[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Model rocketry (Page 1 of 3)
Posted: 12/7/2014 11:30:17 AM EDT
My grand nephew needs something to get his ass outside (raised by the penultimate single mom,waves it like a banner and uses it to emasculate this boy) I am thinking Estes model rockets. Been about 40 years since I have made one. We have been making models together and now it is time for him to see something he made shoot off the pad and into the air. I also hope to recapture some small part of my misspent youth. 
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I'm still into it, although I haven't built anything over the past year or so. Fun stuff.
Good source of info: http://www.rocketryforum.com/ |
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Go for it..the only downside of the kits are almost TOO Simple now, most have fin cans that are pre-molded..Start with Estes, but look around if he gets interested and jump up to the medium-powered stuff, THERE you can still use some craftsmanship Really. I'm remember using the paper to mark off the fin locations before gluing them. |
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I'm still into it, although I haven't built anything over the past year or so. Fun stuff. Good source of info: http://www.rocketryforum.com/ Thanks, off to rocket forum. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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When I was with my ex, I tried to get both her sons into the Estes rockets. The older effeminate boy, 10 at the time, had no interest and began picking dandelions in the field we were in.
The 8-year-old boy, who is a text book case of an ADD sufferer, completely missed the rocket shooting up into the air. I had started the countdown from ten, and he had the damn thing pressed at about 7. As it blast off into the sky, I was saying something to the effect of "wow, check that out"! I turn to see the older boy running off screaming like a little girl. The younger kid just kinda stood there staring absently at the launch controller. He had no idea the fucking thing had even launched. 
As for me, I thought it was pretty cool. The model we had bought had a lot more plastic parts, which was kind of a letdown. When/if I get another one for my boy, I'll look to see if I can find one with balsa fins rather than plastic, and cardboard tube motor mount retained by balsa rings rather than the plastic mount the above mentioned one had. |
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Really. I'm remember using the paper to mark off the fin locations before gluing them. Quoted:
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Go for it..the only downside of the kits are almost TOO Simple now, most have fin cans that are pre-molded..Start with Estes, but look around if he gets interested and jump up to the medium-powered stuff, THERE you can still use some craftsmanship Really. I'm remember using the paper to mark off the fin locations before gluing them. There are lots of beginners kits with molded fin units, but there are still plenty of models still being made (even beginner level) that require being built like that. |
Last time I did a little Estes model rocket, I didn't put enough glue on the little cardboard engine retainer and the engine shoved itself halfway up the body, burned it in half, and then spun like a top 20 feet over our heads  I still have some left over motors and a launch pad and igniter circuit around here somewhere for the little guys. One of the guys I know from the radio club is big into model rocketry... He goes out for the BIG launches, no kits here. That stuff looks like fun, but way to expensive for me to get into. |
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We used to build and fly these when we were kids. I didn't know they were still making these kits. Man, this brings back memories...  Here's a good place to start if you want to get back into it: http://www.hobbylinc.com/model-rockets |
| Estes has several skill level kits. Some just need the fins and motor housing pushed into the tube. Others require cutting and glueing. Walmart started carrying rockets again but most are the ready to fly or almost ready to fly skill levels. I know there are a few kits with 2 rockets at different skill levels. I did this with a college intern at work last summer. He had never shot rockets, potatoes cannons, or firearms. So we worked model rockets amd potatoes guns into the 3d printing training. I was unaware of the number of adults that have never done any of the "dangerous" stuff I did growing up. |
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Model rockets are fun, but I hardly think that sitting around inside building a rocket, then taking it out to launch it counts as "getting outdoors". For this kid it does. Gotta start somewhere, his mother says no hunting. But I'm working on it. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Quoted: I could not believe it, they have E and F class motors now. Back when I was into it, the D 12 was it. But damn the cost, $35 for two? I saw all the way up to M class when I was into it in high school. I built a rocket around an I class just for fun. I lost track of it about 200ms after launch. Never saw it again. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_rocket_motor_classification |
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There are AMAZING things going on in the rocketry hobbies!
