The $5 Rocket challenge

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues...

Have you'all heard about a new video challenge that's sweeping the hobby?  It seems like a natural for the Thrifty Rocketeer to jump on.  But let's talk about this a little.

The video was shared on Facebook but is posted on YouTube as the 5-Dollar Rocket Challenge.



The basic idea is that you and your friends each put up five dollars and make a run to the nearest dollar store.    You're building a rocket from scratch, using only the cheap supplies that you can find at the Dollar Store. You each can buy anything you like, but the total must be under five dollars.

Now, there are no restrictions on how many fins, launch lugs, recovery system or tubes are involved.



A pre-package of Estes Motors (C's or D's) is provided along with a working rocket pad and launch controller. Various glues are provided, but the catch is you must build and complete within one hour.

In a sense, this is a party game among equally matched rocket friends... and though the rockets should be safe, the intent is to have them fly...and so, there may be a few NAR Safety rules that are stretched.

In the video I have seen, one built a traditional rocket with four fins and a nosecone.  One did a short, squat fat boy with over-sized fins and bubble nosecone.  And one enterprising soul used two plastic rulers to make a pop-out copter recovery.

Needless to say, none of the three had a perfect flight, and one was basically unstable, while two others had difficulties with their recovery systems.

But the creativity and novel approaches were impressive.  They even attempted to sim their rockets via Open Rocket.... (something that I've never done)... determining that their CG and CP were appropriately spaced.

Now, this challenge has sparked a fair amount of discussion among the rocketeer community... from outright condemnation on one end, to praise for creative thinking on the other.  But a number of people have pointed out the Safety Code violations inherent, and criticized it for giving Rocketry a bad image.

Really?  Like Rocketry hasn't ALWAYS had a bad PR image from the first failed Redstone rockets that exploded on the pad?

I'd like to think that I'm somewhere in the middle, and look at the positive side of the challenge.  It exposes the hobby, shows that you CAN get into it for cheap, and points out some of the concerns and risks involved.  And the use of Estes motors indicates that these guys knew what they were doing. They knew about Open Rocket and CG/CP and what they needed to accomplish.

So I don't really see a down side to this challenge.  

In fact, a number of guys in my high power rocket club are interested in trying their hand at this challenge.  Except for the fact that we may not be able to all get together to watch the hour-long build session (minus any glue drying),  this sounds like a nice bonding activity (no pun intended).

What are your thoughts on this challenge?  Fun or foolish?  Leave your comment below.

https://youtu.be/voHQ0a1q_JE


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The End of the Line

Image
 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... Well, for years, the state of the model rocket industry relied upon plans and patterns that were photocopied or printed out, and then applied to standard sheets of balsa to be cut out. Eventually, the various parts for various sized rockets were packaged in groups or blister packs, and sold at hobby shops across the nation.  The emphasis was on home brew or building a rocket to specifications and plans. Eventually, entire kits were pre-packaged, with all the parts that one would need.  And then, laser cut shapes, fins or parts were already pre-cut, doing away with the need for most of the patterns and tracing. So what happened to all those bags and bister packs of parts of rockets?  That is, a baggie of various nose cones... or connectors... or transitions or more ?   Many of  those packages remain at your local mom and pop hobby store, just waiting for someone to come in and buy some of their pegboard stock.  And the number and frequency of the
Read more

sleeping with the enemy

Image
 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... First thing I did when they put in a Hobby Lobby in my smaller metropolitan town, 40 miles away, was to grab an application to work there.  Now I know what you're thinking... "How could you?  Who would want to work for that conservative corporation?".. as my daughter would say.  And you'd be partially right. I saved the application and took note of the mailing address. Within the first month or so, most of the initial buying frenzy was over, having sold out of some things, but not everything.   But it seemed nothing new was getting restocked. So, I got on my word processor and wrote a letter to the store management, THANKING them for bringing the store to our isolated metro area. I pointed out that many of the items had sold through completely, and how much we had appreciated their stocking rockets. Then I also encouraged them to restock and consider expanding the display, pointing to the fact that as rocketeers grow older, the
Read more

Death of a Hobby

Image
 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
Read more