Hangin' Out With 'Mr. Cineroc', Part 7 - Herb, The Science Teacher

In a short letter dated February 24, 1978, Herb enclosed a newspaper clipping with a photo.  This was a rocket demonstration launch conducted at Eisenhower Junior High School , presumably the school where he taught science.  According to the article, the launch was put on by the Eisenhower Rocket Club as part of a science fair on February 16, 1978.

 

Also enclosed with the letter was a super 8mm film roll, the first of which Herb had processed which contained some of the Cineroc flights I had flown for him here in Colorado.

Hangin' Out With Mr. Cineroc, Part 6 - Us Guys Here In Colorado

At the time that I was corresponding with Herb Desind starting in 1976, the local rocket club I belonged to (Skywatchers/ROMAR) had dwindled to only five or six regular members.  We had lost our ability to maintain NAR Section status because we didn't have the required 10 NAR members.
Also, at the time, there were no other active clubs or sections in the vicinity. Organized model rocketry was pretty dead along the Colorado front range.
In one letter I sent to Herb, I lamented this state of affairs, but enclosed some pictures of some of my own models, some club sport launches, and a copy of our newsletter, the Cosmic Steppingstone.
Herb and his fellow Marylanders were delighted to hear from a rocketeer in Colorado, but were very surprised at the lack of activity in the place where model rocketry virtually began.
They were all really impressed with the wide-open flying fields we enjoyed here, as suitable large open spaces in the D.C. area are few and far between.
Here is an excerpt from Herb's April 4th, 1977 letter:

"I enjoyed looking at the photo material you sent and your publication is very good. I am sending you a number of items here.  I am sending along some copies of ZOG which is the NARHAM publication, and the Nike-Larc, which is the Laurel area publication.  This is all I could get as of now.  All here were very interested in your publication, especially since your club is on Estes' doorstep.
Yesterday, when I delivered one of your copies to NARHAM, the president took it and ran to his car with it amidst objections from others, but all will get to see it at our next meeting."

Herb was also amazed when I wrote him that, to date, I had only visited Estes on two occasions.  He thought that, being so nearby, I would have been down there bugging them quite often.  I did mention that I was loosely acquainted with Wayne Kellner and Dane Boles.  In a February 6th, 1978 letter, Herb wrote:

"Please tell Mr. Kellner, whom I do not know, that many here want the Cineroc and Camroc put back on the market, not Star Wars toys!"

I never passed this on, but I sensed there was a lot of frustration out on the East Coast over the unavailability of Cinerocs at the time.

Ya think?

Hangin' Out With 'Mr. Cineroc' - Part 5 - Herb at NARWIN-1

In a letter dated January 6, 1978, Herb wrote;

"Now on to other things.  I went to NARWIN-1 'Winter Nationals' in Phoenix over Christmas.  They were great and well run.  I met Stine, L. Reese, and many others."

A month later, a letter dated February 6, 1978 arrived in my mailbox with a nice surprise.
Herb had sent along some photos he took at NARWIN-1.

Here are scans of those pictures along with Herb's descriptive texts:

  "An F-100 powered Class 5 altitude of G. Harry Stine, who is seen launching the rocket."

"A blow-through of an Estes D12-7 in a super-roc--show that one to the guys at Estes."

"One of Gary Rosenfield's G-engine rockets he was showing captured at the moment of liftoff.'

There was a fourth photograph enclosed in the letter, but I am unable to locate that one.  The description Herb wrote reads:

"A scale bird which went on to crash into little bits for reasons I do not know."

If there is one of you old timer rocketeers out there who happened to be at NARWIN-1 in December, 1977, and are the owner of such a scale entry that crashed, please enlighten me!

