Read about my "recent news" section: just scroll down below this intro and the video links.
INTRODUCTION:
These are the observations of my Born-Again-Rocketeering* hobby. I started out using a notebook, then a spreadsheet to document all the geeky data, but my short comments have evolved into full literal descriptions of my flights, so I moved them to this document.
Like many “BARs”*, I used to build and launch rockets all summer long as a kid, whenever I could afford the dollar for a motor. Over time I promptly forgot about them as teen-age and then adult life intervened. Now I have a little extra time and the funds to do things I couldn’t do as a kid. Fortunately I still had my original collection from the 1970’s which made for a good start. Now I am building many new and more exotic models to expand my collection. I am challenged to make these models better than I did “back then”, because basically I don’t want some kid (who was me) to have built better models than I am able to do now. That would be embarrassing.
Still, I don’t have a three-month-long summer vacation from school to build and fly these rockets all day, but neither do I have the energy to do that today anyway. My current launcher has been designed so that I don’t have to bend over and kneel on the ground like what I used to do so easily as a kid, and I also built a special “Launch Area Technical Support Truck” or LATS Truck to help me carry all my tools and supplies. The LATS also has a fold-out table so I can work with my rockets while standing. Of course, I also bring a lawn chair and a cooler with beverages and snacks.
These days I also have the means to photograph my rockets and flights with digital equipment that didn’t even exist back then. I even have a miniature video camera to record images from the rockets themselves. I have a computer to edit these pictures and document the flights. Even more than that, I have miniature electronics that measure key performance figures of the rockets flight, and a precision scale to keep tabs on the weight of all my flying objects. All that would be useless if I didn’t have the SUV and a credit card to use at gas pumps to travel far-and-wide to large open fields where I need to launch these rockets. That kid I was would be jealous of me now.
I am starting a new series of videos that tell the life story of a single rocket. Here is my first project, with many more to follow:
Estes Beta: http://youtu.be/gB17XQuDsWA
Estes Bandit: http://youtu.be/KtMPnmx2rH8
Quest X-15: http://youtu.be/XXf6oTV0oek
Quest Gamma-Ray: https://youtu.be/b8EytZ7-sXQ
.
If you are really into this stuff, check out some of my occasionally monthly rocket videos:
November 2018: https://youtu.be/d8Tc3q3hSXU
October 2018: https://youtu.be/jPHH7n9qji8
June 2014: http://youtu.be/69opZxMzImk
May 2014: http://youtu.be/C8zuquja2X0
October 2013: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKvbbWeV0rA
August 2013: http://youtu.be/Xu-gHjHnLl0
July 2013: http://youtu.be/qMslQ1Iy5p0
Jan., March, May 2013: http://youtu.be/TSlNvvRa1is
November 2012: http://youtu.be/S87Ha5by6dc
...and...
http://youtu.be/-o9yALsNpqg
August 2012: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ztnslLg2qw
June 2012 (Independence Day): Sorry, no video yet.
June 2012: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7NjIJKMC7c&feature=youtu.be
May 2012 (Memorial Day): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnDMQQyVm4Y
May 2012: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2u6cBisPSYQ
April 2012: http://youtu.be/75s8uZ6irR0
March 2012: http://youtu.be/UkP8KsYRIQk
February 2012: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqxsLmq1RnY
.
The State of Rockets in 2011: This is an year-end review of all my rockets and flights
after my first year as a BAR (and my first video project):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcuauOhz2Nc
.
And unrelated to rockets (except that they also fly), natures aircraft:
A video of wild birds: http://youtu.be/eMk4U94wrEk
RECENT NEWS
Sept 27, 2019: Updated my flight logs of the
HD Explorer the Comanche 3 and the Stonebreaker.
All flights were perfect, and the weather was perfect. The day was too short, or it would have been perfect also.
May 29, 2019: Today I added the flight logs for some flights I made this past April, and more flights this past (Memorial Day) weekend.
This weekend I flew:
Three flights of the
Comanche 3 (single stage, sorry)
the DEFCON 1
the X-Ray
and two flights of the brand-new original design and never flown,
HD Explorer!
.
I also added my April flights of: the Black Diamond Iris
and again the X-Ray
and the Stonebreaker.
.
November 16, 2018: Today I added the link to a newly completed video about the Quest Gamma Ray. The Gamma-Ray link
.
November 6, 2018: I made a serious effort to get out flying again, and fate made its effort too. The weather was very good for flying. I got in six flights in the 3 hours I was out there. Here are some pix and description. Here are the rocket blog links:
Bandit II
Interceptor Swift Iris
Comanche 3 (flow as a single stage)
DEFCON 1
Bullpup 12D (two flights)
HD Explorer the Comanche 3 and the Stonebreaker.
All flights were perfect, and the weather was perfect. The day was too short, or it would have been perfect also.
May 29, 2019: Today I added the flight logs for some flights I made this past April, and more flights this past (Memorial Day) weekend.
This weekend I flew:
Three flights of the
Comanche 3 (single stage, sorry)
the DEFCON 1
the X-Ray
and two flights of the brand-new original design and never flown,
HD Explorer!
