Model Rockets

[78Eliminator]

Anybody do model rockets when they were kids? I practically had an assembly line in my bedroom when I was a lad. I also remember having to get my mom to go with me to the store to buy the spray paint and model glue....I honestly had no idea why I needed a parent to buy that stuff, yet they would sell me the rockets that would easily blow my fingers off.
Do they still make them? I thought it was a pretty cool hobby for a kid, and I learned a lot doing them at 8 years old.

[shockwavebd]

We have a garage full of them but no place left in oc to fly them..We used to go to mile square but I think they built a 2nd golf course on the old site

[78Eliminator]

We have a garage full of them but no place left in oc to fly them..We used to go to mile square but I think they built a 2nd golf course on the old site
I used to drive out and do them in borrego.

[maxwedge]

Oh yeah! Almost took my cousins head off one time with an estes engine that I neglected to attach to a rocket:D For some reason you can still buy them no problem at various model shops, which I only know because a friend of mine was thinking of getting his kids into them a while back. Don't know how many of those things I lost in trees as a kid. It's a small wonder we never started any major fires.:D

[wsuwrhr]

Estes Model rockets (http://www.estesrockets.com/)
Except for the rockets I lost or were DOA upon arrival to the ground. I have all the rockets I had as a kid still. My neighbor and I used to launch them at our school on the weekends.
Awesome fun.
Brian

[Riomouse911]

I used to have a few Estes kits.. I recall launching an "Astro-mouse" on a journey in an Icarus rocket in 7th grade. The goal was a trip to the moon, but it crashed into a tree and a State funeral followed...
The wife and I were out Rhino driving around on a dry lake bed between Lucerne Valley and Apple Valley a few months back, and a rocket club was having a big gathering out there. A few of the rockets we saw had trailer-sized launch pads and they were over 7 feet tall. THOSE were cool!

[HocusPocus]

i still have a bunch of engines and rockets in my garage.. we use to launch them at el mirage.

[78Eliminator]

easiest rockets to build were the alpha and the mosquito. i took on a couple dual stages and some tricky ones too. some of them i never flew because i knew that if i didn't catch them, the wings/stabalizers would be destroyed at impact. you learn real quick the right way to pack the chute! lol

[HM]

My kids cubscout pack had a model rocket day about a month ago. We did on March Air Force base....was really cool as there was about 40 rockets. Even the little ones really move, but they got rid of chutes and now use streamers....works much better at not losing them due to wind.

[YeLLowBoaT]

i remember doing that when I was a kid... I don't know which I had more fun with... letting them fly or building them. I've always loved working with my hands.

[RiverToysJas]

I do them with my son. I never had them when I was young, but we're enjoying them now. We have launched with an A motor at the local school (once or twice with a B & C). Not sure what the laws are, but we haven't had a problem yet. Other than having to climb a fence to get it back once....
We bring them to Fort Mohave when we want to fire the bigger motors. ;)
RTJas :D

[robk]

Heh... I remember back in my wilder days modifying a "Big Bertha" rocket to accept one of the "F" or "G" series motors... the ones in the plastic housings... We hit the button and for a second it just stood there and smoldered.... and then took off so fast that we lost sight of it in under 2 seconds. And we're talking about a 4'+ rocket that's 3" in diameter painted bright red.
We were laughing so hard we could barely move.... Believe it or not, we actually found the rocket, about 1/2 mile away :)

[wsuwrhr]

After spending plenty of time in the desert lately riding our Banshee's, I cannot believe I didn't think of it earlier.
The next time we head out, I will break out some of the best ones and take them for a launch or two. I had so much fun with those things.
Thanks 78.
Brian

[maxwedge]

Heh... I remember back in my wilder days modifying a "Big Bertha" rocket to accept one of the "F" or "G" series motors... the ones in the plastic housings... We hit the button and for a second it just stood there and smoldered.... and then took off so fast that we lost sight of it in under 2 seconds. And we're talking about a 4'+ rocket that's 3" in diameter painted bright red.
We were laughing so hard we could barely move.... Believe it or not, we actually found the rocket, about 1/2 mile away :)
Now this sounds more like us. It's this kind of stuff we did that makes me wonder how any of you guys still have a garage full of rockets from when you were a kid. Maybe it helps to live in the desert away from all the trees.:D

[YeLLowBoaT]

Heh... I remember back in my wilder days modifying a "Big Bertha" rocket to accept one of the "F" or "G" series motors... the ones in the plastic housings... We hit the button and for a second it just stood there and smoldered.... and then took off so fast that we lost sight of it in under 2 seconds. And we're talking about a 4'+ rocket that's 3" in diameter painted bright red.
We were laughing so hard we could barely move.... Believe it or not, we actually found the rocket, about 1/2 mile away :)
lol when we use to run out of motors we use t ocut the stims off bottle rockets and shove/tape on dozens of them to the rocket.

[Rocknpalms]

My kids are 7 and 10 we shoot them off about every other weekend out by Aha Quin. We usally get a bunch of other kids to help launch, push the button and chase. We get a long line of "can I push the button next?"
Any rockets and engines that HB peps want to dontate to the cause I will pay the shipping.

[SHAKEN Not Stirred]

Take a look at this....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqhvKsFGTtk
My son and I were invited out to the desert area just East of Victorville a couple months ago to watch an organized model rocket launch.....
There was a bunch of young kids with the small model rockets, but there was also a bunch of these !!!!
Man....It was too cool.....
I also use to launch the small model rockets in elementary school, but these Level III rockets are insane and get up to something like 10K feet.....
Later,
CJG
:D

[C-2]

Great thread.
We loved building rockets. About the only manufactured parts we bought were the engines, igniters and if we wanted something really fancy, a slick plastic nose cone.
Otherwise, it was lotsa balsa wood, paper towel carboard, fiberglass insulation, styrene streamers and lots of creative skill. Xmas time was really nice - after moms was done with the Xmas wrap; then we could build really big rockets (or lots of smaller ones).
I took my nephew down to the hobby store to buy a "kit". WTF, their idea of a kit now days is putting stickers on an assembled rocket. Weak.
And don't get me started on our hillbilly slot cars....

[Kachina26]

Take a look at this....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqhvKsFGTtk
My son and I were invited out to the desert area just East of Victorville a couple months ago to watch an organized model rocket launch.....
There was a bunch of young kids with the small model rockets, but there was also a bunch of these !!!!
Man....It was too cool.....
I also use to launch the small model rockets in elementary school, but these Level III rockets are insane and get up to something like 10K feet.....
Later,
CJG
:D
I did them as a kid, both kits and customs. My son took rocketry as part of his JR high science class. He was required to attend the event out there at rabbit dry lake bed, what a kick in the pants that was!!!!

[RealityBoatCo]

Heh... I remember back in my wilder days modifying a "Big Bertha" rocket to accept one of the "F" or "G" series motors... the ones in the plastic housings... We hit the button and for a second it just stood there and smoldered.... and then took off so fast that we lost sight of it in under 2 seconds. And we're talking about a 4'+ rocket that's 3" in diameter painted bright red.
We were laughing so hard we could barely move.... Believe it or not, we actually found the rocket, about 1/2 mile away :)Big Bertha was a classic. I lost the stock nose cone and replaced it with the pointed end of a plastic Easter egg, then when that one was lost, I used the rounded end. I flew that rocket until it burned in half.

[SmokinLowriderSS]

I built a dozen or so over the years, most are still in parent's basement. We lived in a rural housing development and I launched plenty from our driveway.