Hangin' With 'Mr Cineroc' - Part 4 The Day I Lost Herb's Rocket

Following is a tale of woe and sorrow surrounding an ill-fated Cineroc flight which I conducted for Herb Desind:

This event occurred in the Winter of 1977 - I don't remember the precise date -when I accompanied my room-mates on a skiing trip to Breckenridge, Colorado.
Since I wasn't a skier, I decided that this might be a good opportunity to take a Cineroc and booster rocket along to see if I could get a good film shot of the resort and surrounding mountain scenery.  Herb was always keen on encouraging me to take flight films that showed mountains.  Well, now - here was a golden opportunity!
Once we arrived at the resort, I noted that the parking lot was of ample size to accommodate a single stage D-engine flight with no problem.  It was a crystal-clear day with a bright blue Colorado sky and no perceptible wind, whatsoever.
So, whilst my buddies were 'shooshing' down the slopes of a nearby mountain with boards strapped to their feet, I prepared to 'shoosh' a Cineroc into the sky strapped to the Mountaineer, an Omega rocket built by Herb and mailed to me all the way from Silver Spring, MD.
This first photo shows me in my 60s purple 'mod' cap preparing the launch 'pad'. 

No, I didn't just stick the launch rod into the snow and call it good.  I was actually using a vintage MMI-style wooden launch stand (remember those?), secured in place by packing snow on top of it.  Nice thing about this setup is that no blast deflector was required.
The next photo is of the Mountaineer ready for its flight.

Upon ignition, the rocket and its camera took off on a straight-up trajectory.  The sudden noise startled a nearby group of skiers who were unloading gear from their car.  The model boosted very high in the rarified mountain air, arced over, and popped the ejection charge.  I gleefully watched the parachute blossom out.
My glee was short-lived however, when I noted that the model began drifting - very rapidly drifting  - toward a pine-wooded area outside the bounds of the parking lot!
Even though air conditions were dead calm at the launch site, there appeared to be a very brisk cross-wind going on at a few hundred feet aloft!
With growing dismay, I helplessly watched the parachute carrying the Mountaineer and its valuable payload drift over the forest and disappear from view.
@#$%^&* !!
With a heavy, sinking feeling, I set off to see if I could hopefully, maybe, possibly, recover this thing out of a whole forest of RETs.
When I reached the edge of the parking area, I discovered an altogether different heavy, sinking feeling - 4 feet of snow!  I nearly fell down and buried myself in my own little personal avalanche!
OK, what do I do now?  I really do want that rocket back.
Thinking quickly, I ran back to the launch area next to the car and grabbed the launch rod. Taking bearings toward the direction I had last seen the Mountaineer, I walked to the edge of the lot and planted the rod in the snow as a directional marker.
Since the car keys were on the person of one of my buddies up on the slopes, I walked to the town of Breckenridge.  I found a shop where I was able to rent a pair of snowshoes. Now this was SERIOUS Colorado-style model rocketry!
I valiantly spent two full hours traipsing through those woods on my big webbed feet searching both the ground and treetops as far as I could see.
I never found the Mountaineer.
Needless to say, it was a very dismal ride home that afternoon from Breckenridge, Colorado.
Not only did I lose a Cineroc and its booster rocket, but with it went what I am sure would have been a magnificent piece of film footage that Herb would have been extremely delighted with.  Luckily, this flight was made with a new film pack that didn't have any previous flight footage on it.
Later that week I called Herb and told him the bad news.  He took it well, saying he wished he had a dollar for every Cineroc he had lost, or had destroyed by a crash or CATO.  He even thanked me for the attempt, and shared in lamenting the loss of what was probably some really nice footage.

Nowadays, as a BAR, I don't think I would have tried something like this with such an expensive rocket vehicle.  If I did, I would probably take along an expendable small 3FNC marker rocket to test the prevailing wind conditions before risking a camera-carrying vehicle.
Hindsight is 20-20  (And, at my age, 20-20 is hindsight!)
Cheers....

Hangin Out With 'Mr. Cineroc' - Part 3 - One Of Herb's Rockets

Here is another photo which Herb Desind sent along in one of his letters....

 Following is an excerpt describing this flight:

"This rocket pictured is my very first 2-stage F-100 Cineroc carrier, the Janeine II.  It was named after a rock-and-roll 'pirate' music ship I visited in the North Sea when I was in Europe. The station was Radio Atlantis on the ship Janeine in the North Sea.  That rocket flew to a high altitude of about 4,000 feet and the film came out real nice, except the second stage spun a lot."

