Model rockets - or - I left the house yesterday, and it wasn't terrible.

[lincoln]

Some months back, while scrounging around you tube, I came a cross a program called something like "how hard can it be" or some such thing. This episode was about high power rockets / hybrid rockets. Over all it was an interesting over view. years past I had put together mall kits for school / scouts what not but now they are a little more sophisticated.

I bough this kit form a guy that totes around his shop in a trailer at a local meting. The crowd at the meeting look very much like the same sorts you would find at ham fests / electronic flee markets. There is a certification process to be able to buy the larger motor sizes. The process is basically to check that you can build and fly at least one rocket or significant size.

The kit is pretty much a sand and glue together thing. Though with bigger motors people will also put an instrument package to to trigger parachutes of different sizes and to help recover the rocket after the fact.

Went to "the launch" yesterday. It was really cool. basically two house form home. People were tail gating with their families. Two things that stand out were that there were a lot of school age children there with their families shooting things they made  for fun or for school. And second how much more noise a 38mm / 54mm/ 75mm motor makes vs 18mm A/B/C motors for the regular models.

Anyway, i am already scheming on how i can over complicate my next build with electronics and radios.....

Here is a pic om my little one helping me pack for the day.



 

[Radio Tech]

Model rocketry is a very fun hobby. So many things you can do with electronics and rockets now. I was into this many years ago and then went into rc airplanes.

That picture you attached is precious 

Thanks for sharing.

[cvanc]

Good for you!  Here's my daughter and one that we built:

[MrSlack]

That's a proper one

I used to make my own engines and rockets from scratch when I was a kid. I couldn't afford the Estes ones on my measly allowance. Was great fun, even if my first three or four attempts exploded on the pad. KNO3 (pilfered from school with the aid of a sympathetic lab tech)+sugar propellant with a 10 ohm 1/4 watt resistor from Tandy chucked across a pile of AA batteries taped together.

Good hobby although not quite as common here in the UK and we have strict power limits (D engine max pretty much)