.
I also added my April flights of: the Black Diamond Iris
and again the X-Ray
and the Stonebreaker.
.
November 16, 2018: Today I added the link to a newly completed video about the Quest Gamma Ray. The Gamma-Ray link
.
November 6, 2018: I made a serious effort to get out flying again, and fate made its effort too. The weather was very good for flying. I got in six flights in the 3 hours I was out there. Here are some pix and description. Here are the rocket blog links:
Bandit II
Interceptor Swift Iris
Comanche 3 (flow as a single stage)
DEFCON 1
Bullpup 12D (two flights)
Here is a video of these flights:
I also completed a video of last month's launch. Link here:
October 14, 2018: So sorry life got in the way but I did *finally* get the chance to go flying again. I have blog updates for two rockets this time. One I am really jazzed about is my first cluster motor flight with the:
If super-interested in this flight, you can watch it with this club launch video. There are other launches shown, and the Interceptor Swift starts at about 6:22. Interceptor Swift Iris on YouTube
The next flight was also somewhat of a first-time flight for me in several ways:
If anybody is interested, my last few years were spent in many other non-rocketry but still significant ways. I was helping to record, then mix, and then promote a musical album "Chasing Happy". In fact I will continue my shameless promotion with a link here:
With this link you can access music, You Tube videos, and blogs from what I believe is a very interesting songwriter. You can hear some freebees of these songs on ReverbNation, as well as some other places like spotify, and all sorts of places I know too little about.
November 2, 2016: Again I missed another rocket launch even though the weather was good. Long story. But at least I kept busy with the building of the Orbital Transport. (See below for construction link.)
I also started out the construction of what I thought was going to be a Quest Space Shuttle Intrepid. Due to more missing parts than I thought, I ended up with an original design from those parts that I am calling the der Pinti. Oh it will be a strange one! I'm photographing it, but I will not start the build reports until I'm done with the Orbital Transport.
October 20, 2016: Added some more work on the Orbital Transport as linked to below. Didn't get to go flying this past weekend, so I couldn't test out the Interceptor Swift Iris.
October 15, 2016: This week I started a whole new rocket, the Orbital Transport. I've wanted to do this for a very long time now, almost 40 years. No more procrastinating, I started the build. The new page build can be seen here. Orbital Transport
Oh yea...rocket launch tomorrow!!!
October 7, 2016: Completed some major surgery on the Interceptor Iris. Not only fixed the damaged wing pod, but I added two A10 booster rockets to the sides, making this a 3-engine cluster rocket. Now I expect her to have some giddyup on the launch rail! Read all the gory details here:
I also received three new rocket kits direct from Estes for the build pile. The Xarconian Cruiser, Photon Probe, and Cosmic Interceptor. The build pile is getting pretty big now with no less than 26 kits not started. It would have been 27 but I started construction of the Semroc's version of the Estes Orbital Transport. Quite possibly the most awesome model rocket design ever!
October 2, 2016: Again, the club decided not to launch. It was cloudy, but very little wind. It didn't rain as the weather predicted it wouldn't. Still, the excuse was "soggy ground" that would be trouble for the trailer. We could have carried the stuff needed to launch. I would have made the effort, but I guess the club movers & shakers are not so enthusiastic.
As soon as I reconstruct the blown-away C-Thru page, I'm going to change the format of these blogs. I will continue to record flights in each rocket's individual pages, but I am going to make a post for each day's rocket launches. This will put all the recent flights in one latest blog, and preserve the continuity of the day's events. One will no longer have to jump to individual links and scroll down to find the latest launch adventures.
Right now, I am going to re-insert the C-Thru pictures, the text is already there.
September 3, 2016: Crazy summer, but I got out flying again. Updated my logs on the Gamma-Ray, the Cyclone, and curiously...though no flight was made, the Bullpup 12D Iris. Also flew the C-Thru, but did not take the camera up this time.
This link is ? OK, I am now officially fed up with this poor quality google blog software. My C-Thru page just disappeared. It will take a bit of time to re-create it. I may just abandon google and use some quality service instead of this cheap google crap.
The restored blog of the C-Thru can be found here: C-Thru
April 17, 2016: Yes! I got out to fly again after a long, boring winter. The weather was perfect for flying in southern NJ. I flew four flights, and with the light winds I finally had the chance to do some high altitude flying. ALL my flights were with the Estes C6-7 motor exclusively, and all flights were above 700 feet. The clear blue skies helped me to keep sight of these little rockets.
Here's the links:
I flew the Gamma Ray twice Quest Gamma-Ray
the Black Diamond Iris Estes Black Diamond Iris
and the Ricochet Estes Ricochet
Lots more flying to do, I still have four or five new models that haven't flown yet!
