The Dud

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues...

A couple of years ago, when our local rocket club decided to help "pay it forward" or "sow the seeds" of our hobby in the new generation, we agreed to do some info table appearances at various youth events.

One of these was "Yuri's Night", which I later found out was in celebration of the first man in space, who happened to have been Russian.  Patriotism aside, I thought it was a clever way to attract attention to the event.

I also found out that while the event was annually held in the spring, different libraries and youth organizations held them on different nights.  While it may have been named after Yuri Grigorian, it wasn't always held on his birthday.  In fact, there are LOTS of different factors that influenced the date in different communities:  The availability of the venue...the weather conditions expected for stargazing... the availability of various major players (library or vendors)...and the goodwill of the community.

Over the years, "Yuri's Night" grew quite popular with the community, at least until the pandemic broke out, and then everything stopped.

But the point of this is that we made a positive effort to reach out to families and the youth of today, to show them how simple a rocket could be, and how to build one.  By the time the afternoon was over, the glue had dried enough for the kid to get a sample of a launch  with their very own rocket that they could take home.  The hope was that a few kids would catch the bug and stay with rocketry.

There was one product that Flis Kits sold that I always found extremely helpful at these public info displays. It was an oversized teaching model of a cutaway rocket motor.  Each part was labeled, so a kid could see and understand what was going on inside the motor as it burned.


As I recall, the model motor had two sections, which included the nozzle and propellant, but a separate removable piece contained the delay and ejection charge.  In this way, you could demonstrate the difference between a booster, and an ejection charge, and explain how it dislodged the parachute or streamer.


The teaching example was very clear and I used it every public visit.

But now, as I search for it on-line, I fear that Flis Kits has discontinued the product.  I don't know what to call it, but it was the best $9 kit I ever invested in, that never flew.  In short, it was designed never to launch.

Does anyone know what this display was called, and are there any more out there still in the marketplace?

This Thrifty Rocketeer wants to know...

Comments

  1. Kirk G - The Thrifty RocketeerNovember 28, 2022 at 1:41 PM

    There is a "transparent" rocket kit from Estes called the "Phantom" which is not to be flown, but used in the classroom to demonstrate how a model rocket works...complete with a cutaway motor too.

    ReplyDelete

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