The Thrifty Rocketeer

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... A recent inquiry on Facebook about papering fins has triggered a memory of my learning about  balsa wood sealing.     I learned the hard way about sealing your balsa nose cone before painting.  My first red nosecone looked SO good, I was proud of it until I launched the second time. The shock cord snapping the nosecone back against the top of the body tube (I presume) caused what is known as an "Estes Smile"... a curved indentation into the wood that mars the appearance.     Some wood filler and another coat of paint and I was good to go again.... and AGAIN it happened.  That's when I learned...  I've done papering of larger fins once... using typewriter paper and a heavy slurry of wood glue and water. It worked well, but seemed to be more work than I wanted to go into.   Instead, from my very first rockets some ten years ago, I read about mixing a slurry of Elmer's wood glue (yello...

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues...   It's been a long while since we've done a build thread.... or posted anything in this blog, for that matter. A recent photo on Facebook showed a short, small rocket with what appears to be washers on the lower tips of each fin.   A closer inspection reveals that it's a "Lil' Hercules" reproduction rocket by Semroc. Now, Semroc has been acquired some years ago by eRockets.biz who have reissued many of the classic kits.  This is part of a reissued repro rocket line.  As some parts and motors have been discontinued, there have been some slight alterations in the kit, but they were made available to the buying public. After a number of years, all that appear to remain are a few sheets of laser cut fins, a file of the reissued instructions, and a parts list.  Fortunately, all the parts listed (all 12 of them) are still available.  Note that the washers are for weight purposes, as the length of the motor has ch...

  It's pretty well known that the NAR Safety Code does not permit metal parts composing a model rocket. However, there are a few notable exceptions. First, is the metal spring clip.  This is almost essential for most rockets, and it tends to be something that is permitted, or overlooked. Second, is the screw-eye.  In the days of balsa wood nosecones, this was essential to securing the shock cord and/or parachute to the nosecone. Third, is the fishing lure swivel, which is very commonly added at the gathering point of the shroud lines of a chute to prevent tangling. Though this device can be quite heavy and strong in higher power levels, they are relatively minor for low power.  The only drawback that I have heard, is that most cheap versions contain a sharp point on the clasp, which can poke or rip a plastic chute. So, with this background of metal parts in mind, I was a bit surprised to see an old-school plan for a model rocket that specifically calls for a metal st...