Beware The Urchins !!!

 The past couple of weeks, things have been quite busy here in the BlastFromThePast workshop.

Substantial progress has been made on the Steampunk Protostar, as well as several other rocket-building projects.

This past Saturday, the Protostar was far enough along to shoot the primary color coat on the model's main airframe.   Weather conditions were ideal for outdoor spray painting, so around 9 a.m. I went out, armed with rattle cans, the Protostar, and a couple of body tube sections from other projects.

The painting operations went well and the completed parts were set outside the back garage door to begin the drying and out-gassing process.

Around noon, Mrs. BFTP and I were indoors hanging out in the living room when we started hearing loud banging noise on the wall.  

We ran outside to discover two neighbor kids lobbing river rocks toward our house,  some of the projectiles coming dangerously close to one of our windows.

We admonished the youngsters to 'cease and desist' with this activity, and went on to inform their parents of their actions.

It became painfully clear to me that the kids' target was not our house, but the freshly painted rockets sitting out there to dry!

They could see the models through the gaps in the privacy fence, and apparently decided it would be fun to throw rocks at them.

Fortunately, the kids were far too short to see over the fence, so the rocks were just lobbed in the hope of randomly hitting something. None of their shots hit a mark.

Things could have been far worse had they been able to see over the fence and take more careful, direct aim. Needless to say, I would have been somewhat irate if the Protostar had taken any hits. There are too many hours and too much work invested in this model to have it trashed in an instant by juvenile shenanigans.

So, lesson learned...

I will have to find another place in my back yard to put newly-painted model rockets where they can't be seen from neighboring yards and from the public sidewalk bordering one side of the property. Even six foot high privacy fences don't provide much protection.

It's a shame, really.....

Back In The Day, Part 40, The Original Skeeter Eeters

 Having recently completed the build of the Skeeter Eeter 3, I dug up a photo and some information about the original Skeeter Eeters built back in the Old Fleet days.

The first Skeeter Eeter, fleet number 45, was built in 1975.  Powered by D12 motors, the model was a great performer.  Flight records from the era indicate that the bird was flown three times.  Its last flight was at a model rocket demonstration event held in Limon, Colorado on June 26, 1976.  This demo took place in the middle of the crowded downtown area. Unfortunately, the SE was lost. I don't believe I ever took a photo of the model, and I don't even recall its color scheme.

In 1977, I built a second Skeeter Eeter . This one was constructed with a standard 18mm motor mount.  Even without D power, the model turned in impressive flights on C6 motors.

Skeeter Eeter 2 (fleet no. 63) was actually built with a specific purpose in mind:  The Skywatchers/ROMAR club conducted a contest meet in which one of the events was 'Maxi-Scale'.  This event called specifically for models that were actually upscales of other model rockets, whether they were kits or custom designs.  The upscale model was presented to the judges along with the original model. Models received points for correct scale, color scheme, degree of difficulty, and craftsmanship.  Of course the model had to make a qualified stable flight, as well.

Obviously, I chose a pretty easy subject to upscale. 

There are 4 documented flights for Skeeter Eeter 2, but there may have been more that simply were not recorded.

SE2's third flight on September 23, 1979 was notable in that it was flown on an AVI D6.5 motor.  True to the dubious nature of those motors, the ejection charge exploded, blowing the entire motor mount out the aft end of the model. Luckily, the airframe wasn't damaged, and the Skeeter Eeter 2 was successfully repaired to fly again another day..

Skeeter Eeter 2 went on to be my entry in the Open Spot Landing event at HOTROC-4 in August 1983.  It actually won 2nd place in D Division!

And, of course, here is the original Mosquito, fleet no. 65, also built in 1977:

The diminutive model was flown only once with a 1/4A motor on May 10, 1981.   Surprisingly, the bird was actually found and recovered, but was never flown again.

Both the Skeeter Eeter 2 and the Mosquito were sold in 1985, when I exited the hobby.  

A MAJOR Blast From The Past !

Way back in 1975-76, I was in college taking course work toward an Associates Degree in Mechanical Design Tech.

Much of this involved mechanical drafting classes.  We're talking Old School mechanical drafting classes : T-squares, triangles, compasses, French curves, circle templates, lettering guides - the whole she-bang!  I still remember the hours spent laboring over painstakingly accurate dimensioning and attention to pencil pressure so that the drawings would reproduce well on the blueprint printer machine.