November 15, 2015: Got to fly this weekend! Bad weather and bad timing kept me grounded for too long. This Sunday was a bit too windy, but I was going to fly anyways. I managed to get in two flights of the Bullpup 12D, which historically only gave me trouble (I suppose that's why I chose it in the windy weather). Read about it here:
Bullpup 12D Iris
The next flight was what is turning out to be an all-time favorite of mine, the Stonebreaker. It's big, impressive to watch with its slower liftoff, and very shiny! Read about it here:
Stonebreaker
Both of these launches can be watched in video with this link:
Winter 2015-16 SoJARS at CrossKeys
July 14, 2015: Inspired to rokckety again with the recent launch, I set out to finish one of my projects. I made the final touches to the Arroe, a home-brewed 13mm design. Here's the link to the build and description. I have yet to fly it.
Arroe
July 5, 2015: HORRAAAAAAYYYYY! I finally got out there and launched some rockets for the first time in a year and the first time this year! And now I got the rocket bug all over again. Suddenly this seems to be all I can think about again. I flew with the SoJARS, a Southern New Jersey club that I flew with as a guest last summer. This time it was a new field. This time I officially joined their club.
It was a glorious day, I flew three flights with the Bandit II, and three flights with the DEFCON 1. It was very hot so we all exhausted ourselves long before sunset.
I burned a bunch of 24mm motors. I managed to get back home without any rockets to repair. You can read about the flights and see the pictures with these two links (scroll to the bottom for the latest flight logs).
Bandit II
DEFCON 1
May 31, 2015: For the one or two devoted followers, I figured y'all gave up on me by now, but things are looking good! I recently got a new and exciting job as an electronic product design engineer, so now that I got the credit cards under control and my car fixed, I intend to go to a lot more rocket launches! Expect more launch reports this summer, and hopefully forever. I'll start with a few of my oldies-but-goodies, and then I have some new, all original designs to try out.
Dec 2, 2014: It's been a while since I've updated this blog and maybe you are wondering why. Well - I'll tell you anyway. I was "let go" last year and decided to start my own business in electronics. Angelis Electronics to be more precise. I've been fairly busy with that - building circuits, testing circuit ideas, programming etc. which didn't leave me much time for rocketry. I haven't forgot about rockets though - I'm doing this so that I can continue my rocket habit.
So if you are into electronics as a hobby, please check it out. Tell your friends! The sooner I get this business off the ground the sooner I will launch more rockets! Win-win I think they call it!
(OK, the other reason is that the weather has been lousy whenever I was free for a club launch, and when I wasn't free it was because of some "no-way-to-get-out-of-it" event. I didn't mention that because there is no way to spin that into a shameless plug for www.angeliselectronics.com )
July 22, 2014: This past weekend I got to fly with a new club. The weather was good enough but a bit windy, and I got in 4 flights but no super-high record breakers. I did get to witness and photograph a 5-rocket Big Daddy drag race, where one of the rockets CATO'd. Soon I hope to have the video edited so you all can enjoy watching a rocket destroy itself.
For me though it was a 100% successful day - no lost or damaged rockets. The details of the flights are logged with the respective rockets, and here are the links (don't forget to scroll down for the latest flights).
Aero-Hi Iris
Stonebreaker
Ricochet
Gamma-Ray
Hmm, no Iris flights this week. Also, I intended to fly my video camera again but I left the special parachute rigging on my workbench! I also forgot to grab my CamRifle, so the pix are not so close-up spectacular. Sorry.
OK, here's a CATO sequence:
July 18, 2014: OK, sorry. Today I actually made the page VISIBLE concerning Predicting Altitude and Speed vs. Grams of Weight.
Sorry for the confusing nature of google blogs: posts show up automatically, pages do not. Why is there a difference anyway?
Just to be a good sport, here is a direct link (if it works):
http://barocketeer.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html
Also: Big News! I have completed my second custom-designed rocket the Lightning. Read all about the construction and see the first pictures here:
http://barocketeer.blogspot.com/2013/06/lightning.html
July 15, 2014: I added a new page today, called "Predicting Altitude and Speed vs. Grams of Weight". This is a collection of all my flight data, sorted by the model's weight and the motor used. It is a good way to get a rough idea how fast and high your model will go in the real world, because all this data is compiled from actual flights in the atmosphere.
I have found that computer simulations, in spite of all their apparent precision, are really not that good at predicting the real world. I think in part because of atmospheric condition variations (have you ever seen a "standard atmosphere"?), and inaccuracies as a result of "estimated" densities of the parts used in the simulated model. Fin alignment, paint and glue distribution, launch rod friction and rod whip could very well also be significant factors.
June 24, 2014: If you've been reading my blogs a bit you know that I collect flight performance data for most of my flights. Today I added a few charts to my pages "My Rocket Specs..." and "My Rocket Performance...". Makes them a lot less boring than just a bunch of numbers. I have more to release, but for today all I could publish was Weight, Length, Altitude, and Speed charts.
June 21, 2014: Today after about one and a half years I managed to finish the Quest Harpoon - a sport scale model of the Navy and Air Force's anti-ship missile. It's all shown on the Harpoon page, but here is a quick look:
All in all, I think it came out pretty good. Not perfect, as I decided not to fuss over the minor details. Glad I didn't. The nose cone finish is less than perfect, and small spirals are seen in the body tube. Fin fillets are imperfect, and I believe I used too much primer & paint so it is heavy. Still it looks nice and I think it will fly very well. The fins are well glued and very well aligned.