I wanted to get my boys into rocketry because I had so much fun doing it as a kid, and when I started searching around for the latest info / kits I was in awe! Here is an older pic of me and the boys with 3 of the coolest rockets we made: 
Here is a build page of the big one that has 2 great videos of the first launch: "Sky Attack" Build Page ETA: Just noticed that this was post # 556 :) |
| I miss model rocketry a good bit. I really do. Even made a little money in it when I first started out. Started out just using paper towel and tp rolls with balsa fins and a paper nosecone...graduated to custom stuff a couple months after that. I just don't have the space for it currently. |
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There are AMAZING things going on in the rocketry hobbies! I wanted to get my boys into rocketry because I had so much fun doing it as a kid, and when I started searching around for the latest info / kits I was in awe! Here is an older pic of me and the boys with 3 of the coolest rockets we made: http://kevincook.net/Hobbies/Rocketry/DSC_3839.JPG Here is a build page of the big one that has 2 great videos of the first launch: "Sky Attack" Build Page That is a great pic! Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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I've been kicking around the idea of getting these for the kids, or trying to start a rocket club at their school this spring.....
Estes Designer Kit Launch Set |
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This. Drones sound a lot cooler nowadays than model rockets. Quoted:
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How abut setting them up some skills for the future - get them a drone kit and teach then how to make / fly them. This. Drones sound a lot cooler nowadays than model rockets. No offence but what the hell does that teach? Designing and building a model rocket requires math physics and rocket science. Drones just require a bit of interest, skills need not apply. Drone runs out of juice, go pick it up. Rocket flies a mile up in the air? Use ham radio and APRS to track it as it comes down and find it so you can recover everything. All this from someone with 2 RC helicopters. |
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I've been kicking around the idea of getting these for the kids, or trying to start a rocket club at their school this spring..... Estes Designer Kit Launch Set That's how we are going to start, I hope he gets into it and we can get crazy with it. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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That's how we are going to start, I hope he gets into it and we can get crazy with it. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile Quoted:
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I've been kicking around the idea of getting these for the kids, or trying to start a rocket club at their school this spring..... Estes Designer Kit Launch Set That's how we are going to start, I hope he gets into it and we can get crazy with it. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile No reason for you not to go crazy right away. Give him something to look up to. Just have him start small. I built one I named the javelin, it was maybe 36" with a D motor. Much to my entertainment it went up about 40' turned 90° and shot horizontally through the sky. I wasn't allowed to fire her again  . Still have it somewhere though...
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Semi scale and will not break the bank,
http://www.drzoochrockets.com/ |
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One of my favorite places was Public Missiles:
https://publicmissiles.com/secure/ |
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Those were fun. I built a lot of them when I was a teenager. I was lucky and was able to launch in the front yard and didn't have any neighbors to worry about. I tried a D engine once. It turned out so nice as far as the paint job went. I launched it on an overcast day. It was a magnificent launch, went into the clouds, and I never saw where it came down. And I never did come across it later while small game hunting.
I think most of them now are pre-molded plastic fins and nose cones. I liked glueing up the fins and painting them as much as launching. The half-A sized motors were nice in that they didn't go so high that recovery became a problem and you got more launches for the dollar. This is a good hobby for a boy - gets them thinking of science and technology, and maybe inspire them. I need to go see one of the Tripoli launch events nearby one of these days. As if I need another hobby. |
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Quoted: No offence but what the hell does that teach? Designing and building a model rocket requires math physics and rocket science. Drones just require a bit of interest, skills need not apply. Drone runs out of juice, go pick it up. Rocket flies a mile up in the air? Use ham radio and APRS to track it as it comes down and find it so you can recover everything. All this from someone with 2 RC helicopters. Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: How abut setting them up some skills for the future - get them a drone kit and teach then how to make / fly them. This. Drones sound a lot cooler nowadays than model rockets. No offence but what the hell does that teach? Designing and building a model rocket requires math physics and rocket science. Drones just require a bit of interest, skills need not apply. Drone runs out of juice, go pick it up. Rocket flies a mile up in the air? Use ham radio and APRS to track it as it comes down and find it so you can recover everything. All this from someone with 2 RC helicopters. A rocket firing drone. Which will put the kid in line for true pre employment experiences. LOL And as a ham. shoot, why didn't I think of that? |
