The Re-rebirth of the Star Trek Starter Rocket Upscale!

Well, a couple of months ago I shared how I finally got my level one certification...but not until I had once again slammed my poor STSR into the ground. Upon reflection, I have decided that an H is just not enough motor for her. She is built strong and heavy: like bull. Therefore a gust of wind hitting her rather large trapazoid fins tilted her over and proved that popping the chute five feet above the ground was no bueno.

 But the "Up" part looked so good...until...

At first, in my anger, I considered scrapping her. But when I really looked at the damage later, that irritating voice popped into my head and said, "It's really not too bad." That voice really gets on my nerves.

Here is the damage:

Three fins popped off. No real damage to the fins or the airframe. Even the vinyl is ok. Fourth fin is nice and tight.

Upper four and a half inches of quantum tube crunched. The main issue here is the wrap being buggered up. 

Nose cone...just look away.

 So, having weighed my options, I emailed Mark from Stickershock and asked if he could just print the forward five inches of the wrap. He said it was no problem! I then ordered a new nose cone from PML. I have enough extra quantum tubing, so I am in business!

The parts for the rebuild (or re-rebuild) Note that Mark sent me a couple of extra wrap pieces. This is either in case I mess up putting it on, or if I crash it a fourth time... Either way, he's looking out for me!

So, now I just need to start rebuilding! A couple of notes: since there will be a coupler in the nose now, I won't be able to use my ejection piston. No biggie. I have other rockets I can use it on. Also, since an H motor underpowers this beast, I may just have to go with a J motor...Level 2 anyone?

Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!

Rockets At the Museum

On July 29, 1958, President Eisenhower signed an act that created NASA. The agency is, therefore, 60 years old this year. That is kind of a big deal.

In May, DARS outreach officer, George Sprague, put out an all-call to see is anyone could help the Eisenhower Birthplace Museum in Denison, Texas, with an exhibit. Since Denison happens to be my home town, I jumped on it.

George put me in touch with John Akers, who is the site manager there. After several emails back and forth, I packed up some scale models and headed north.

I actually brought more stuff than John needed. His display space is pretty small, and he has a limited amount of case size. He finally decided on a Nike Smoke, an Aerobee 350, a D-Region Tomahawk, and an IQSY Tomahawk, and an Aerobee-Hi. Here are the displays:

An overall shot of the room. The exhibit focused on Eisenhower's love of the idea of peaceful exploration of space. Hence, the rockets were all non-military research vehicles.

A closer view of the models with another information board in the background.

Still closer! Out of these models, four had been entered in Scale competitions between 1984 and 2010. The Nike Smoke just looked nice.

Unfortunately you can't read the info card, but it gave information on each of the five models, plus the fact that DARS had loaned then (along with my name).

The exhibit finally closed early this month and I was able to collect all the models. John was a great guy to work with and was very appreciative about our help. If you have a chance, I would suggest checking out the humble birthplace of the man who gave us NASA!

Until next time, fly 'em fast and loud!

The Estes Maxi Honest John...A Long Awaited Conclusion!

I now have the pleasure to write a post that was literally decades in the making...the conclusion of the rebuilding of my Honest John! When we last left off, I had created and installed the motor band (a task that took far longer than it should have). Now we move on to painting and decals!

I painted the whole model flat olive green. It took about four coats, since I was laying them on pretty lightly. I didn't want runs in the cooler than normal painting temeratures. Here is an "in process" picture...

About two coats in. Things are still a little uneven...

 Then I began to apply my vinyl decals by Mark at Stickershock. I've gotten pretty comfortable with working with these, and actually prefer them to water slide decals.

What better to smooth down the decals than an old NAR card?

 

The backing can be cut so that you can use it as a template so lining everything up is super easy!

The extra Stickershock Calvin sticker was used elsewhere! 

And before I knew it, she was finished! Here are a few final shots!

She turned out pretty nice, I think.

Another view...

...and yet another view!

So there you have it! After about 25 years, my Estes Maxi Honest John lives again! (Granted, she now has plywood fins). Now, to just get up the nerve to launch her!

Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!

Level One- Success! ...and Failure...

As some of you may recall, last October I attempted to get my level one with my home-brew Star Trek Starter Kit upscale rocket. Actually, I tried twice...and crashed twice. The first I write off to weird igniter placement that resulted in a sputtering underpowered flight that made the ground come up way too fast. In the second attempt that day, I broke the "don't trust the delay on an old motor" rule and also broke the rocket into many pieces. I took those pieces home and immediately began to rebuild.