What does bother me was that the Quest-supplied decals, while they look nice, were a bit too short to wrap entirely around the rocket! This leaves a 1/8" gap on all the blue and gray stripes, and it looks pretty stupid on the back side where the launch lug is.
Originally I though about converting this 1-stage model into a 2-stage, since the real thing is a two stage as it is modeled. I also considered adding a lot of scale details to the model, but decided against it since it would take me literally forever.
Here is the Harpoon link: Harpoon.html
and I almost forgot this month's video is now ready for viewing and features the first launch of a Lego Astronaut: http://youtu.be/69opZxMzImk
June 16, 2014: Great weekend for flying! Today I added flight reports of the Vector Force, the Bandit II, and the Black Diamond Iris. I also have some great pictures of the ejection/recovery phases using my newly improved Camrifle. For your convience, here are the direct links:
Vector Force
Bandit II
Black Diamond Iris
June 12, 2014: New video of May's rocket launch is now on the U tubes (see the first link above). This time I time-matched the aerial footage with the ground footage. I also placed stills from this video on the "Aerial Photography" page.
Added a bit of work on the Harpoon, which will be done very soon. Expecting a great weekend for flying in a few days. I plan to finish up testing some of my older rockets before starting to fly my three newly minted rockets.
May 26, 2014: Great weekend: I had six launches including two camera flights, and a second flight of the MIRV. I finished posting pictures and flight descriptions. The two C-Thru flights were logged, as well as the aerial photographs. You can also check out the latest MIRV flight, and the last Striker AGM Iris flight, Stonebreaker, and the Alpha Iris flight.
April 15, 2014: Sad. I didn't go to the rocket launch this month, and it was entirely up to me...OK, maybe you can blame this winter's awful ice storm. The weather was fine, in fact probably the first good day of the year, but I had a lot of tree damage to clean up around the house, gathering up and cutting off broken limbs and such. I didn't have enough reserve energy to launch rockets, and I feel a little guilty because of it. I am hoping and praying that the weather is as good in the first weekend of May, the next scheduled club launch.
Meanwhile, work in my basement is progressing on my robot arm designed to hold a camera and remotely photograph anything, but I am mostly motivated to use it to photograph cool rocket videos, having the camera view track, pan and tilt just before launch.
March 19, 2014: Pictures of the previous week's flights were added.
March 13, 2014: Woo, Hoo! I actually had the opportunity to launch two rockets this past weekend! OK, only two flights but that's 2X better than zero, plus two! (2*0+2=2).
The wind was up and the ground was soggy from a night of heavy rain soaking into the snow, turning it to slush. Worst thing: I FORGOT to wear my boots! I improvised by wearing plastic shopping bags over my socks and held them on with my sneakers, but it didn't hold out very long.
So anyways I got to fly the Vector Force and the Alpha Iris. The Vector flight was flawless, the Alpha, not so flawless. See those links for descriptions, pictures coming soon.
BTW: The Kickstarter funding period is over and thanks to all my supporters I made funding. I have been busy trying to get their rewards built and sent. Also, working on my new business's website. You can't actually buy anything yet but all the content is there:
http://angeliselectronics.com
Tell your friends: that way I'll be able to afford some more rocket motors and kits! (and food, electricity, shoes...)
February 1, 2014: Been a while. No, I haven't given up on the rocket hobby just yet, but the weather has been too lousy to fly, and I have otherwise been too busy to build much lately. I am starting out on a new business venture in electronics. If you are interested, check out my first Kickstarter project and support me if at all possible. Hopefully I'll earn enough money to continue building and flying rockets. Here's the link:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/808871966/modular-control-panel-for-microprocessor-devices
I have only a few more weeks of open funding, if I make 100% or more my project gets the full percentage of backing (less 5% or so), if not, I get zero percent. Nothing.
If you are into electronics as a hobby, the rewards could be very useful to you. If you are only into rocketry, please tell all your friends and ask them to tell their friends, because they might be into electronics!
If this business venture doesn't take hold - and a positive first Kickstarter is a big step - then I am left unemployed and unable to fund rockets! So while I hate to beg, please spread the word if at all posible. And sorry for the shameless self-promotion. (smile face here)
January 4, 2014: Completed a movie abou the life of the Quest X-15. The link is provided above!
December 19, 2013: If you are wondering why there hasn't been much new activity here lately, it's because the flying weather has been lousy this fall. Wind, rain, cold, ugly. The last three launches were cancelled. If my memory is correct, that's five for this year. It has not been a good year for rockets, maybe 2014?
November 17, 2013: Added a second video in the single-rocket story series, this one is about the Bandit, and includes it variations and video-camera footage.
October 30, 2013: Added three or four new links for new videos.
Sorry, but I don't remember which ones were already linked! I can tell you that probably the most interesting one is the top link, all about the Estes Beta.
October 22, 2013: It took me way too long, but I completed the HD Explorer and after a year and a half it is now ready for flying!
October 8, 2013: Pictures from this weekend's launch were added!