I would have loved to have seen the video of that flight.

Speaking of F-100 two stage Cineroc flights, Herb describes one that he launched at the Estes Industries plant during a visit to Colorado: 

"...launched at Estes and which got 5,000 feet above them and saw so much it is really great."

I wonder to this day if that flight stands as the highest powered rocket launched by a visiting guest witnessed at Estes Industries .  Herb didn't describe too much more about it, but I would wager to guess that a good sized crowd of Estes employees may have turned out for that one!

Herb did go on to say that he was surprised at how many body tubes and nose cones in great shape  were strewn about Estes' flying field.

"I put the grab on them and made a few good Omega rockets out of those parts."

Likely, these were the leftover pieces of many a Big Bertha which was Estes' go-to demo launch bird for visiting guests.

He was also amazed at the number of old expended engine casings lying around the field.

Hey, it is the proving ground at the 'Model Rocket Capitol of the World', after all!

Hangin' Out With 'Mr Cineroc' - Part 2 - The Mad Scientist

In a November 17, 1977 letter, Herb sent along this photo...

Referred to as his 'Mad Scientist' picture, it shows Herb and the launch of a two-staged Vigilante carrying, (what else?) a Cineroc. 
Here are Herb's comments on this particular flight;

"I am enclosing a photo a friend took of me with one of my Cinerocs going off.  I fired the camera on a two-stage D12 powered Vigilante.  It was launched at a field by the World Weather Building in Suitland, Maryland, about 30 minutes from where I live.  The Vigilante has to be adapted a bit to fly it D power and with a Cineroc, but once done it flies really nice."

Herb liked to get very much up-close and personal with his rocket launches.  This was so he could switch the camera on as close to T minus 0 as possible, while another rocketeer did the launch button pushing for him.
He found that he could usually squeeze as many as five flights onto a single Cineroc film pack. Herb felt that having the camera sitting idle while filming the launch pad during a countdown wasted a lot of that valuable film time.

Hangin' Out With 'Mr. Cineroc' Part 1

Back in 1976, I received a letter in the mail from Silver Spring, MD, dated October 16th  and signed by a gentleman by the name of Herb Desind.
In the letter Mr. Desind stated that he was a member of the Starlords International Association of Rocketry (This was a correspondence-based club run by Dennis Bishop out of Hawaii),  and had found my name on the membership roster, noting that I lived in Colorado, the perceived heart of model rocket country.
Herb stated that he was an avid flier of the Cineroc movie camera, and that he sought contact with model rocketeers all over the U.S. and the world.  He went on to say that he often sent Cinerocs and booster rockets to folks at many locations with the idea that they could take some interesting Cineroc film sequences for him at various scenic locales.
This letter was the beginning of a correspondence friendship that lasted well over two years.  I never had the opportunity to meet Herb in person, but we had several phone conversations, not to mention the dozens of letter communications that passed between us.
During this time period, Herb sent me a booster rocket - an Estes Omega upper stage which he re-named 'Mountaineer', along with one of his own specially modified Cineroc cameras.  I flew the camera for him several times, after which I would send him the film cartridges.  He would process them and always sent me back a copy.
Also, at Herb's request, I scoured the local hobby shop scene to find new Cinerocs for him. He was definitely a voracious buyer and user of the product! All told, I remember locating and purchasing a total of seven in the Colorado Springs area, which I sent to him, and for which he always re-imbursed me.  A short time later, Herb sold me two of the cameras, equipped with his own special modifications.
Unfortunately, I lost touch with Herb in the early 80s.
A short time later, in 1985, I exited the model rocket hobby.  Establishing a home, career, and family took precedence over model rocketry.
Sometime in the mid-1990s, I toyed with the idea of picking the hobby back up (BAR-ing in today's parlance). I began perusing the internet to see what the state of model rocketry was, since I hadn't kept up with it in over a decade.  It was then that I learned that Herb had passed away.  I was greatly saddened by that.
What made me even sadder was the fact that, when I had sold off all of my model rocketry stuff in 1985, one of my Herb-modified Cinerocs was in the lot.
I still kick myself in the butt for that one. 
If I could only get my hands on a time machine....
Anyway, that's all water under the bridge.  Spilled milk.  Etc., etc.
I still posses a notebook containing all of the correspondence and photographs that Herb sent along.
I still have the memories of my friendship with that remarkable individual.
I will now share all of that with the modern model rocketry community through this new blog series.
I hope some of you readers who knew Herb will enjoy this latest offering.
Stay tuned.

