You Ever Build something so (Intricate, detailed, expensive) you were afraid to fly it?

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Have a naked unflown Camanche III that I've had for idk how long. Mostly because I haven't had a field big enough to ensure recovery of all 3 parts.
 
Nope. I'm sure to make templates and take measurements of every rocket I build and scan the decals. If something goes wrong I can always build another one.

I once had a BT60 version of the Estes Orion that took me about 4 months to build and finish. 3rd flight was on an Aerotech F motor and never saw it again.

When it's time, I'll build another. I still have all my plans.
 
OK, I suppose I can understand that one.... I've never seen one fly in person, do they ever survive a landing without something or other breaking off?

It's about 50/50.
Mine has had a couple of hard landings due to a tangled chute, kinda understandable with all the fins and protrusions. It survived with only minor damage.
The Decim8 is a decent flier, mine has a nice lazy roll to it on a mostly straight flight.
 
I was determined to fly my Refit Atlantis once and did, but now it sits in a cradle on the rocket wall and looks pretty. The nacelles on this break if you look at them wrong. (and, yes, I know it is upside down in the picture 🙃)

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Nope. I'm sure to make templates and take measurements of every rocket I build and scan the decals. If something goes wrong I can always build another one.

I'll go +1 on this. I lost two kit prototypes last year, one to a tree and one that just teleported. Not a big deal, just go back to your notes and make another.
 
One trick is to put off launching it for a while (years even!)...that way you can admire it and be proud until you make something better or tire of it a bit, then launch that sucker! :D
I agree with you. However when you fly it and it comes back undamaged , it brings back the liking of the rocket.
 
I am in the camp of "If you don't fly it then what the heck did you build it for?" It's not a rocket if it doesn't fly. My interests are mainly scale, so I've built a Mercury Atlas, Redstone, Space Shuttle, LTV Scout and more, and they've all flown multiple times. Not always perfect but so far no damage so bad it couldn't be repaired! Yes I'm always a bit nervous but they have to fly otherwise what is the point of this hobby? Just got the new Estes Saturn V Skylab and it will fly....eventually
 
That'd probably be my one scare - I'd consider a Saturn V my "build of a lifetime" and probably put a lot of effort into understanding electronics, assure clustering would ignite, and all sorts of things like that - and to make it very pretty, too. And if I ever got it done, I'd be a more than a bit nervous on launch day!
 
None of my rockets are terribly expensive but all are labors of love. My scratch-built Project Red Queen (my own design, theme inspired by the Resident Evil saga and shape inspired by my own ideas of what a cool rocket looks like). It was my first rear eject rocket.

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In addition to being fun to build and finish, the nose cone, based on the Umbrella Corporation logo, nearly killed me to paint. No decals here, all done by airbrush and paint pens.

Red Queen 087.jpg

Here she is on the pad.

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My video equipment/skills at the time didn't do the flight justice (weird duplicated interlaced images), but the up part went just great. But ejection failure happened. The front half was destroyed although I salvaged the nose cone with minimal scarring. I replaced the body tube that was damaged, and flew it again with a generic nose cone. Adequate ejection; one fin joint cracked on landing. Bird retired.

Rebuilt the concept as the Red Prince which flies quite well on 18mm D engines:

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I built a rocket for our wedding and we used it as a guest book. I was sure afraid of flying it, but I had to and it came back safe and sound.
Oh man that should have been good for some extra bonus pucker factor. Normally, you only have to worry about your *own* potential disappointment/sadness/anger.
 
If I was going to be afraid to fly it, as in get cold feet and not fly it, I'd never build it.

I will say the times I flew this were the most "concerned" I was before launching a model. Although not the most nervous.

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that is beautiful!!!
 
Very nice I have one in my build pile that I want to get to soon

It was easily one of the more difficult rockets I've built. Not only is all the balsa hand cut using patterns, but planning out the parts that need to be painted before assembly. There's also a bunch of tubes to cut, slot and fit together. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot about the insane motor mount.
Still it was a ton of fun to build and majorly nerve racking to launch the first time.
 
Have a naked unflown Camanche III that I've had for idk how long. Mostly because I haven't had a field big enough to ensure recovery of all 3 parts.

This is how my Hydra VII was for about 5 years. Painted and sitting idle. Never felt right flying such a detailed model on only one engine because I was restricted to small fields. I've flown it 3 times now and just today had to repair 3 fins.

The other rocket I haven't flown 'yet' and don't have any desire to is an Estes Bullpup. Yes, I know this is a silly one to not fly but the bare white plus the amount of effort all the waterslide decals took equals shelved. I have no shortage of rockets to fly anyway that I'd rather see in the air. Maybe someday.

For the most part though I agree with the "why build if you aren't going to fly it" but I certainly understand the exceptions.
 
I build to fly, but don't get a lot of opportunity to do so. I work on Saturdays, and my club launches on Saturdays, so I have to take time off to launch. I do, but don't get to take advantage of every launch... That said I haven't been brave enough to launch Miss Riley...
 
It was easily one of the more difficult rockets I've built. Not only is all the balsa hand cut using patterns, but planning out the parts that need to be painted before assembly. There's also a bunch of tubes to cut, slot and fit together. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot about the insane motor mount.
Still it was a ton of fun to build and majorly nerve racking to launch the first time.
Yup definitely a builders kit. Looking forward to the challenge. I have several other if the Flis sci-fi fleet to get too.
 
I built this on a lark ( just to see if I could mock up a card stock/cardboard and wooden dowel "boiler plate" version of the Atomic City Mercury capsule plastic kit on an airframe) and never flew it......!

Looks just fine at ground level.
 

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I built this on a lark ( just to see if I could mock up a card stock/cardboard and wooden dowel "boiler plate" version of the Atomic City Mercury capsule plastic kit on an airframe) and never flew it......!

Looks just fine at ground level.
I would say my 25th Anniversary Star Ship Enterprise and Little Joe II. Too nice and lots of work to send up.
 
The closest I've come to that is my Estes 1/100 Saturn V. It has flown twice...both successfully—on Aerotech E28s! I don't think I'd have the nerve to fly it on a D12 or E12. The E28 goes get it going in a rather un-Saturn-like manner, though.
 
It doesn't seem to bother these guys so much...


That always amazes me. There's some serious cash, time and effort in some of those beauties. The cash is bad enough, but you can't get those hours and days back... I mean. I understand it's fun to build, I enjoy it myself, just not for an outcome like that! And I've seen worse...
 
It doesn't seem to bother these guys so much...



These videos always get me facepalming and eyes rolling. I know it's easy to armchair pilot, but it's evident that a lot of these people need to spend a bit more time at the flying field and less in the workshop. While their building skills are impressive, their flying skills leave a lot to be desired. So many instances of lack of rudder use, no idea what a "stabilized approach" is, etc etc.

Sorry, I was big into RC airplanes, so seeing this stuff triggers me!
 
Scratch built Redstone about 12 years ago. Will fly soon at ROC in Lucerne. These were taken at my old house in the Northridge before I moved to Ventura and got my big studio where it sits currently. No reason not to fly it I can think of.
 

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