BAR Fleet: #121 FlatCat-C

Scratch Built From Published Plans,

Designed by:  G. Harry Stine,

Type:  Boost/Glider

 Glider

Length: 41cm
Wing Span:  34cm
Weight: 18.0g

Pod
Length: 17cm
Diameter:  18.7mm
Weight: 8.3g

 Total Length: 47.5cm

Total Weight (empty): 26.3g

 Color Scheme:  Yellow, Orange, Red, Black

Trim:  Black and Chrome silver

 Date Completed:  23 May, 2019

 A Replacement Glider

The FlatCat-C was constructed to replace FlatCat-B, #117, which was lost on its maiden flight in October of 2018.

 

Construction and color scheme is identical to the previous version.  This glider will be flown using the original pop pod numbered 117.

 One minor difference from its predecessor is found in the FlatCat logo drawn on the wing.  I took a bit of cartoonists’ license to change the expression on the cat’s face!

  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BAR Fleet #122, Quark

Source:  Estes Industries

Kit #: 00802
Type:  Sport Model

 Stages: Single

Engine Type: 13mm
Recovery:  Featherweight

 Length:  13.5cm

Diameter:  13.7mm
Weight Empty:  4.4g
Nose Cone:  Tangent Ogive
Fin Type: Tapered Swept
Number of Fins: 4
Color Scheme:  White, Dark Red,
Fluorescent Red, Chrome Silver, Black Trim

 Date Completed:  15 June, 2019

 Another Tiny Model

Rocket!

 

This model came to the collection via a friend in Colorado Springs, Mr. Bob Antion.  The bird was built sometime in the mid 1990s and was never flown.

 In its original form, the model had been painted without any finish on the balsa fins, so they were rather rough.

 

 

 

This was remedied by sanding off the finish and applying a couple coats of CWF followed by a coat of white primer, all with fine grit sanding in between.  The body was then re-shot with white gloss enamel paint.

 Since this is a tiny, high-flying model that returns without any type of attached recovery device, I chose to apply some additional high visibility elements to the finish.

These consisted of a wrap of chrome silver adhesive Monokote which will reflect sunlight, and an application of fluorescent red on the tips of the fins for contrasting with the area in which the model would land.  The nose was left with the original dark red paint. 

I anticipate that this will be a fun little rocket to have on the display shelf and on the flying field.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Trimmin' That Ol' 'Cat..."

I stepped out at lunch time today to spend a few minutes at the nearby park with the new FlatCat glider getting it glide trimmed.   Weather was perfect with a minimal breeze.


The verdict:

 

Here's a pic pulled from a cel phone video of one of the test hand tosses. 

The FlatCat is now deemed ready for its maiden powered launch!

 

 

Precisely What I Need - Another Project....

I seem to suffer from a lot of the 'too-many-irons-in-the-fire' scenario.

That being said, I received this in the mail yesterday.  

Well, I didn't just receive it out of the blue - I did order it from Amazon after all.

This is the cheapy little Chinese-made 808 key chain cam.  Just the thing to try out a little video rocketry.

Featuring video, sound, and the ability to shoot single photos, the compact little unit comes with a USB adapter...... and a set of incredibly cryptic instructions.

After donning my magnifier headset to read them, and attempting to decipher the bad translation to English, I discovered very little useful information on how this thing worked, so I turned to the Wonderful World Wide Web.

To my surprise and delight, I found a PDF of a comprehensive user's guide on this very model of cam from none other than Apogee in Colorado Springs!

Tim, if you are reading this, thanks a million.

Now it's time to 'git busy'.....

Back In The Day, Part 27 - ROMAR Resurrected!

Following the resounding success of the HOTROC-1 Open Meet in Colorado Springs, the Mountain Region virtually took off.

ROMAR was able to renew its NAR charter, since the number of members by then had increased beyond the five required to constitute a section.