Back In The Day #12 - The Space Shuttle Enterprise

I finally located the photographs I had taken of the Space Shuttle Enterprise strapped to the back of a 747.
The tandem made a two day stop at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs on May 16-17, 1983.  This was the shuttle's first stop after departing from Edwards Air Force Base on its way to the Paris Air Show.  The 747 and shuttle were on public display during their visit.  I was there to witness the departure takeoff.  Awesome. 
But enough blabber...here are some pics.....

 

 

 

A Super-Cool Dumpster-Diving Find

Every so often, an unexpected object will drop right out of the blue and into our laps.
This happened to me yesterday at my workplace.
I was performing the mundane task of hauling some packing boxes out to throw in the trash dumpster. On my way, I noticed some black objects lying behind the dumpster enclosure alongside a stack of discarded wood pallets.
A closer look revealed them to be a pair of used, heavy duty audio monitor stands!

  Someone from one of the neighboring businesses had apparently tossed them out there, likely with the intention of someone - like me - finding them and making good use of them.
Of course, being a rocket geek, I immediately recognized them as a splendid pair of wide-footprint MPR-worthy launch pad tripods!
I couldn't believe my luck in stumbling across these items.
And I didn't even have to actually dig them out of the dumpster!
Everything seems to be in working order with them, and they only need a little cleaning and paint touch up here and there.
Here's a pic of one of the units set up in my basement shop, all ready to be converted into a launch pad.

At the moment, I am not into MPR, but perhaps this beastie could be the catalyst that would change all that. 
We shall see.

Back In The Day, Part 11A

That title kind of rhymes....

After writing yesterday's post, I seemed to recall something about the ROMAR section having those scopes stolen from us.
A quick check of my old back issues of the club news letter, The Cosmic Steppingstone, confirmed this.
In the March-April, 1974 issue, there appeared a write-up about the section's first NAR sanctioned Open Meet held on April 21, 1974.  Here is an excerpt:

"It was soon after we broke for lunch that we found a two-legged snake had ripped off our East tracking station.  The entire station was gone!  Although a small search party went out looking for the snake, it was not found.  A meeting of contestants was called, and due to the lack of an East station, the Peewee Payload event was dropped."

So, that explains the where-abouts of one of the scopes.   Apparently, our club had not seen fit to keep anyone on the flying field during lunch break to watch over things.
Hmmm......