October 7, 2013: I went flying this past weekend! There was a club launch, but they all wanted to wait for the softball game to finish, and it was getting windy, so the launch was scrubbed. Another rocketeer and I stuck around. The field cleared and the winds subsided, so I got in three flights before sunset. My buddy another two.
I never got the chance to launch my C-Thru with the camera inside it with the new recovery configuration, but I did get the chance to try out my newly developed and tested Camrifle, as I now call it. It worked great - but I could stand to get a little better with my aim.
I flew the Ricochet and the Striker AGM Iris - both of which I haven't flown in over a year! I also sent up the Cyclone. I wrote about these in their specific blog posts, but I haven't added photos yet because I didn't have time to get them "developed". By that I mean captured from video, cropped, and exposure adjusted. This will happen soon, as I should have some nice pictures of flight and deployment from using my Camrifle.
Sept 27, 2013: No construction or flying today, but I did review my spreadsheet data of my rocket flights. I determined the record speeds and altitudes for each of the various motors I fly. There were a few eyebrow raisers in the bunch. I made note of those records at the end of the descriptions for each rocket that held the honors.
I won't be flying until next weekend, but my internal and external camera projects are ready to go, so there could be some interesting photos and videos soon. Meanwhile, I'll keep myself busy working on finishing my four newest constructions: Three original designs, one of which is a potential camera carrier.
Sept 23, 2013: Worked on the C-Thru this weekend, making many needed improvements for the next aerial photography mission. The C-Thru post details these changes.
The rest of my time in the shop was spent tinkering on the camera-gun. I had several problems with the prototype, mainly concerning alignment (lack of stiffness in the shaft, preventing accurate alignment of the camera and sight). I rebuilt much of it and I am expecting much better results in the next test, which will be the October club launch (weather permitting!).
Sept 11, 2013: I got an interesting photo from a club member. Tony Comp gets credit for this one. He took a photo of me holding my CameraGun (now being called Camrifle), the device I am developing to track rockets moving at 100-200 mph with a long telephoto lens. It still needs completing and tweaking, but I was testing it out this past weekend. (It shoots 60 frames per second!) When I have it all figured out I will be sure to report on it. Well that's besides the point.
The point I wanted to make was that this picture co-incidentally shows the three rocket launching devices I have been working on in my effort to advance the art of rocketry. Enough is being done with the rockets themselves, I am focusing on support technology.
To the left of the picture is my LATS truck (Launch Area Technical Support). To the right of the picture is the field deploy-able rocket rack, which also hooks onto the LATS truck.
I guess I never realized what an unusual gadget nerd I was until I saw myself surrounded with these home-brewed items. There would be so much more if I could only figure out a legal way to continue getting paid and not spend the time at work. Any millionaires out there want to support me? Well, I had to ask.
Sept 5, 2013: I have added log updates for this weekend's ten flights, these are for the Bandit II, Vector Force, Stonebreaker, Interceptor Iris, DEFCON 1, Tomahawk SLCM, and the C-Thru which also carried a camera! I also updated the Aerial Photography post to show all these new pictures. There is a new link (above, August 2013) to the YouTube page that has the newest aerial video and some rocket flights.
I updated the page When Good Rockets Go Bad to include pictures of all the latest FUBARs and SNAFUs. Perhaps the biggest SNAFU was a recent rocket motor and rocket burning up:
In the spirit of pathetic failure, I thought I was recording the whole scene on video. The ignition, the rocket burning up, the discharge of the fire extinguisher by our clubs new hero Larry. All I have from that is a photograph of the rocket before ignition and another picture of folks standing around examining the rocket. Huh? How the...? I had the camera set to still image and not video mode. The two pictures are from pressing the button for start and stop, with everything between lost! Pathetic.
Sept 3, 2013: It was a busy weekend! I made another ten flights this weekend, and I am currently sorting/editing all those pictures from the flights - including an on-board video from the payload of the C-Thru. I also had a trial run of my Cameragun, which is designed to aim my camera when it is set to long telephoto much like a rifle. It includes a rifle scope for aiming, and it appears to make it much easier (nay, possible) to track a high-speed rocket in flight. I should have most of these up tomorrow.
Today though, I want to show you another little creation of mine, a rocket rack I made to attach to my LATS truck or just to set out in the grass and hold all my rockets within easy reach and also display them to spectators. I added some pictures to this in my LATS post.
August 11, 2013: This weekend the weather was fine and I managed to get out and launch a few rockets. I was trying out another new launch field again, this time at Downingtown Middle School. You will find the flight details in the respective pages. I flew three flights of the Bandit II, and a flight of the Vector Force, and a flight of the Alpha Iris. All flights were 100% successful.
August 4, 2013: Yesterday sucked. I awoke early and left at 7 am for a rocket meet. I arrived at 9:30 and was the only one there. It was lightly and occasionally raining. The club decided to cancel after I left home and I didn't get the word, so I wasted 4 hours or so burning a tank of gas.
Today was only slightly better. I awoke to clear skies, so I decided to launch some flights locally. I tried out a new launch field today at a park in Exton, PA. By the time I was set up and ready for launch the calm had turned into a steady 10 mph breeze. I launched a single flight that was strongly affected by the wind, so I had to cancel for the day. I reported this "adventure" in the X-15 post.
