The Thrifty Rocketeer

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... Alright, I promise I won't keep harping on this, but I have a few things to share with regards the last posting about " The End of the Line " for a hobby department when a mom and pop hardware store closed up this month. First, to my great amazement, that single posting  has been the single most-viewed entry of this entire blog.    It's more than 25 times as much as I had expected. Unbelievable! Second, I've been sharing on Facebook the countdown to the store's closing, and encouraging my rocketry friends in the area to go score some supplies before it was too late.  I guess I either struck a nerve, or I have been succeeding in my efforts.   Third, there were some vintage model airplanes that hung from the rafters for years that were priced to sell. They were gone as of yesterday.  Someone went after them. Good for them! A good friend of mine who has been a vendor at area launches for years drove to see the store today

 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

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... As I close in on the 200th entry for this continuing blog, I have to admit that I am especially pleased with the release that it gives me.  And I want to thank all of you who regularly at least click on the link to skim the blog and see if this week's topic appeals to you.  Thank you. However, there's at least one person who got on my nerve this week, and I'll bet you can guess who that is. I decided to try something new this week, and borrowed a page from another continuing blog on how they promote their show.  It seems to work well for them, and several have adopted it.  It involves pre-selling or teasing the coming release of a new episode. Now, the producer knows what the content is, and so, fashions a simple graphic that is representative of the topic or sure to draw someone in.  It should be fair and above board, not frustrating or deceptive. The graphic gets posted around on various similar or supportive pages on Facebook or e