Back In The Day, Part 11 - A Tracking Scope Revelation

Last night I happened to be perusing through my collection of Model Rocketry Magazine issues, looking for some rocket plans I had recalled seeing.
I happened upon the October 1969 issue which contained the results write-up about NARAM-11 held at the U.S. Air Force Academy in August of that same year.  It diverted my attention away from the plans search for awhile.
The article described some difficulties surrounding the tracking scopes used on the first day of competition, citing that the scopes were magnified 6x with a 90 degree elbow in the optics path.  Folks manning these scopes found them very difficult to use in following models in flight, and, as a result, no tracks closed.
These scopes had been provided by the Colorado Springs Peak City Section, who were co-hosting the NARAM, with Bill Roe serving as the CD of the contest.  Luckily, the article went on to say, the next day's tracking events were saved by the Annapolis section, who had brought along their through-sight tracking scopes, which were much easier to use.
Fast forward to 1973.
Shortly after my rocket buddy, Marc K., and I had joined a newly formed local Colorado Springs rocket club - Skywatchers / ROMAR NAR section, we were paid a visit by Mr. Roe himself. 
Bill generously donated to our fledgling club all of the model rocket range equipment that had belonged to the former Peak City Section.  This included multi-pad launch racks, P.A. system, communications system, and....a pair of tracking theodolites.
Subsequently, at one of our sport launches, the scopes were brought out, set up, and made available to anyone who wished to learn and practice the fine art of tracking model rockets.  Of course, I was eager to try my eye at it.
I seem to remember that the scope I attempted to use was magnified...and it did have a 90 degree elbow in the optics.  And it was impossible to keep even the largest and slowest of model rockets in the field of view!
I am fully convinced that these are the exact same scopes that were used on that first day of flying at NARAM four years earlier.
If so, I can fully understand the frustration of the trackers, contestants, and meet officials as they experienced such a dismal rate of track closures.
Sometime in the late 1970's, the size of the Skywatchers/Romar club diminished to only four or five regular members, so we started flying from a single launch pad that was equipped with a 1/8"rod, a 3/16" rod and an adjustable tower.  Others would bring their own personal launch pads.  The old multi-pad racks were still brought out and used at public demo launches on occasion.
The rest of the Peak City equipment went into storage in someone's garage, and I never saw those tracking theodolites again.
It would be interesting to know whatever became of those historic beasties.....

A Productive...and Frustrating Weekend

This past weekend was a good one in the BlastFromThePast rocket lab.  
I managed to make significant progress on  a build of an Orbital Transport.  I think that this model is hands down my favorite of all Estes kit offerings, past and present.
Progress on the model included getting the engine mount assembled and installed, marking the main booster tube, assembling the ram-air tubes, and cutting out the million-and-a-half required balsa parts. 
I am one piece short - one of the forward booster wing fairings.  I simply ran out of available 3/32 balsa stock of sufficient length to fit in this final long component.  Need to get to Home Depot to pick up another sheet.  Why Home Depot?  Because I have consistently been finding nice pieces of C-grain in their stock.  Perfect for me, since there are some upcoming glider projects on my schedule, and I prefer using C-grain for glider wings.
Another model that saw some work was my new Canopus-2 (not the Argentine sounding rocket) cluster bird.  This one is my own design from 1975.  More details on it later.
Anyway, I finished attaching and filleting the fins, so the model is now ready for grain filling.
So, how have I managed to find the time to get all this accomplished with my hectic weekly schedule?
Easy.
I built a nifty little lap work bench surface that I can bring up to the living room and work on rockets in the evening, rather than burying myself in solitude in the basement workshop.  In this way I can hang out with Mrs. BlastFromThePast, watch some movies, or listen to music, and still build rockets. Naturally, processes like sanding, sealing, and painting are 'verboten' in the living room and still need to be confined to the main shop, but all of the parts measuring, cutting, assembly gluing, and decaling is fair game.
One other project I managed to fit in was getting a start on building a half dozen more rocket display stands.  These are made in the woodshop using vintage woodworking hand tools.  I completed sawing the bases to length, planing the 45 degree bevel, and center marking the pieces for boring the holes.  I have a previous post on this whole process, if you should care to look.
Now for the 'Frustration' part....
There's an old adage about Colorado:  
"There is no wind in Colorado - Kansas just sucks!"  (My apologies to any Kansas readers)
It seems that the wind has been blowing non-stop here in Castle Rock since the beginning of February. 
All during the weekend, I wistfully made periodic checks to assess wind conditions.  From my upper bedroom window I can see a U.S. flag on a pole a couple of blocks away.  All weekend, this flag was proudly standing horizontally.  Sigh.....
I am anxious to get some models out to be painted, but to no avail.  Currently in the painting queue are the three parts of the Lunar Patrol all ready for color coats, an Astron Alpha awaiting primer, and a Satellite Interceptor also awaiting primer.  It will only be a short matter of time until the Canopus-2 and Orbital Transport will also be on the 'Awaiting Paint' shelf.  Sigh.....
Also, I have been itching to get out and do some rocket flying.  Wind's blowing.
Sigh..........