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Maybe something RC instead, be it planes, cars, trucks, helos, quads, you name it. You can spend a lot of time building something fairly cheaply and spend a long time outdoors enjoying it. Model rockets while fun take very little time once you fire the thing off other than trying to figure out where it landed assuming the parachute opened
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Quoted: No offence but what the hell does that teach? Designing and building a model rocket requires math physics and rocket science. Drones just require a bit of interest, skills need not apply. Seriously? 1. Design skills (unless you buy a frame kit). Working with different materials to build a frame; plywood, G10, CF, plastic... or you can 3D print one. Or use a CNC cutter. 2. Electronics skills. Planning. Wiring. Soldering. Splicing. Installing lights, or servos, or remote switches, or multi-axis gimbals to stabilize cameras. 3. Computer skills. Programming, tuning, customizing. Ground station usage for autopilot software. 4. HAM skills (I've had my HAM license for 12 years and have used it primarily for RC). Use it for video transmission, command/control and telemetry. 5. Eye/hand coordination, obviously. 6. Math. How long of a flight will this battery give me? What if I change prop diameters or pitches? Can it carry this camera or will I need bigger motors or just a prop change? If I increase capacity will the extra weight be worth the (?) extra flight time, or will it stress the motors too much. What kind of tuning changes will I need if I change motors? And are my speed controllers big enough to handle them? Is this flightplan short enough to have an acceptable charge left to return home? 7. Planning. Knowing how to get what you want, be it a bicopter, tricopter, quadcopter, hexacopter, octocopter, dodecacopter or some combination of those. Figuring out which frame, motors, speed controllers, flight controllers, batteries, cameras, transmitters, receivers, GPS antennas, props, landing gear, etc to use to get the flight time, stability, lifting capability, speed or other specs that you need. Knowing what purpose you will be using it for, aerobatics, FPV racing, aerial photography, heavy lifting, mapping, using other sensors, etc. Yeah, drones are dumb And that's just multicopters. There's also fixed wing, helis, boats and cars. |
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One of the kids in my group bragged incessantly about how his new hybrid rocket was going to be awesome. On launch day, it exploded on the pad. I don't mean fizzled like the one above and then popped it's chute. I mean concussion shock wave with bits zipping horizontally in all directions and a mangled launch pad. It was glorious. |
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Here is one of the videos I mentioned in the other post on YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yySuFqsLwycVery,Very cool video. I was in rockets as a BAR since 2000. I had to get out of it last year due to health issues. My claim to fame was 10 years of flying my scratch built 2 stage J to a J without a crash. I live on the edge of the Blackrock desert in Nevada the BEST place for rockets on the planet.
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Seriously? 1. Design skills (unless you buy a frame kit). Working with different materials to build a frame; plywood, G10, CF, plastic... or you can 3D print one. Or use a CNC cutter. 2. Electronics skills. Planning. Wiring. Soldering. Splicing. Installing lights, or servos, or remote switches, or multi-axis gimbals to stabilize cameras. 3. Computer skills. Programming, tuning, customizing. Ground station usage for autopilot software. 4. HAM skills (I've had my HAM license for 12 years and have used it primarily for RC). Use it for video transmission, command/control and telemetry. 5. Eye/hand coordination, obviously. 6. Math. How long of a flight will this battery give me? What if I change prop diameters or pitches? Can it carry this camera or will I need bigger motors or just a prop change? If I increase capacity will the extra weight be worth the (?) extra flight time, or will it stress the motors too much. What kind of tuning changes will I need if I change motors? And are my speed controllers big enough to handle them? Is this flightplan short enough to have an acceptable charge left to return home? 7. Planning. Knowing how to get what you want, be it a bicopter, tricopter, quadcopter, hexacopter, octocopter, dodecacopter or some combination of those. Figuring out which frame, motors, speed controllers, flight controllers, batteries, cameras, transmitters, receivers, GPS antennas, props, landing gear, etc to use to get the flight time, stability, lifting capability, speed or other specs that you need. Knowing what purpose you will be using it for, aerobatics, FPV racing, aerial photography, heavy lifting, mapping, using other sensors, etc. Yeah, drones are dumb
And that's just multicopters. There's also fixed wing, helis, boats and cars.
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No offence but what the hell does that teach? Designing and building a model rocket requires math physics and rocket science. Drones just require a bit of interest, skills need not apply.
