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2021: Christy and Gracey launching their first (Estes Alpha) rockets. We still have them and they are ready to fly. Maybe the next launch will be with their kids....
Will see if the interest holds or not.
Update: 2024: Gracey, with the orange Alpha, took an award for her rocketry science fair project!
This rocket on the left was a modified kit of some kind; there is a clear tubing section with *stuff* inside. I made an altimeter using an Arduino microcontroller and added some LED lighting for effect. The launch was spectacular. The ejection charge delay was way too long and so the nose cone never separated due to pressure from high speed. The decent was magnificent -- that is magnificently fast. Whistling noises were heard as it was moving so fast and the rocket "landed" in the farm field behind us -- and behind an electric cattle fence. The field was about waist high with a cover crop and we never found the rocket. So I've titled this one "Lost Forever". The other three rockets are for the girls.
This is my Estes Der Big Red Max that I painted in F4U Corsair "Jolly Rodgers" livery. It runs on E and F motors using a 1/4" launch rod. I had some close-to-scale decals made by Callie Graphics, and I 3D printed the canopy. I found the base canopy on the Internet and scaled it up and added the trailing piece such that it fits back into the rocket fuselage before the fin.
Above is the Estes Interceptor kit I completed by trying to simulate a *used* craft with paint techniques. I put some wear markings with graphite (pencil and powder) on there and cover coated with matt clear paint. For a first try, it's ok. I also redesigned the location of some of the fins and added a second, smaller chute.
A lineup of model rockets at the Morris school back yard on an early Saturday morning. I thought the pic on the right was cool as three of us ended up taking a picture of Gracey's launch.
The Rocket above left is a Madcow DX3 that is capable of flights over 3,000 feet (915 meters). Much larger than the stuff I had made and flown before but considered a lightweight rocket in the high power rocket category. You can see there is an electronics bay that has an altimeter (middle picture - above) and an Arduino Nano (top right above the 9v battery) to control when the ballistics operate (first gen design). This is a dual stage rocket that first separates a drogue chute -- designed to bring the rocket down very quickly, but controlled so it doesn't drift far away. The second stage opens around 300 ft AGL to bring it back nice and soft. The far right picture is of the LED segment I added around the electronics bay. The Arduino flashes them in an aircraft anti-collision sequence. It also plays a bit of the Star Trek song when you get ready to launch. Hey, why not? After the second stage goes off the Arduino sends a horrible sound through a piezo speaker to help you find it. The closest launch site/club is in South Dakota (2 hours drive) and they also have GPS units to use. I've modified the nose cone to accept this system as well. This is Level 1-2 rocket. Level 1 is the first stage where you need to be certified before you can purchase the larger motors and launch yourself. Level 2 and 3 certifications allow you to fly much larger and more powerful rockets.
Ignition
Ignition
Everything checks out OK
Flight
Flight
Spectacular Launch on 7/22-- straight and stable. Same for 7/23.
Result
Result
Well, when the mains don't deploy....
The good news is that the rocket was rebuilt and is ready for launch!
The bad news is the 2nd launch (single deploy on 7/23) failed too due to motor failure. More repairs.
Just a few others in my collection. A V2, Lexxjet, and a scratch built addition -- Galaxy Class Barker One Heavy. This was made with dog refuse bags I collected and in memory of our family pet, Tino. Conceptually modeled after the Estes Aquarius, but other than the scaled nose cone, I designed and built the rest from scratch, with some 3D printed elements. The rocket with the blue nose cone filled with stars (top of this page) is my Honest John.
This is the Talon 2, a mid-power kit from Giant Leap Rocketry that I *could* also use for level 1 flights. It is a 4 foot long fiberglass tube and fin model that uses 29mm motors, and you can fly this bird low with F50-4 motor or all the way up to a H or I motor. It is set up as a single deployment on a 30" chute, so if I go with the big motors, I might be walking a long way to pick it up on anything other than a dead calm day. I used iron-on Top Flight Monokote as the red and black trim sections to see how it holds up to flight, rather than masking and painting. It has launch rail guides so I'll need my new launch rail (pictured at left) I made, rather than the round 3/16" or 1/4" steel rods used for smaller rockets, for this one.
Snarky
This was painted in flat medium red to give it more of a drone appearance. D-F motors.
Rocketarium AMRAAM
D-F power.
Mars Lunar Lander
The "fins/legs" are not painted in this Semroc kit, but wrapped in metallic cellophane. Estes C motor powered.
The next section shows some of my more scale or semi-scale rocket kits. Going for Mercury, Gemini, Saturn, Falcon 9, SLS, and maybe others as part of a US space program series in the future.
Completed Mercury Redstone kit. Capsule and fin can from Boyce Aerospace. Also, no launch lugs. I modified a flyaway launch rail for use with this kit. I use my mid-high power launch rail (pictured above) to lift this baby into the sky. I started some more detailed paint work by introducing some distressed look to the model. Some aluminium, rust, and dark grey colors were used to simulate water runoff and metal oxidation.
Closeup of the Boyce Aerospace capsule kit I used instead of the Estes plastic. The escape tower I modified and printed myself as a single piece. I hate the way that tower is built as it never comes out right and is quite flimsy. I haven't glued the tower to the capsule yet in this picture. This was my first attempt at using the decal wetting solution and it worked out great.
Falcon 9 Heavy
Falcon 9 Heavy
This is the Boyce Aerospace "builders kit" Falcon 9 Heavy. 3D printed nose cones, fin cans, grid fins and landing legs. Weirdest bits were cutting tube to length, getting those raceway conduits on the tubes fitted properly, and the incredible amount of sanding. I didn't get this perfect as I did a lot of things out of order while waiting for parts to come in (expected motor for sizing the engine tube block, changing the painting scheme to block 5, etc). I also made some 3D printed connectors that attach the three boosters to each other (ala pneumatic actuators in the real thing) for the tubes as I didn't want to rely on the thin booster conduits to hold it together (the two little white bits between the grid fins in the pic). I think my next Space X model will be a straight up Falcon 9 scaled up significantly. Rather than using a G or H motor I might try two or three Aerotech F32s or something. That will be my second complete scratch build and should be fun.
Titan Gemini
TITAN GEMINI
TITAN GEMINI
The Titan is my third Boyce Aerospace kit as I really like the scale details they provide. The only drawback on this kit was the application of the pressure sensitive body tube wraps. They went on well enough but when I clear coated the rocket the paper had an odd mix of soaking in the paint at highly variable levels leaving the results a bit underwhelming. Those wraps should have a clear coat already applied to be of any value. Also the "United States" and American flag decals for the Gemini capsule should have been included. I also put one of the exterior raceways in the wrong position. But it still looks ok. Turns out I needed a fair amount of weight in the nose cone to balance the model out. So larger, more immediate impulse engines will rule the day. My 8' launch rail should help matters as well.
Titan Gemini Launch
(Need to wait until spring/summer 2026)
Not all rockets are designed to go up. The girls each have one of these Estes rocket cars.
Christy and her dad are getting ready to launch the car!
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