The Thrifty Rocketeer

The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... This entry won't really have a lot to do with model rocketry directly... but it started with it. An area rocketry club decided that they would hold a launch this weekend.  They planned well, assigned who would set up, who would strike, what times they would be at the launch field, and they checked the weather forecast. Although a bit cold for my tastes, the skies would clear and bright sunshine might offset the March chill in the air. They would go for it. However the night before, something odd happened in the weather. There were a lot of reports of "dirty rain".  The public was commenting to media outlets that their cars were dirty after sprinkles or showers, even after they had just run them through a car wash.  They wanted to know what this tan, brown, white or dirty residue was. And, they posted on social media about what they found and some snapped pictures of their hoods and roofs to share. Almost immediately, the misinformat...

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... Several months ago, I posted a column on the end of one of the largest old-style Hardware stores in the region.  It had a huge hobby department that had been maintained for years by a senior advisor for our rocketry club.  Upon his passing, the department dwindled. It was a sad posting, and it garnered the largest audience I ever had in the history of this blog. Today, I am sad to say it is my duty to inform you of the demise of their competition ...  A modern hobby shop that caters to the RC truck enthusiast in the area.  Among the myriad RC kits, batteries, contraptions, etc. ... is a very small display of model rocket kits and parts. And hidden among the rest of the store are similar products that one might need in constructing these kits... glues, epoxy, CA, paints, paint brushes, sand paper, knives, etc. However, the owners of this more modern hobby & RC shop have decided to retire.   That means, they a...

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... Most rocketeers who have any experience with launching low power or Estes Rockets will recognize the need for maintaining a spare plastic parachute in their jump box or launch kit.  The need for a ready-to-go chute is often sudden and inescapable.  But not so many rocketeers will be aware of the need to powder their behind on a semi-regular basis. That is, one thing that we all discover is that plastic sheets, chutes, garbage bags, clingwrap and plastic shopping bags all have a behavior in common.    The plastic sheets not only like to cling to one-another, but they also tend to stick together... especially when they have been stored for awhile, or exposed to heat.  (This means, tucked in a closet during the summer, or on that shelf above the furnace in the basement over winter....   any place that a folded parachute may be stored and exposed to a little bit of heat.) To prevent this, it is a common practic...

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues.... A couple of weeks ago, I made reference to a couple of things as "a rite of passage" in the hobby, or  to put it another way, a skill or accomplishment that almost every developing rocketeer will tackle at some time or another. It seems to me that some of these are basic skills, and so most advanced or skilled rocketeers will have no interest in reviewing these because they seem so obvious.  So I know that I am addressing the newbie or young rocketeer here for today's subject. First, there are any number of ways to progress in this hobby. You need not go from A to B to C to D... it's not like there's a hierarchy of levels or permits that you have to earn or achieve.  Most rocketeers build whatever strikes their fancy and while this generally will lead from low power to higher power, let's not get too bogged down in this. The question remains, what things do almost all rocketeers do or attempt at some point in their ca...

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues.... So, it started as I was driving into work and spotted a flash of red in the median of the divided highway. I craned my neck as I went past, and recognized it as a red plastic flag laying among the green grass in the median. A new Lumber yard/hardware store has opened just recently, and I had been seeing a number of these red flags along  the highway as I drove past... apparently being blown off from an extended load out of a pick-up truck leaving from  the adjacent lumber yard.  The increase in wind and velocity had either worked it free, or ripped it off the stapple. After a week of seeing this laying in the median, I decided it was time to do something about it. I would stop. It was the hottest day of the summer, with heat index over 100 on the day I decided to stop.  So I pulled into the median  and made a quick dash for the flag. I got back in and made sure the A/C was on full as I pulled out in traffic. Yes, I ...

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... One thing that escaped me when first entering this hobby, was the need for additional plastic parachutes for your fleet of rockets.   I naively thought that since one came with each kit,   I was good to go for good... forever. Let me burst the newcomers' bubble right now... There are such things as rocket eating trees, thorn bushes, sharp objects and sun-fading weakening plastic in our world.  Never mind that we're working with hot gases to push our payload and chute out of the body tube.  The risk of damage to a thin plastic chute is almost inescapable.  Sooner or later, you're going to melt, rip or tear your plastic chute. And while some limited damage can be avoided or dealt with...you will eventually need to replace a plastic parachute. Most all rocketeers worth their salt have constructed a thin plastic chute on their own. It's almost a rite of passage for the hobby.  And it teaches you some basi...