Seriously? 1. Design skills (unless you buy a frame kit). Working with different materials to build a frame; plywood, G10, CF, plastic... or you can 3D print one. Or use a CNC cutter. 2. Electronics skills. Planning. Wiring. Soldering. Splicing. Installing lights, or servos, or remote switches, or multi-axis gimbals to stabilize cameras. 3. Computer skills. Programming, tuning, customizing. Ground station usage for autopilot software. 4. HAM skills (I've had my HAM license for 12 years and have used it primarily for RC). Use it for video transmission, command/control and telemetry. 5. Eye/hand coordination, obviously. 6. Math. How long of a flight will this battery give me? What if I change prop diameters or pitches? Can it carry this camera or will I need bigger motors or just a prop change? If I increase capacity will the extra weight be worth the (?) extra flight time, or will it stress the motors too much. What kind of tuning changes will I need if I change motors? And are my speed controllers big enough to handle them? Is this flightplan short enough to have an acceptable charge left to return home? 7. Planning. Knowing how to get what you want, be it a bicopter, tricopter, quadcopter, hexacopter, octocopter, dodecacopter or some combination of those. Figuring out which frame, motors, speed controllers, flight controllers, batteries, cameras, transmitters, receivers, GPS antennas, props, landing gear, etc to use to get the flight time, stability, lifting capability, speed or other specs that you need. Knowing what purpose you will be using it for, aerobatics, FPV racing, aerial photography, heavy lifting, mapping, using other sensors, etc. Yeah, drones are dumb
And that's just multicopters. There's also fixed wing, helis, boats and cars.
I didn't think we were talking about saddling a kid up in collegiate level work. He needs to learn physics fundamentals first. |
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Quoted: I didn't think we were talking about saddling a kid up in collegiate level work. He needs to learn physics fundamentals first. Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: No offence but what the hell does that teach? Designing and building a model rocket requires math physics and rocket science. Drones just require a bit of interest, skills need not apply. Seriously? 1. Design skills (unless you buy a frame kit). Working with different materials to build a frame; plywood, G10, CF, plastic... or you can 3D print one. Or use a CNC cutter. 2. Electronics skills. Planning. Wiring. Soldering. Splicing. Installing lights, or servos, or remote switches, or multi-axis gimbals to stabilize cameras. 3. Computer skills. Programming, tuning, customizing. Ground station usage for autopilot software. 4. HAM skills (I've had my HAM license for 12 years and have used it primarily for RC). Use it for video transmission, command/control and telemetry. 5. Eye/hand coordination, obviously. 6. Math. How long of a flight will this battery give me? What if I change prop diameters or pitches? Can it carry this camera or will I need bigger motors or just a prop change? If I increase capacity will the extra weight be worth the (?) extra flight time, or will it stress the motors too much. What kind of tuning changes will I need if I change motors? And are my speed controllers big enough to handle them? Is this flightplan short enough to have an acceptable charge left to return home? 7. Planning. Knowing how to get what you want, be it a bicopter, tricopter, quadcopter, hexacopter, octocopter, dodecacopter or some combination of those. Figuring out which frame, motors, speed controllers, flight controllers, batteries, cameras, transmitters, receivers, GPS antennas, props, landing gear, etc to use to get the flight time, stability, lifting capability, speed or other specs that you need. Knowing what purpose you will be using it for, aerobatics, FPV racing, aerial photography, heavy lifting, mapping, using other sensors, etc. Yeah, drones are dumb And that's just multicopters. There's also fixed wing, helis, boats and cars. I didn't think we were talking about saddling a kid up in collegiate level work. He needs to learn physics fundamentals first. They range from $30 to $50k+ for consumers and range from incredibly simple to incredibly complex. Kind of like rockets.... |
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I grew up in the world of high power rocketry.
Nothing better than spending a week in a tent every year at LDRS, getting paid a dollar for every rocket returned to the owner. But now that I think about it, kind of a rip off since we got a dollar if it was an A powered one or an M powered one.... |
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I think most of them now are pre-molded plastic fins and nose cones. That's just what you're seeing on the shelves at the big box stores, and it's only a drop in the bucket. Estes still makes good kits, but they're not the only ones making rockets these days. Look around online and you'll find much more. http://www.estesrockets.com/rockets/kits http://www.apogeerockets.com/ http://www.questaerospace.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?search=action&category=J0 http://www.fliskits.com/ http://www.rocketarium.com/ http://www.semroc.com/Store/Scripts/default.asp http://www.siriusrocketry.biz/ishop/ http://www.drzoochrockets.com/ http://www.madcowrocketry.com/ |