The Thrifty Rocketeer

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues.... I want to share with you something that has just been shared with me. While I had asked others to share what sorts of things they collect to aid in the construction of their rocket, or tools or disposables that can serve another purpose, this came up. One of the respondents said that while working at a pizza shop, they had always saved Velvetta Cheeze boxes when empty and utilized them as impromptu drink carriers.  (What a pizza shop did with that much Velvetta cheese is a bit beyond me, but heck, as kids, we use to hack off a chunk and gnaw on it for a snack, so it can't be all that bad, now can it?) The pizza shop guy talked about how they utilized a thick rubber band around the middle of the bottom half of the box (the unprinted brown corrugated cardboard "tray") to give it some rigidity and then placed drink cups in either end.  I presume he meant that they were filled cups, and that this was an early predecessor to the molded

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... Now, we've talked about this before... How some of us save tongue depressors, or other small wooden implements to add to our rockets or aide in their creation as applicators or otherwise. Recently, I posed the question on a number of Facebook pages and asked if other saved these items in the hopes of reusing them.  I was genuinely surprised not only at the number who said "Me too", but at some of the additional items and things that they save (or scrounged)! First, it seems that fudgecicles are a very common source for wooden stir sticks.  Some said they save them for reinforcing struts and supports for a fin repair.   I have used the same stick for mixing epoxy multiple times before finally tossing it and the paper favor cup that I used to mix in/on. One person posted that they appreciate being left alone in the doctor's exam room, as they help themselves to tongue depressors, Q-tips, swab sticks, and more, including nitrate g

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... Whether you're launching low power or high power rockets, virtually every rocket relies on centering rings to hold the motor tube or casing in place.  Whether they are made of wood, plastic, fiberglass or card-stock, the purpose is to hold and transfer that thrust from the motor to the body tube and to keep the force centralized for a smooth and steady flight. In the case of low power rockets, the centering rings always adapt between the size of the motor and whatever body tube your rocket may feature.  As a result, there are certain custom sizes of centering rings that are available from virtually every parts supplier. (If you're up-sizing a rocket, and are trying to fit a larger motor into an up-sized body tube, you probably will be looking at a customized wooden centering ring made from plywood.) But virtually every rocketeer has looked at a toilet paper tube or a paper towel cardboard tube and thought, "Gee, that might make a ne

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues.... It's no secret that I have a Hobby Lobby in the town that I work in, much, much closer than any hobby shop or other rocket part supplier. So it should come as no surprise that I occasionally will swing by and see if anything new is on the wall hangers, or to pick up a couple packs of motors. But recently, I've noticed a disturbing trend. The last couple of times that I have shopped the rocket aisle at Hobby  Lobby, I have found a package of motors hanging on the pegboard, with the blister pack open. No, we're not talking about a hole THROUGH the blister pack...we're talking about the plastic of the blister-pack  no longer attached to the cardboard. You get what I'm getting at here?  Someone has slipped a fingernail or a knife-blade under the plastic and pried the package open.  But for what? There is nothing missing from the package of motors.  All the motors themselves are still there, and the package appears full.  And the

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... I had always been intrigued by the Der Red Max rocket.  It had a combination of modern day, a taste of history, and a forbidden German flavor as well. But then one day, there was a listing on eBay for a COMPLETED Der Red Max... but it had been modified to accept a 24 mm motor. I looked at the add carefully, and couldn't see any downside.  I eventually pulled the trigger on it, and the seller very reliably shipped it to me for $25 total.  I was pleased. When I unpacked the rocket, the finish was beautifully red, and the fin fillets were the finest I had ever seen.  I couldn't have done anything near as professional and good looking.  So I resolved that I didn't want to launch it just anytime, but when conditions were favorable, and I could take my time. My opportunity came a couple of weeks later, when the club held a launch late in the season.  I also recall that our launch field suffered from unequal mowing.  The RC Club had a neatl

The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... We had the first big snowfall of the season just yesterday.  That's nothing new, but it comes on the heels of something from earlier in the week that make me think.    I bought an Estes kit, the Generic E2X, which is a basic white single body tube rocket with a white plastic fin can and white blown plastic nosecone.  In fact, when you complete the entire thing, it is solid white, without a spec of color on the raw rocket. (Note: this is before stickers or decals are added for spice and flash.) The only amount of color is the orange and white estes plastic chute which is tucked inside until after launch.  It's a good thing that it has some color to it too. Someone on-line was just talking about how they perform winter launches, and how they launched on a field of undisturbed white snow.  They couldn't find their rocket to recover, as the very next day, another layer of snow had fallen.  However, there was an anomalous bump in the even