In those days CAD was way off in the future.

I still have in my possession the entire set of drafting tools that I had purchased and used in those long-ago classes.

I recently dug out and dusted off this ol' box o' tools.  I started pulling each item out of the box one by one to examine it.   Then something weird happened.....

I watched in helpless horror as my hands, working independently of  any attempts to control them, started working with these old drafting tools !!

In no time, I had a complete rendering of the Skeeter Eeter 3 staring up at me from the work table!

I am actually quite rusty at this hand-drafting business, but it all seemed to be come back to me very quickly  Even though this could all be done much more efficiently on a PC, I have found this old-school way of doing things to be quite relaxing and satisfying.

So now, my new side project is to hand-draft the plans to all of my custom designed model rockets, past and present, scan them into PDF files, and post them here on the blog for anyone to use and enjoy. 

Hey, I've got time on my hands...I'm retired!

Cheers!

BAR Fleet No. 131 - Skeeter Eeter 3

 

Model Type: Sport

Designed by Ed Mitton. 

3x upscale of Estes Industries Mosquito

Motor Type: 24mm x 70mm

Recovery: Parachute or Streamer

Nose Type: Parabolic, Plastic

Fin Type: Rounded Swept, Balsa

Number of Fins: 3

Length: 11.81 in. (30cm)

Diameter:  1.64 in. (41.6mm)  BT-60

Weight empty: 1.45 oz. (41.1g)

Color scheme: Overall-Orange (Rustoleum ‘Real Orange’), Silver Trim Monokote,

Black Markings.

Completion date: April 5, 2021

 A Mosquito On Steroids !

What could be better than building and flying a Mosquito?   Building and flying a significantly larger Mosquito powered by ‘The Mighty D Engine', of course!

Back in the Old Fleet days, circa 1975-1977. I built two of these things - the first was a 24mm D-motor version, followed by an 18mm standard motor iteration.  Both of the models pre-date Estes' release of the Mega Mosquito kit.

Since part of my present-day BAR adventures involves re-building some of my Old Fleet favorites, the Skeeter Eeter has been a sure bet to hold a position high on the build list.

Purchase and kit-bash of an Estes Baby Bertha provided all the major parts required by the Skeeter Eeter, save for motor mount components, which I already possessed in my parts stash.

The build is very straight forward, this being a regular old 3FNC model rocket. No worries here.

Skeeter Eeters are a real kick to fly.  I anticipate watching this 2021 version screaming off the pad!

Back In The Day, Part 39 - HOTROC-4

 The fourth edition of the Heart Of The Rockies Regional competition meets was held in Colorado Springs over the weekend of August 20-21, 1983.  Contestant turnout was roughly the same as the previous year - about 20 contestants from Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and Kansas.  

HOTROC- 4 was flown from the same field as the previous year, and Contest Director was ROMAR member George Fox.  

Since I was not directly involved with much of the planning or detailed operation of HOTROC-4, I don't have any contest records or results in my files to present in this post.  But here are a few photos, newspaper clips, and other bits I could find in my archives                        :

A scan of a HOTROC-4 announcement published in The Cosmic Steppingstone.  

Would you attend a model rocket contest hosted by such a motley crew as this?   

Of course you would!  Looks like loads of fun!

Scans of an original HOTROC-4 programme, opened to the pages showing the 

schedule and competition event descriptions.  (All drawings by me!)

Pre-flight checkout of  Randall Redd's D motor Boost/Glide entry. 

Left to right: Randall, Gary Price, and Mike Mitchell.

HOTROC-4 news article published in the Colorado Springs Sun.  The accompanying photograph is of Denver rocketeer Steve Sande launching his D motor super-roc model.

My D boost/glide entry takes to the skies.

Gary Price's D boost/glider caught at liftoff.

HOTROC-4 news article published by the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph.

Mike Mitchell of Kansas displays his super-roc entry prior to flight.

Randall Redd with two of his odd-roc models: a flying bumblebee and an oil can....thing.

Gary "Lawrence of Arabia" Price poses with an odd-roc entry.

