Good question.
The short answer:
The Steampunk Protostar had been relegated to a back burner for a short while in favor of getting a few quicker builds completed.
I truly would like to have a couple of new models ready for the upcoming flying season.
I plan on resuming work on the PS in mid April or early May.
It really is high time to close out that long-running project!
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Monday, March 23, 2020
Hunkerin' Down In Colorado
Before I get too far into this this post, I would like to wish all of you the best during these trying times. Please be careful and stay healthy!
As of this writing, I still go to work during the week, being in a medical equipment R&D and manufacturing environment.
But the time I spend at home is...well...spent at home. Not much going out anywhere unless it's absolutely necessary.
Naturally, this equates to plenty of time to pursue my many hobbies and interests.
Chief among these is, of course, model rocket building.
A good amount of time was spent this weekend painting an EAC Viper. The big difference with this project is that the model is being brush painted!
Gosh! I haven't painted a model that way since 1976 when I built my old fleet Estes A20 Demon and finished it with Butyrate dope.
I was fairly apprehensive at first about committing a model to a brushed- on finish, but so far it's turning out fairly nice. In the near future I will post here about some of the insights and pitfalls encountered in the project.
By the way, the Viper is earmarked to be my new fleet flagship, as the old Hornet will be retired after its next (and 50th) flight.
On an entirely different subject, I am also an avid LEGO fan. The last couple of months, I've been binge-building on some large sets that my kids bought me for Christmas and my February birthday.
I maintain a parallel LEGO blog - "Tales From The Double Decker Couch" at this link:
https://castlelego.blogspot.com
The blog content features lots of set build series' as well as a number of brick-built comic strips. If you are a LEGO fan, be sure to check it out.
Lotsa fun....
Cheers!
https://castlelego.blogspot.com
The blog content features lots of set build series' as well as a number of brick-built comic strips. If you are a LEGO fan, be sure to check it out.
Lotsa fun....
Cheers!
Monday, March 9, 2020
Launch Date: 8 March, 2020
Sunday, the 8th, I found myself with a spare hour in the early afternoon along with some very nice weather outside.
Time to fly a couple rockets!
For this session, I wanted to test fly the recently acquired Estes Altimeter, so I quickly packed up the launch gear and selected my weapon of choice: the Estes Delta 2 from the old feet days. The model, built in 1980, is one of the two models from that era that I still have. I don't fly the Astrocam 110, so a new custom payload section was built to fly atop the booster.
On my way out, I saw my neighbor across the street out playing ball with his two young sons, so I invited them to come along.
The flying field of choice - Douglas County High School - is only a half mile away, so things were set up and ready to go in no time.
The altimeter rode in a BT -50 payload bay that was cobbled together from some spare parts.
The first flight of the Delta, launched by one of the boys, was picture perfect on a B6-4 motor.
It was one of those rare flights where the model drifts back and lands right next to the launch pad!
A quick check of the altimeter showed a flight of over 700 feet...
OK, this is Castle Rock, Colorado, 6,222 feet above sea level, but there is no way the bird went that high. Just from watching the flight, I had estimated no more than 300 feet.
I must have done something wrong with the altimeter.
I conducted a little experiment: re-setting the unit to zero, I inserted it into the payload bay and installed the nose cone quickly while blocking the vent holes with my fingers.
Sure enough, the action created enough pressure for the altimeter to record 175 feet.
Aha... I must have done a similar thing while prepping the altimeter for its first flight.
Lesson learned.
I quickly prepped the Delta for a second flight, this time on a C6-5. I don't normally try C motors on a relatively small field like this one, but conditions were calm enough that there were no worries about getting the model back.
This would be the Delta 2's thirteenth launch.
I made sure to prep the altimeter more carefully, so that there were no pressure changes induced from nose cone insertion.
The model boosted for another great flight, this time landing at the perimeter of the field, and recovered by my crack crew of neighbor kids.
This time the altimeter read a little over 600 feet, which was well in line with what was visually observed.
Having satisfied the rocket flying bug, I packed up to head home.