BAR Fleet #112 Star Seeker

Estes Industries

Kit # 0866
One of three models in the
Mini-Tri-Pack
Type:  Futuristic / Sci-Fi

 Stages: 1

Engine Type: 13mm
Recovery: Featherweight /
Streamer
Length: 188mm (7.4”)
Diameter:  13.74mm (.541”)
Weight Empty:  7.7g  (.27oz.)
Nose Cone: Tangent Ogive
Fin Type:  Compound
Number of Fins: 2 compound assemblies
Color Scheme: White with dark blue and
red trim.
Date Completed:  11  April, 2018

 The Star Seeker is a small futuristic model rocket by Estes Industries, one of the three models in the ‘Mini Tri-Pak’( kit # 0866), produced between 1983 -1990. The other models in the kit were the S.C.R.A.M. and Sting Ray rockets.  The Star Seeker is designed to fly with the 13mm T-series mini engines, and employs featherweight recovery.

For such a small model rocket, the Star Seeker is loaded with details and a very well-designed decal scheme.  It has the appearance of a near-space ‘commuter’ transport, complete with crew cockpit and passenger doors/windows.  A nice little addition is the ‘Boeing’ logo included in the decal set.

 The 22 Month Model Rocket Project

 The Star Seeker project is the longest I’ve ever spent on a single model rocket build. Not that the actual work took that long, but in the fact that the model sat around in the la-BOR-a-tory for a long, long time awaiting decals.  Construction was begun in July of 2016, right after I became a BAR.  It was part of a three rocket simul-build alongside the Mosquito and Star Trooper.  Both those rockets have long since been finished and logged several flights each, but the Star Seeker languished in a corner of the shop, relegated to a back shelf while other projects were being pursued. The delay and subsequent disinterest in finishing the model stemmed from the lack of proper decals. That was a show-stopper.

At one point, the constructed, painted model was victim of a large notebook titled ‘The Big Book of Rocket Science’, which toppled over and proceeded to break off one of the complete fin assemblies.  Had to re-glue and re-paint….but the Star Seeker went back to its perennial space on the shelf.

In mid-2017, I grew weary of looking at that unfinished bird, so down it came to see if there was some way to fashion the markings without resorting to springing substantial dollars to have them made commercially.

As for how to go about applying the model markings, I had toyed with the idea of cutting each detail component out of either existing stripe waterslide decal material or adhesive trim Monokote.  This never came to pass. 

I also attempted to attach templates of the markings to the model and carefully draw them on with fine tipped Sharpie markers.  This would have worked reasonably well, but I didn’t get the cockpit windows and passenger doors lined up very well.  It might have passed OK, but I was not satisfied with it, being somewhat of a grumpy ol’ perfectionist. Out came the sandpaper and spray paint to render a do-over on the nose cone! 

Next, I tried using a Dymo label printer to fashion a close facsimile of the ’Boeing’ logo.  This didn’t work well either as the labels were too stiff to adhere properly to the small diameter detail tube.

At this point, I once more gave up on the model and set it aside.

Things changed recently, however, when I upgraded my computer system to include a nice HP ink-jet printer.  I have now learned the fine art of producing home-print decals, and the Star Seeker is one of the first models in the fleet to benefit from the same.

Once the downloaded decal sheet for the Estes Mini Tri-Pak was sized and printed out on blank decal stock, the fun began.  Star Seeker was suddenly finished in the space of a single evening, after having sat idle for almost two years!

The bird is now an attractive and welcome addition to the fleet.  I am looking forward to seeing if it flies as good as it looks.

One other small deviation from the original is the recovery system.  I have read on some of the forums that Star Seeker fins are highly likely to break using only featherweight recovery.  I opted to install a small streamer in my model. 

 11 April, 2018

Back In The Day, Part #10: Launching Model Rockets From A Broom Closet!

 

This post is an account of a demonstration launch that occurred back in the summer of 1976 in Limon, Colorado.  I had posted this same story on a previous version of this blog which I took down back in 2016. All of those posts became lost in the internet abyss, and I did not keep any original drafts of them.  So forgive me if this sounds familiar….

