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Epic II not so epic

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog pauses for a rocket review... OK, I gotta admit that I wasn't very impressed from the start...but I bought the kit off the rack at Hobby Lobby anyway. Someone else had posted pics of their flight on Facebook and I thought it looked interesting as an "Advanced" rocket kit. So I sought it out. First, at $14.99 I thought it was a little pricy. Gone are the days of the HL discount. You got to catch them on clearance if you want any sort of a price break. Mine was full price. I was a bit surprised to discover the Epic II was only an 18 mm rocket, and a two stage at that, but I bought it. Right from the unbagging, I was concerned. The sheet of balsa fins was thin... easily the thinnest that I have ever seen . I tried to get the laser cut fins out with an Exacto knife helping me, and I STILL snapped the flashing around the fins. Not the FINS, mind you, but just the flashing. This warned me that I was going to have to be extremely careful
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Handi Sandi Glue

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... It's something that I fell into quite by accident, but thought that I would share with you. I was packing up a load of low power rockets that I had completed and flown to be shown at a public exhibit.  Our club was preparing to sell entry level kits for cost at an airshow.  I wanted to include both a square of sand paper and a bottle of wood glue to show prospective parental supervision what additional tools might be needed to assemble the simple "MyBoid" rocket. At the It same time, I saw someone post on Facebook their successful build and launch of an Epic II rocket kit. I knew that my local HL had two on the pegboard, and so, since it was a middle skill level kit, I thought I'd buy one and whip it together quickly. I got the kit, and opened it while on my lunch break. I also had in my possession, a roll of adhesive 220 grit sandpaper. The intent was for it to be adhered to the flat short plane that I had scored earlier...the
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The Value of Scrap Balsa

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues.... Have I ever told you that you should save your scrap balsa ?  You know, the extra flashing that's left over these days when a laser cut fin or rudder or other part is cut for you? Yeah, sure I have. So much that you're sick of hearing me say it.  But today, I'm going to tell you a story of WHY you should do that. Did you know that back in the day, Estes Rockets and other companies used to send you a sheet of balsa on which you laid out your pattern for your rocket fins... struts...stabilizers...rudders...braces... everything!  This is back in the day before the internet... before laser cutters... before blown plastic nose cones... before so many of the modern conveniences that we take for granted. You used to have to lay out your traced patterns (nobody had access to scanners and photocopiers)  on the sheet of balsa with the grain oriented the right way, so that the piece had an internal strength to it, and wouldn't fracture or
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Burning Bans and Wildfires

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 The Thrift Rocketeer blog continues.... It didn't occur to me until after I had done it. I wanted so badly to launch a low power rocket or two, that I gathered up my stuff on a Sunday and headed for our club launch site. To be fair, I shouldn't have tried to fly on such a windy day, but I did pay close attention to the wind direction and speed in the weather forecast prior to the weekend.  It turns out that the winds were 8 mph out of the NW with gusts to 13.  And I thought if the wind slowed, I could get one up in the air on an A8-3. Turns out I was only half right, as the winds were slowly picking up, and it turns out the anemometer is not placed in the optimal position for monitoring the winds.  Just a convenient spot near a one story building.  This means the winds may be dammed up against that building, or lift over it, affecting the accuracy of the reports. I did get my lone rocket into the air on an A8-3, but I wasn't very satisfied with the flight. It didn't se
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Launch Pad Leads

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 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... It wasn't all that long ago that I posted about alligator clips and launch pad leads.  But I'm going to do it again. Cause something minor has come up. Before we start our spring launch season each year, we inspect our equipment and make repairs, improvement, corrections... to our gear.  This may mean new launch rods, or a new extension cord, or maybe clean and re-solder the alligator clips. Now, it wasn't all that long ago that I was under the impression that there was only one size of alligator clip.  I was wrong.  There is a micro-size that I understand goes by the name "test clips" and is typically the size that you find attached to the end of the Estes-style launch controller leads.  Sometimes these clips have flattened ends, like a duck bill, to press flat against each other.   Sometimes the clips have small teeth to bite onto the ignitor wires. More frequently, the next larger size is a more traditional alligator cli
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Florida Wildfire

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 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... It popped up on my newsfeed without much warning... an orange fireball picture of a raging wildfire along with the headline, "Out of Control wildfire due to Rocket Enthusiasts burns Housing Development". My heart sank in my chest as I realized what I was looking at. Then, after examining the spectacular shots, I took a closer look at the headline and posting. I had slightly misread it. A Fire Department had determined that a wildfire that consumed an area known as "The Compound" had been caused by rocket enthusiasts testing a motor.  There was no indication if this was current, local or an older article. I looked more closely at the photos.  There was no indication that they were actually photos of the fire, OR if they were stock pictures of fireballs and wildfires.  In short, there was no claim that the fire, whenever it had happened, was depicted here.  But the attention getting photos had done their job...they grabbed my a
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Death of a Hobby

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 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... No, this is not a column about how Model Rocketry is a dying hobby.  It's actually about another sister hobby that sometimes overlaps into Rocketry. I'm talking about Amateur Radio. Just this last weekend, our local Ham Radio club held a "swap meet" which is commonly called a Hamfest.  These gatherings to buy and sell used equipment, parts and visit old friends typically happen just once a year and in the absence of the late Radio Shack, is one of the only places to find parts and electronic elements. There is also testing held to advance to higher licenses. The admission varies depending on the club, their overhead, expense of renting the hall or venue, and the number of tables that they can sell to area vendors who will drive across state with their wares to set up for the half day show. It's not uncommon for amateur radio operators to drive across state to attend, pay admission and get a single entry into the door prize
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