July 14, 2013: Today I made a four successful flights. One flight was the final test flight of the two-stage Beta Iris, and three final test flights of the Nike-X Iris.
These test flights I am doing is a project to collect performance data for each rocket, primairly peak altitude, maximum speed, and descent rate as well as a few other parameters. I make three flights for each motor I use to get a more "normal" average performance. About half of my flyable rockets have been completed so far. I started with my oldest rockets first, so today was a day of "classic" rocket flights. Read all about it and see the pictures in the posts for Nike-X and Beta.
July 2, 2013: Added a bunch of photos of this past weekends rocket launches.
July 1, 2013: It was very hot and humid, but I was lucky enough to get out flying this weekend and the winds were near calm. Eight flights were made, including two new first-time flights. I also got back the rest of the Big Bertha, which was stuck in a tree almost two months ago. Unfortunately Bertha has some serious damage, she might not be able to fly again. The flight logs are posted, but if you wait one more day, I'll have plenty of pictures of the flights to share.
June 28, 2013: I've been designing rockets like a mad scientist lately, and I have another design ready. It is starting to look like I will have plenty of time in the workshop this weekend, because the forecast for launch day is looking pretty ugly again.
I actually started designing this about a year ago, but just checked and finalized the design. I call this rocket the A Burner 50. It is named because it is designed to use up 13mm A3-4T motors, but has a comfortably large body tube for easy parachute packing, like my EAC Viper.
She will be 14-1/2" long, 1" diameter, and weigh 33.5 grams (just over 1 oz.) with motor. I predict this to reach up to 380 feet and hit about 100 mph if I can build it light enough. What I like most about this design is the finish I want it to have. Here is a rendering of what it may look like.
Something that looks this cool should be high performance, so I may just excersize my option to install an 18mm mount and use an adaptor for the 13mm A3 and A10 motors.
June 27, 2013: Today I added two pictures showing the proposed look of my two newest designs I am building, the Lightning and the Arroe.
June 25,2013: I have added a few new ideas and tips for adding an altimeter payload to rockets. Since writing that article a year or so ago, I have continued to experiment and came up with a few better methods that are simpler to make and use, and lighter. Be sure to check them out if you will be carrying an Altimeter 1 or Altimeter 2 from Jolly Logic.
June 24, 2013: Still waiting to get some rockets airborne. The last club launch was cancelled due to high winds, and I just haven't been able to get out on my own yet. Meanwhile, I am continuing work on some of my models, such as the Harpoon, as well as some original designs. You already may have heard about the HD Explorer, a camera carrier. I am also introducing two more original designs, the Lightning, and the Arroe, which are now under construction. These three rockets are my first three all-original designs.
Oh yea, I almost forgot. Here is a behind-the-scene's view of my rocket work bench. OK, a bit cluttered, but just about every tool and rocket part is within reach. You can see about five or six projects being worked on at the same time.May 30, 2013: Today, I added information on parachute selection. The parachute article now has charts to choose the parachute size depending on the weight of the rocket and how fast you need it to return. Hopefull this will be helpful to somebody out there.
May 29, 2013: Today I started a post about the Harpoon, the newest rocket I started building. I'll be reporting every step of the way and share some new techniques I've learned about building better rockets.
May 28, 2013: Not much to report on the flying front, extreme winds cancelled the club launch this Memorial Day. That did give me time to complete some rockets though. Today I have added the post for the USS Prometheus. Just finished last night. Check out this beauty!
May 25, 2013: I am very happy to report the successful rescue and return of the Big Bertha Iris. Well, the Iris at least. The parachute and payload bay was all that could be found, and fortunately the contents of the payload (the most expensive part) was retrieved in working order. Sadly, the rest of Bertha has been lost forever*. Read all about it in the Big Bertha page!
(*Maybe not!)
May 23, 3013: Added the completed pictures and final construction reports on Dynastar's Stonebreaker, and the New Way Rocketry's C-Thru. If all goes well, these will be flying this weekend!
May 20, 2013: Added a page showing my Launch Area Technical Support (LATS) truck, and my launch system.
May 13, 2013: Added a few pics of the painting progress of the HD Explorer and the Stonebreaker.
May 10, 2013: I added a page showing how to make very affordable parachutes. If you are like me, you seem to destroy them fairly often, melting them, ripping them out of trees, etc. so this could save you a bunch of money.
May 5, 2013: The new spring flying season has started! This was a perfect weekend for flying and I flew with the rocket club again. Today I added flight logs for the Sprint Iris, Vector Force, Gamma-Ray and the Big Bertha.
March 11, 2013: Today I added flight logs for the X-15 Iris, Beta Iris and Cyclone. Flights were cut short by the wind building to excessive.
May 5, 2013: The new spring flying season has started! This was a perfect weekend for flying and I flew with the rocket club again. Today I added flight logs for the Sprint Iris, Vector Force, Gamma-Ray and the Big Bertha.
March 11, 2013: Today I added flight logs for the X-15 Iris, Beta Iris and Cyclone. Flights were cut short by the wind building to excessive.