It all began when the Skywatchers/ROMAR rocket club of Colorado Springs, Colorado got a call from Houtz’ Drug Store in Limon, Colorado.  They had just started carrying Estes model rockets in the hobby section of their store, and decided it would be nice to host a demonstration launch by someone who was experienced with flying model rockets.

The club gleefully accepted the invitation.

On the appointed day, half a dozen stalwart members of ROMAR, including myself, loaded up two vehicles with the club launch rack, P.A., range boxes, and a bunch of rockets, and hit the road for the wide open plains of eastern Colorado.

Now, friends, we would have thought that a model rocket launch at a small rural town would have meant flying from a spacious, open field with unobstructed views to the four horizons.  We were thinking F-engine country, here!

Instead, upon arriving in town, and speaking with the drug store owner, we learned that our designated launch site was to be the parking lot adjacent to the business’ building, right smack-dab in the middle of downtown Limon!

We’re talking a very small asphalt-covered space with maybe 50 feet on the longest dimension, surrounded by three story buildings, tall trees, and plenty of power lines.

Hmmm….

It was quite obvious that our hosts were unaware of the altitude capabilities of even the smallest of model rockets.

We huddled and held an impromptu meeting to decide whether we wanted to try this or not.

“Yeah, why not?  We traveled all the way out here!  We don’t want to chicken out and dis-appoint our kind hosts!”

So, we bravely went about setting up the range equipment, the display table, and prepping the models that were to fly that day.

Once all was in readiness, our LCO conducted a test of the launch system.

Dead as a doornail.  What else could go wrong? By now, a substantial number of spectators had shown up to see the demo.

As the equipment team scrambled to troubleshoot and repair the system, one of our members  engaged the crowd with a lengthy description of what model rocketry was all about, and demonstrated prepping a model.

Finally, we got the word that the launch system was operational.  Huge sighs of relief!

As the rack was being loaded, I started things off with the first flight of the day – my Cold Power Convertible Yankee 5.  Since it was a warm Colorado day, the model lifted off and flew quite high.  The best part is that it was successfully recovered.

We managed to fly about two dozen models over the course of the demo.  Most of them were recovered, thanks to the owner of Houtz Drugs, who had stationed some of his employees and other townsfolks volunteers on the rooftops of several nearby buildings.  A few models were still lost, nonetheless.

I had taken along a few birds from my personal fleet to fly in this demo:
Astron Spaceman – this one flew nicely and landed on top of the local theater building.  It was retrieved by a kind gentleman who was stationed at that location.  The Spaceman did, however, sustain a broken balsa brace piece.

Estes Starblazer (The old K version with curved fins and carved canopy) - This model turned in a very nice flight, but was never found.  I was somewhat sad at the loss because it was my second ever rocket build.

Skeeter Eeter – This one was my BT-60 upscale of the Estes Mosquito, powered by a D engine.  It was the only model flight of the day flown with a larger impulse engine.  I had a little trepidation about flying this one, but went ahead anyway.  A real cloud pleaser, it was, achieving a very respectable altitude.  Unfortunately, it too, was lost, despite descending in sight on a large streamer.

Despite the flying conditions and loss of some models, our demo drew a good sized crowd, and can be classified as a success.

On the drive back to Colorado Springs, one of the club members made the comment:
“That’s the first time I’ve ever flown rockets out of a broom closet!”

Addendum:  After submitting this post on the old version of this blog, I managed to get in email contact with the owner of the drug store in Limon.  It is no longer Houtz Drugs, but is still in business as Howard’s Drugs.  The gentleman remembered this rocket demonstration event from so long ago, and said that it sparked some interest among some of the townsfolk, who afterward purchased rockets and flew them in and around Limon.

-Ed

MPC Lunar Patrol: Part 13 - An Engine Hook Retro-Fit.

