The Thrifty Rocketeer

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... I know that the topic of glue will produce eye rolls, as it has been discussed to death. But this tale is different. My father passed about 27 years ago, and he was a wood worker.  As a result, his carpentry skills were sharp, and nothing he built ever collapsed nor was substandard.  I have many things to thank him for as a result. But about five years ago, when I returned for my 40th high school reunion, I stayed in my mother's house and was very surprised to find a bottle of wood glue on the shelf above the basement steps tucked among cans of Sprite and mosquito spray. It was Titebond II, and about 8 fl oz as I recall. Now, I had never used Titebond before, preferring Elmer's Wood Glue because of my childhood experience with Elmer's White Glue in school settings. So, I was a bit surprised to see the bottle on the shelf, where I figured it must have sat for at least 20 years.  I asked my mother about it and she shrugged, saying she

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... Have I told you the one about the night launch before? Well, set back as I tell you a memory of about a year ago or so. An area club decided it was high time that they were going to hold a "night launch" and publicized it well.  This was going to be an afternoon club launch, open to the public, and extend into the evening, after dark. They did their homework well, and scheduled this to be on the Saturday when a full moon was to rise in the East.  And it did.  Big, bright, clear, spectacular. The skies were blue and clear and a steady breeze was blowing. In addition, they added a couple of contest categories for the night launch portion.  Every rocket HAD to be illuminated, whether by electric LEDs, or a glow stick, or some form of positive illumination for the eye to track it and to help in the recovery.  That makes sense! The launch field was very large, and had the stubble of corn harvested earlier in the month.  This was helpful in

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... I've decided to go old school for this entry. That being said, I should explain a bit.  I was flipping through entries on Facebook, and a nifty Red Baron glider caught my eye.  Someone suggested that the plans were available for:"Jenny" from "JimZ" . A little detective work resulted in my finding his website, that contains early Estes rockets, plans, ads and images.  "Jim Z" shared with me the link to the "Flying Jenny" boost glider.  Flying Jenny (spacemodeling.org) It's a simple layout of parts and plans on only two sheets.  It's numbered "Rocket Plans #21." The list of parts include BNC-20A balsa nose cone, BT-20J body tube, BFS-30 balsa sheet, LL-1A Launch Lug, and  launch weight NCW-1. A bit more detective work tells me that the nosecone (though pricey, cause it's balsa) IS still available.  It's a short Ogive.  The body tube is a common enough size (BT-20) that holds low

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... There comes a time when every Rocketeer has to give in and do some crack filling. It may be filling spiral grooves on a craft paper body tube, or maybe it's smoothing out a seam on a blown plastic nose cone... but eventually, we all give in. The big question appears to be, what product to use to fill the cracks, seam, chip, or wood grain. There seems to be three schools of thought on this:  Wood sealer of some sort is used to seal the pores on balsa wood and not show the grain  Wood Filler putty or plastic wood is used to replace chunks of wood that are missing.  Bondo putty is the choice of many, as it is made for shaping and filing gaps, and is an automotive product. Perfect plastic putty or Tamila Model Crack filler are used for small seams or on PLASTIC models to smooth out the finish in preparation for painting. Now, I have used all of these products at various times, and have made some discoveries which I will share with you now. Wood