Jan 14, 2013: Today I added flight logs from my first 2013 flights: Aero-Hi Iris, DEFCON 1, and the Bullpup 12D Iris. After a long delay due to Java issues (I think?), I now added photos of some of these flights.
PREVIOUS YEAR:
Dec 12: I don't have a page for this yet, but here is a glimpse of my newest rocket, from Red River Rocketry, the USS Prometheus. Did I forget the Iris payload? Of course not, it is incorporated in the original length of the rocket.
Dec 4: Today I finally removed the masking from the C-Thru and get to see what this rocket will really look like with its red and white paint.
Dec 3: Today I added flight logs for the Aero-Hi Iris, the Alpha Iris, The X-Ray and the X-15 Iris.
Nov 27: I went flying again this weekend, and have updates to the flight logs for the two-stage Beta Iris, Andromeda Iris, Aero-Hi Iris, and the Bullpup 12D Iris. The restoration work on the X-Ray and the Alpha Iris were completed and I also flew these models.
Nov 21: Started the blog on the construction of the HD Explorer, my first scratch built design.
Nov 19: Added construction notes for the C-Thru and Stonebreaker. Some more restoration work was done on the Alpha, and the Iris payload is being constructed and added. The restoration of the X-Ray is complete and it is ready for a test flight as soon as the weather permits (which might not be until spring!)
Nov 12: Started the process of restoring my old original Alpha and X-Ray. These efforts are being documented. The C-Thru and the Stonebreaker are in the paint shop. These results were also documented.
Nov 5: Today I added this past weekend's flight logs of the Beta Iris, Cyclone, and X-15 Iris. I also updated the construction of the Stonebreaker and the C-Thru.
Oct 31: Added the page When Good Rockets Go Bad which has my growing collection of rocket catastrophy photographs. Go ahead, you know you want to look.
Sept 26: Added the article Rocketry 101, because I realize some of the readers may not know much about the hobby. I encourage any readers to ask questions if they are curious, I will try to answer them for everybody.
Today you will also find an illustrated article about a project I have been doing to all my rockets and flights. It's called Adding an Altimeter Bay to Low Power Rockets. That should be self-explanitory.
Sept 23: Today I added a couple of pics from the shop. I was busy repairing the Beta Iris, and getting a little further on the C-Thru. I would rather be flying today. Oh yea, I also added that picture on the top of this page with most of my rockets together.
Sept 21: Today I added the Firecat and the Sprint Iris pages. The Sprint has the honor of holding the all-time altitude record for any rocket in my fleet. The Firecat is a unique style, but hasn't been restored yet because of its broken fin/rudder.
Also today, I added two of my favorite rockets, the Nike-X Iris and the Bandit, also known as the Bandit II and then the Bandit HD. The Bandit HD is the rocket that carried my HD video camera this summer. Exhausted from all the work, it is again being rebuilt to be the Bandit III, and will no longer be used as a camera carrier.
I am now just about caught up blogging the older rockets and flights, so there won't be so many daily updates from now on - but there is plenty of restoring, building, flying and photography to do still, and I will be sure to update these flight logs and rockets as I build and fly them. Of course I will still be taking rocket videos too. Also I will have newer and sharper aerial photos, and many pix of other folk's rockets and CATO's (Catastrophy On Take Off) too! I also have other projects going, such as my cool launcher, and the LATS truck ...you don't want to miss that!
Sept 20: It's been a busy day today. I added descriptions of six of my oldest "classic" rockets. Four of those have flown recently in this BAR era, and there are flight logs of them also. These models include (all Estes) Alpha, EAC Viper Iris, X-Ray, Mosquito and the Aero-Hi Iris. Iris is an altimeter payload I've added to most of my currently flying rockets.
Sept 19: Added the Cyclone, an Almost-Ready-To-Fly Kit from Quest. It is simple, light, cheap, and came with a Quest Starter Set. Very fast, very rugged, very ugly.
Sept 18: Added the Gamma-Ray, which was my first Quest kit, and certianly not my last. This is currently the most-flown rocket of the fleet. Also added the Vector Force, my first newly built rocket since returning to the hobby 35 years later. Vector Force is a beautiful rocket that has taken on and survived the most powerful new motors I have ever used to date.
Sept 17: Added the Estes Andromeda Iris, the tallest model of the fleet, and the most exotic. Also added the Ricochet, which might just be the perfect low-power rocket. I am on a roll today, also releasing a page about the Black Diamond Iris, the fastest tiny bird of my fleet.
Spet 14: Added the X-15 Iris, a semi-scale model of the hyper-speed NASA research jet/plane. This has pictures and flight logs.
Sept 13: Added the Big Bertha Iris, a classic dating back to the 1960's and still being produced today. It just might be Estes most popular model ever. This particular model was built in the 1970's. I have some awesome pictures of this bird!
Sept. 12: Added the Renegade Iris. This is a big, old rocket from back in the 1970's, and it's still flying today!
Sept 10: Added the Interceptor Iris, pictures and flight log of this pretty spaceship.
Sept. 7: Adding the Tomahawk SLCM Iris to the mix. Describes finsihing this model and its flights.
