Aging Rockets Pt. 1

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues...

In almost every hobby, there is a turn-over in participants.  Some move away, some age out, some get married, some just loose interest.

But the result is a constant supply of new blood.  New bodies to replace old ones.  And if the hobby is to survive, this is a requirement.  Hopefully, our hobby will continue to see new participants find their way here and thrive.

It has been my experience that there is also an almost constant flow of used, older equipment that goes in the opposite direction.  That is, older hobbyists will donate or attempt to sell their older gear to younger fellas.

In the case of rocketry, I have found a semi regular donation of older rockets, launchers, launch rods, motors or devices to be the case.  In some instances, as a rocketeer is moving up from low power to medium or high power, the lower power materials simply don't interest them any more.  Maybe the wife has told him to clean up the back room, or maybe he needs more space for his new computer printer.  Whatever the reason, the rocketeer has identified some low power gear that he no longer wants.

In the case of Amateur Radio, there are semi-regular swap meets called Hamfests where vendors and operators will rent tables or tailgate in the parking lot, trying to get a few bucks out of older gear. You can find some real bargains.

But there is no such animal in model rocketry.  Oh, I know that placing a free ad on Facebook Marketplace has become common, but it's not quite the same.

And so, when a bright young rocketeer enters a club or the hobby, the older rocketeer will start thinking about donating their unwanted rocket to the new kid on the block.

Initially, this is surprising to the new kid, who looks at any donation as a boon.  The gifting of an older rocket is a welcome surprise, as he has not many and wants to see what he's been given.

In some cases, the rocket has been in storage, and a fin has broken off, due to an accident, or lost on the last flight, or glue failure.  Maybe the shock cord has aged, or the paint has chipped off a balsa fin or nosecone.  In almost every case, this speaks of loving attention to a piece of the hobby and can lead to some valuable lessons in maintenance and storage of rockets.

I know I was gifted four low power rockets during my first year, and while I can't cite all their names, I know a few were the Black Brant, the Big Bertha, and two more.  I inspected them all, and determined the Big Bertha shock cord, a piece of sewing elastic, had stretched out and needed to be replaced.  But I didn't. I put it aside and figured I'd get to it eventually.  That was a mistake.

A year or two later, not recognizing the Big Bertha in my growing pile of completed rockets, I took it out to the launch day and loaded it up. I had already repacked the chute two years earlier and added some dog barf "so it would be ready".  But I overlooked the deteriorated condition of the  shock cord.

It snapped.  The elastic had lost its stretch, and frayed.  The nosecone came down separate under chute, but the body tube basically did a core sample.  I kicked myself for not remembering, and "wasting" the rocket.

 But, I was able to recover the body tube, examine the crumple and determine that only a half inch or so of the body tube needed to be sliced off.  And so I set to work with my Exacto knife and savaged the rocket.  Plus, I replaced the shock cord with a rubber band that I had bought in the trash bag aisle of the local Kroger store. (Perhaps a little pricey for two shock cords, but it was the same material as Estes includes in their kits, and it was immediately available....no shipping...no waiting.)

The point of this piece is to tell you that a great source for low power rockets is your former and aging rocketeers, who will frequently let you have a bargain.

And for this Thrifty Rocketeer, you can't beat that price...but have to be prepared with a little wood glue or CA, to make a few repairs.

Next entry: Why Oscie says "you can't go halfsies" in Summer of '42...

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