My guests were entirely impressed, so I'm hoping that this launch session might perhaps spark the formation of some new rocketeers.
I resolve, on my next flying session, to launch the altimeter several times using the same rocket and motor type so that I can establish altitude recording consistency. I have a number of altitude-based projects in the queue for this flying season that will require the utmost in accuracy.
Cheers!
Time to fly a couple rockets!
For this session, I wanted to test fly the recently acquired Estes Altimeter, so I quickly packed up the launch gear and selected my weapon of choice: the Estes Delta 2 from the old feet days. The model, built in 1980, is one of the two models from that era that I still have. I don't fly the Astrocam 110, so a new custom payload section was built to fly atop the booster.
On my way out, I saw my neighbor across the street out playing ball with his two young sons, so I invited them to come along.
The flying field of choice - Douglas County High School - is only a half mile away, so things were set up and ready to go in no time.
The altimeter rode in a BT -50 payload bay that was cobbled together from some spare parts.
The first flight of the Delta, launched by one of the boys, was picture perfect on a B6-4 motor.
It was one of those rare flights where the model drifts back and lands right next to the launch pad!
A quick check of the altimeter showed a flight of over 700 feet...
OK, this is Castle Rock, Colorado, 6,222 feet above sea level, but there is no way the bird went that high. Just from watching the flight, I had estimated no more than 300 feet.
I must have done something wrong with the altimeter.
I conducted a little experiment: re-setting the unit to zero, I inserted it into the payload bay and installed the nose cone quickly while blocking the vent holes with my fingers.
Sure enough, the action created enough pressure for the altimeter to record 175 feet.
Aha... I must have done a similar thing while prepping the altimeter for its first flight.
Lesson learned.
I quickly prepped the Delta for a second flight, this time on a C6-5. I don't normally try C motors on a relatively small field like this one, but conditions were calm enough that there were no worries about getting the model back.
This would be the Delta 2's thirteenth launch.
I made sure to prep the altimeter more carefully, so that there were no pressure changes induced from nose cone insertion.
The model boosted for another great flight, this time landing at the perimeter of the field, and recovered by my crack crew of neighbor kids.
This time the altimeter read a little over 600 feet, which was well in line with what was visually observed.
Having satisfied the rocket flying bug, I packed up to head home.
My guests were entirely impressed, so I'm hoping that this launch session might perhaps spark the formation of some new rocketeers.
I resolve, on my next flying session, to launch the altimeter several times using the same rocket and motor type so that I can establish altitude recording consistency. I have a number of altitude-based projects in the queue for this flying season that will require the utmost in accuracy.
Cheers!
Saturday, March 7, 2020
Finally...Some Decent Paintin' Weather!
I've had these two models, an EAC Viper and a Cherokee-E, built and waiting since the end of January to get their primer coats.
Yesterday, Castle Rock finally enjoyed a day of 60 degree weather, minimal wind, and NO SNOW!
I grabbed the models and a can of primer, running out to the back yard to get the task accomplished before anything changed!
Whew ...made it!
This has got me pumped and ready for the upcoming flying season...
Yesterday, Castle Rock finally enjoyed a day of 60 degree weather, minimal wind, and NO SNOW!
I grabbed the models and a can of primer, running out to the back yard to get the task accomplished before anything changed!
Whew ...made it!
This has got me pumped and ready for the upcoming flying season...
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
A New Toy
Today, I stopped into the local Hobby Lobby and picked up a new Estes altimeter for 30 bucks. Not too hard on the wallet with the prevailing discount.
Even though the device features only basic peak altitude display, I can think of a lot of applications for its use.
One that readily comes to mind is mounting it in specially built boost/glider pop-pods for the purpose of calculating a glider's sink rate based on glide duration from a given altitude.
Another project application is to marry the device up with a keychain video camera to get an idea of which point in the video corresponds to max altitude reached.
If nothing else, the device can be used merely for assessing altitude performance of my favorite sport birds.
Whatever the project, this device will see a lot of use.
Later on, I will likely spring for a more advanced altimeter that is capable of rendering complete flight profiles, but for now the Estes offering will do nicely.