The build of this version of the Lunar Patrol was originally intended to employ friction fitting of the engine for flight. Since the model is not an exact replica of the original kit, I had mulled over a way to attach a standard engine hook, but it would have to be external to the body tube with some sort of retainer/covering. Not an ideal solution, either functionally or aesthetically.
I had pretty much resigned to sticking with the friction fit method, which would be somewhat of a pain out on the flying field, since the engine is well recessed between the two side tubes.  Inserting and removing the engine casing would be difficult at best.
This scenario changed when I found this while rummaging through a tool drawer in the garage…

This is an extra-length small diameter twist drill bit I had purchased for some long-ago electronics project.
I immediately recognized this as a solution to the Lunar Patrol engine hook dilemma.
The idea is to use the internal music wire hook method about which I posted a short time ago.  With this new-found drill bit, I could reach inside the aft end of the rocket body tube, poke a small hole through the engine block right next to the inner tube wall, and insert the music wire down through the top of tube.
With the bit chucked into a standard electric drill, I carefully inserted it into the tube.  Keeping the bit carefully aligned against the tube wall, I felt it butt up against the engine block.  I had to be very careful that I did not mis-align the bit so that it would not drill through the side of the body tube, or pass crookedly through the engine block.  Drilling very slowly, I felt the bit pop through the block.
Sighting down the inside of the body tube, I could see a neat little hole in the engine block in the exact location I wanted it. 
Eureka!
Now it was only a matter of forming a hook on the top end of the long piece of music wire to fit over the engine block, and fishing the wire down the tube to insert in the newly drilled hole. 

Once all was in position, I applied a drop of CA to the hook and let the wire drop into position by gravity.  Easy-Peasy!

Once the CA had cured and the wire was secure, I inserted an engine casing into the model, bent the wire over the end of the casing, and cut to proper length.

 

Instant retro-fit engine hook!    I did notice in one of the above pics that there are some new dents and dings on one of the fins.  These will have to be filled before painting.
The right tools and a little engineering work ultimately resulted in a pretty nifty solution to a sticky problem.
Now, I will have to get busy and perform this identical bit of ‘rocket surgery’ on the Star Trooper and Mini-Maggot pop pod, both of which I’ve had perennial problems with friction fit engines ejecting……

Model Rocket Build Progress Over Easter Weekend.

This weekend, I had a series of short blocks of time to get into the shop and make progress on some model rocketry projects.

Also, the wind conditions in the back yard were such that I was finally able to get out and perform a small amount of spray painting.

The first project was to get some clear coat on the decal sheet I made up the week before.  To help with this, I cobbled together a handy little sheet holding device out of a piece of card board, a paint stir stick (what else?), duct tape (what else?), and some paper clips.

 

Next up, the newly constructed Estes Astron Alpha received its first primer coat.  I had just enough Duplicolor gray to cover the entire model before the can ran out. 

Must get to the nearby auto supply store.

 

 

Moving on, I completed construction of the Satellite Interceptor build by attaching the launch lug and spot filling left-over small grain and gaps.  This model is now ready for primer, as well.

 

 

The Lunar Patrol model got pulled off the shelf for one final touch.  I’ll detail this in the next installment of that long-running build post series.

Finally, I applied CWF to the seams of a BT-50 body tube purloined from a Comanche 3 kit that I bought a couple weeks ago for parts. This tube is ear-marked as the booster airframe of a new Orbital Transport build. 

In between the rocket work, I also managed to do a small production run on a new set of shop-made sanding blocks.  I will also expound on these in a near-future post.

The rest of the weekend was pretty much spent in other important activities, such as playing electric violin in the church praise band for three back-to-back Easter Sunday services.  Most of the songs played were high-energy, up-beat rockers.  Phew!  Including early morning rehearsal, that was a 6 ½ hour day at church!

A large chunk of the weekend was devoted to hanging out with the grand-kiddoes (a.k.a. future model rocketeers!) – feeding and helping take care of the 3 week old, and participating in an epic basement-wide Nerf-gun battle with the 9 and 7 year-olds.

Sheesh – give me a few model rockets, a Nerf gun, or a pile of Lego, and I become a kid again!

Cheers.