Sept. 4: Added flight descriptions for two new models first flown this weekend, the Bullpup 12D Iris and the DEFCON 1. I also started a page on the Estes Comanche 3.
Aug. 30: Added a new rocket: the Striker AGM Iris.
Aug. 29: I started my reporting of the Estes MIRV rocket, its construction and first test flight. This rocket is totally unique in the world of rockets!
Aug. 28: I just added a whole new article and photos about my aerial photography using the Bandit HD!
Aug. 28: I just added new pictures about the construction of the C-Thru.
Nov 5: Today I added this past weekend's flight logs of the Beta Iris, Cyclone, and X-15 Iris. I also updated the construction of the Stonebreaker and the C-Thru.
Oct 31: Added the page When Good Rockets Go Bad which has my growing collection of rocket catastrophy photographs. Go ahead, you know you want to look.
Sept 26: Added the article Rocketry 101, because I realize some of the readers may not know much about the hobby. I encourage any readers to ask questions if they are curious, I will try to answer them for everybody.
Today you will also find an illustrated article about a project I have been doing to all my rockets and flights. It's called Adding an Altimeter Bay to Low Power Rockets. That should be self-explanitory.
Sept 23: Today I added a couple of pics from the shop. I was busy repairing the Beta Iris, and getting a little further on the C-Thru. I would rather be flying today. Oh yea, I also added that picture on the top of this page with most of my rockets together.
Sept 21: Today I added the Firecat and the Sprint Iris pages. The Sprint has the honor of holding the all-time altitude record for any rocket in my fleet. The Firecat is a unique style, but hasn't been restored yet because of its broken fin/rudder.
Also today, I added two of my favorite rockets, the Nike-X Iris and the Bandit, also known as the Bandit II and then the Bandit HD. The Bandit HD is the rocket that carried my HD video camera this summer. Exhausted from all the work, it is again being rebuilt to be the Bandit III, and will no longer be used as a camera carrier.
I am now just about caught up blogging the older rockets and flights, so there won't be so many daily updates from now on - but there is plenty of restoring, building, flying and photography to do still, and I will be sure to update these flight logs and rockets as I build and fly them. Of course I will still be taking rocket videos too. Also I will have newer and sharper aerial photos, and many pix of other folk's rockets and CATO's (Catastrophy On Take Off) too! I also have other projects going, such as my cool launcher, and the LATS truck ...you don't want to miss that!
Sept 20: It's been a busy day today. I added descriptions of six of my oldest "classic" rockets. Four of those have flown recently in this BAR era, and there are flight logs of them also. These models include (all Estes) Alpha, EAC Viper Iris, X-Ray, Mosquito and the Aero-Hi Iris. Iris is an altimeter payload I've added to most of my currently flying rockets.
Sept 19: Added the Cyclone, an Almost-Ready-To-Fly Kit from Quest. It is simple, light, cheap, and came with a Quest Starter Set. Very fast, very rugged, very ugly.
Sept 18: Added the Gamma-Ray, which was my first Quest kit, and certianly not my last. This is currently the most-flown rocket of the fleet. Also added the Vector Force, my first newly built rocket since returning to the hobby 35 years later. Vector Force is a beautiful rocket that has taken on and survived the most powerful new motors I have ever used to date.
Sept 17: Added the Estes Andromeda Iris, the tallest model of the fleet, and the most exotic. Also added the Ricochet, which might just be the perfect low-power rocket. I am on a roll today, also releasing a page about the Black Diamond Iris, the fastest tiny bird of my fleet.
Spet 14: Added the X-15 Iris, a semi-scale model of the hyper-speed NASA research jet/plane. This has pictures and flight logs.
Sept 13: Added the Big Bertha Iris, a classic dating back to the 1960's and still being produced today. It just might be Estes most popular model ever. This particular model was built in the 1970's. I have some awesome pictures of this bird!
Sept. 12: Added the Renegade Iris. This is a big, old rocket from back in the 1970's, and it's still flying today!
Sept 10: Added the Interceptor Iris, pictures and flight log of this pretty spaceship.
Sept. 7: Adding the Tomahawk SLCM Iris to the mix. Describes finsihing this model and its flights.
Sept. 4: Added flight descriptions for two new models first flown this weekend, the Bullpup 12D Iris and the DEFCON 1. I also started a page on the Estes Comanche 3.
Aug. 30: Added a new rocket: the Striker AGM Iris.
Aug. 29: I started my reporting of the Estes MIRV rocket, its construction and first test flight. This rocket is totally unique in the world of rockets!
Aug. 28: I just added a whole new article and photos about my aerial photography using the Bandit HD!
Aug. 28: I just added new pictures about the construction of the C-Thru.
Aug. 27: I added a new rocket: The Stonebreaker is under construction.
Aug. 27: I added finished photographs of the just completed Bullpup 12D Iris. I have not flown this model yet!
Aug. 27: I added finished photographs of the just completed DEFCON 1. I have not flown this model yet!
Just started reading your blog. I'm currently hooked on mid power rockets powered by E, F, G and cluster engines. I will put together some pictures for you soon.
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