Once again, HOTROC-4 proved to be a very relaxed, well-run, and enjoyable meet.  And, as in previous years, the contestants left the field Sunday afternoon with thoughts of next year's HOTROC-5 uppermost in mind.

         

Things Are Finally Looking Up!

 Today, we finally got a good high pressure weather cell parked over the State of Colorado.  This means we are actually enjoying a week without cold temps and snow!  And the windy conditions have died down as well. The thermometer is up in the sixties.

I took the opportunity to get outdoors with the rattle cans and get a little rocket painting done.

The 'Skeeter Eeter' upscale Mosquito has been sitting in primer for months, so I managed to apply the color coat.

I had originally planned to give the model a black nose, and one black fin, but instead opted for all-orange.

The two body tubes of a Quest Nike-K build got their coat of primer today, as well. They should be ready for sanding and paint application tomorrow.

Hopefully, both builds will be finished and added to the fleet in a few more days.

The Steampunk Protostar build is also progressing steadily.  I'm not going to divulge any info on that one until the model is completely finished, after which I will inundate this blog with en masse posts!

The best news is, I am busy prepping birds for my first 2021 launch session tomorrow. I just got past the recommended two week waiting period after the second Covid vaccination, so I'm definitely good to go.

Tomorrow's weather forecast models look very good for the Colorado Front Range, and there are none of those pesky burn bans in force at the moment.

Here is a pic of some of the models scheduled to get some air time tomorrow. 

Most are newly built birds that will be on their maiden flights.  I may take along a few additional older models as well.  I will also be spending some time hand-launch glide trimming the newly built Orbital Transport...Orbiter.

Likely, there will be a new 'Launch Date' post here in a couple of days.

Stay tuned!

BAR Fleet No. 130 - Orbital Transport

Model Name: Orbital Transport

Model Type: Futuristic 

Scratch build version Estes Industries kit no.  K-42 / 1242.  Designed by Wayne Kellner.

Motor Type: 18mm

Booster Length:  58.8cm (23.15 in.)

Booster Diameter:  24.8mm

Booster Weight:  42.5g (1.50 oz.)

Orbiter Length:  22cm  (8.66 in.)

Orbiter Diameter: 18.7mm

Orbiter Wingspan:  13.2cm ( 5.2 in.)

Orbiter Weight:  15.0g  (.53 oz.)

Overall Vehicle weight:  57.5g (2.03 oz.)

Color scheme: white, gray, black, and silver with red, black, and yellow trim.

Completion date: March 31, 2021

A Must-Have Model In Every Fleet

The Estes Orbital Transport is one of those iconic model rockets that every rocketeer should own.  It just has 'that look' - attractive lines, proportions, and decor - that is plain irresistible.  The first time I ever laid eyes on one was in 1969 at NARAM-11.  The bird was proudly displayed at  Estes Industries' vendor booth.  I was smitten!  To a thirteen year old kid, that thing was the coolest rocket ever!

I ended up building one in 1975 during my Old Fleet days.

 It doesn't need to be said that an Orbital Transport is a requirement for inclusion in the new BlastFromThePast BAR fleet.

The JimZ website provided the instructions, patterns, and decal scans to make a clone build possible.

This OT build was actually a long time in realizing completion.  The many fins were cut out way back in early 2018 before the project was shelved while other models were built. They were done the old school way - tracing the paper patterns onto balsa sheets and engaging in LOTS of cutting with an X-Acto knife.

No laser-cut fins to be found here....

When it came time to begin painting the model, I quickly made the determination that I would not go with the usual all-white color scheme.  I just didn't want my Orbital Transport to look like every other Orbital Transport on the planet!

I arrived at a painting plan that called for the upper half of the booster fuselage to be white, with a medium gray color for the lower half.  It should be noted that the gray portion was brush-painted with hobby acrylic paint. Black trim lines separate the two colors, and these extend to the edges of all fins.  The protruding sections of the booster ram jet tubes are hand-painted silver.

To round things out, the booster nose was given a black tip to make it look a bit more Space Shuttle-esque.

For the Orbiter, I chose to paint the bottoms of the wings black.  Again, this and the black tip on the nose give it an appearance more akin to the Space Shuttle. Lastly, the Orbiter engine nozzle was painted silver.

Overall, this was a very pleasing project to work on, not to mention being the most challenging build to date in my BAR era.