Also, two thriving new sections were formed in the Mountain Region:  WARP in Utah, and COSMIC in Denver.  Over the next few years, these three organizations grew into a force to be reckoned with as far as NAR competition points went.  In the 1982 contest year, all three sections made the NAR top ten list in contest points totals.  In, 1983, two of the sections (ROMAR and WARP) were still in the top ten.

As for ROMAR itself, we saw a substantial increase in activity:  Several high-visibility public demonstration launches helped to bring in a much needed local exposure to the club, as well as bringing in several new members. 

And, of course, our sport launches and workshops continued to be held on a regular basis, with outstanding attendance.

After a hiatus of several years, the club news letter, The Cosmic Steppingstone, went back into production with a brand new, slicker format and variety of content. News letter trade with several other NAR sections around the country was facilitated, and we printed lots of extras to place in all of the local hobby shops.

At one point in 1982, we were honored by the presence of NAR President J. Pat Miller at one of our club meetings.  Mr. Miller happened to be in Colorado Springs for business purposes, and was able to find the time to stop in and chat.  One of the serious discussions concerned the possibility of ROMAR hosting an upcoming NARAM, perhaps at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

As for me, I had renewed my position as Mountain States Region Manager, and continued the work of keeping lines of communication open and working with members and sections.  Steve Sande of COSMIC in Denver was appointed Colorado State Department head, and Gary Price of WARP in Utah, served in the same capacity for that state.  These two sections also began conducting their own smaller contests, with WARP starting up the 'Pioneer' series of Regional meets.

Next post:  HOTROC-2 !!!

Back In The Day, Part 26 - A Little More HOTROC-1 Stuff

Much to my chagrin, I have found I do not have any photographs to present here from HOTROC-1.
Nor do I have any recorded contest results. 
The reason for this is, somewhere back in time, probably during a house move, I lost my notebook binders containing flight logs and other information for the years 1979 through 1980. 
So, this post about that long ago contest is very sparse.
I did manage, by poring through old letters from people who attended, and post-contest questionnaires, to get a good idea of who most of the participants were. 
I also believe that a short write-up about the contest was submitted to The Model Rocketeer Magazine, and may have been published sometime in late 1980 or early 1981.
(If any of you readers out there happen to have a copy of whichever issue that was, I would greatly appreciate a scan of the article.)
HOTROC-1 was attended by perhaps a dozen folks:   Randall Redd and Gary Price from Utah; Steve Sande, Ken Tanaka, and Bill Penberthy from Denver, Paul Heward from Wyoming, and several others from around the Region whose names I don't recall.  Skywatchers was represented by Glade Gordon and myself.
Anyway, I did manage to dig up a couple of items from the contest to scan:

This was a small blurb that appeared in the Colorado Springs Gazzette Telegraph newspaper

 

 

An official HOTROC-1 embroidered jacket patch.

Launch Date: 2 June, 2019

This launch session was one of which I like to call “Shoe Box” launches.  This is where I have a short span of time – anywhere from half an hour to forty five minutes – when I can get over to a nearby small park and put up one or two quick flights.  Aside from the launcher and rod, a regular old shoe box packed with only the essential supplies for the launch is taken along.  The models are pre-prepped and ready to go.

Today, the models of choice were the Hornet and an Estes Bandit-3 for its maiden flight.  The launch location was Founders Park in Castle Rock, Colorado.   Weather conditions were clear with a steady 7 mph breeze present.

First up was the Hornet on an A3-4T motor.  The boost was fine, and the parachute ejected at apogee, but failed to open.  The model was recovered with no damage.

 

 

The second flight went to the E2X Bandit 3 on a 1/2A3-4T motor.  Nice boost, ejection, and streamer deployment.  The model landed very nearby after a short flight.  Upon recovery it was found that the end of the body tube had sustained a little nose snap-back damage.  Easy repair.

 

 

 

 

From launcher set-up to packing back to the car, the whole affair took less than half an hour.  Perfect for a quick rocket flying ‘fix’!