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Showing posts from June, 2022

Lofting an Egg

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 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... It's been a while since I've been involved in a rocket activity...just busy with life and long hours at work. But this weekend, another club in our state announced they were having a Saturday morning rocket build and launch session.  I didn't recognize the name of the rocket, so I inquired, and was told a great deal about it. The Green Eggs is a current Estes model that has a green tinted plastic payload, just right for housing an egg, or an electronics bay, or a battery and lights for that night launch you've always dreamed about. The kit comes singularly or in a bulk pack.  This club had a bulk pack and was holding the build for area kids to get into rocketry. So, I piled in the car and drove the two hours while the temps were down, to go visit.  Unfortunately, when I got to the library, the room was empty, except for several smaller rockets, one completed Green Eggs, and an unopened bulk kit bag of one rocket.  I looked about

The BlueJay Glider postscript

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 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... You may recall that recently, I posted a build thread for the BlueJay glider from Semroc.  I made a big deal over the attachment of the streamer, which was one of the final steps. However, I went with the crepe paper streamer as it was included in the kit as part of the original equipment. I launched the glider once after tuning it carefully.  The maiden flight was on a B6-4, and it went well.  I did note however, a slight rip in the side of the streamer, but re-rolled the streamer and packed it away, promptly forgetting about it. I also shot the glider with a few quick bursts of robin egg blue paint that I had left in a rattle can.  I didn't want to add too much weight to the craft and it looks a little wonky with just the cockpit and front half of the glider spray painted blue.  I also wanted to preserve the laser imprint of Semroc on the rear fins. While storing the thing, I accidentally snagged it with my shoulder as I went by it on my