstone and yes it can be built in a day but I would check EMRR before you start it, they have some tips on doing it right that if I had not studied, I would not have had the good finish on mine that it has! Again, I believe to do it right will take more than a day.

My project for the winter is an Estes LTV Scout which I just broke out of the bag after 25 years of sitting around waiting. I have very little time to work on rockets so for me, it'll be a major accomplishment if I'm done in 3 months!

Glenn

Well, I built a Merc Redstone in July, and it was a 3-4 hour job, tops. That was building it virtually stock - straight out of the bag. You do have to wait overnight for the capsule assembly to dry after you cement it together. The capsule must also be spray-painted black before affixing any decals, so that takes a day to dry too.

Buildign the kit stock gives you a decent-looking model, has a good superficial resemblance to the real thing, but not much detailing. I want to use the wraps Erik is working on, to end up with a really good looking model. That will add a few hours to the total, to get it done right.

In any case, a lot of stuff to do over the winter. I'm just gonna have to kick myself every couple weeks to get one of 'em done.

 

[Ozymandias]

Winter?! What the heck is that?

 

[Fore Check]

Originally posted by Ozymandias
Winter?! What the heck is that?

A season that I sorely miss when the thermometer hits 90 in late October/early November.


All of my co-workers refer to me as a "yankee." I guess I am. I need to move back North........