Flash forward a year....

When I got to the Gunter Tx field, the winds were high. So high that I had to get help closing the gate. The turnout at the launch was good, however, so I wasn't the only crazy person. The back of my car held five models; my stock Estes Photon Disruptor, my Goblin upscale, my Alpha III upscale, my Sirius Eradicator, and....my Star Trek upscale.

The first thing I did was to fly the Photon...just to test the air. She took a crazy turn off the rod and landed somewhere at the end of the car row. At first I couldn't find her, even though I knew she landed close, but with a little help from Dan Smith we found her on the other side of a huge puddle. The puddle had some kind of tank in the middle which blocked our view. It was the only thing within 100 yards that could have blocked our view. The Gunter field had thrown down the gauntlet.

I then located John Dyer (he wasn't lost in the field behind anything, I just hadn't seen him yet) and I started prepping the Star Trek. John has been a friend for more decades than either of us want to admit, and I really wanted him to sign off on that pesky level one thingy. He, being a nice guy and all, agreed to do so... However, no good deed goes unpunished and our adventures this day would seriously impact his ability to fly pretty much any of his own models (sorry, John! But thanks again!)

We soon had the Star Trek ready. She held an Aerotech H100 DMS motor and a lot of hope and prayers. As we placed her on the rail, the wind began to pick up....ominously.....

Sam Barone began the countdown. Interestingly enough, that wind that I was talking about increased with each count and when the motor sputtered to life it was somewhere between hurricane and end of the world levels (full disclosure, we were within NAR wind limits, but my perception might have been impacted by my terror). The rocket rose into the air majestically...like this...

Then the horror began...the wind decided to press against those four large fins and demonstrate what the term "weather cock" means. She leaned over and headed upfield...at about half of her predicted altitude. We all watched in helpless wonder as she headed toward the ground. The ejection charge fired about ten feet before impact...and it was over. Level one denied again.

When John and I reached the wreckage, it was actually not as bad as....well...last time. The nose cone was toast. The upper five inches of tube was crunched, and 75% of the fins had been knocked off (that's three, for you non-math types), but other than that she was fine.

Still, I really wanted that stupid Level One.

I remembered that I had that Sirius Eradicator in the car....Hmmmm. After some horse trading between myself, John, and Robert from buyrocketmotors.com (plug!) I had a 29mm Aerotech H135 in hand. Now, the Eradicator is strong, but it is very light. John "loaned" me some clay for the nose, and soon we were ready to go again! Victory or death!!! Ok, not really "death," but humiliation anyway.

Sam went through the countdown again and she SCREAMED off of the pad! As she instantly got very small in the sky, John said "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all..." I just said, "Holy-moly!"

We watched as the green chute deployed and she drifted...waaaaaaay up in the sky.... We had other eyes on her as well, namely Jada Smith (Dan's wife) who told us to call her if we needed help with tracking the landing spot down.

John and I lept into my Mini just like Batman and Robin would have if they drove a Mini...and were in their 50's...and we were off for recovery!

After parking next to the fence, we met up with Chas Russell, who just so happened to be wandering about, having recovered his rocket, and the Three Amigos began really searching. John called Jada and she told us exactly what track to take. Still, we didn't see the rocket. We crossed the road (which was made easier after Chas discovered a gate in the fence) and continued to search.

Finally, I walked over a rise in the next field and about a hundred yards away, I spotted a green blob. As I walked closer, it turned into this...

Success!!!

My main take-away from all of this is that while it may not take a village to get your level one, friends are always good to have!

Also, here's a shout out to Gary Briggs who, 1. Held the October Classic contest where I won the Eradicator and 2. Made a heck of a stand-off for the deflector plate on the successful cert flight!

Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!

Maxi Honest John Rebuild- Construction Finale!

Well, it seems like this project has been dragging on FOREVER. That's probably because it has. If you remember our last post (way back in September, I think) we were waiting to slap on the "motor band" detail and then run off to the races with paint and decals. Now, over a month later....I finally got the motor band on. Let me 'splain.

You see, the problem was holes. Not just any holes, mind you, but with 3/16 inch holes. The last layer of the motor band has 24 of these little suckers, and, therefore, I needed a 3/16 inch hole punch. Can you guess what size punch does NOT exist in the DFW area?

No problem! That's what those interwebs are for, right? Well, my first purchase from eBay turned out actually being a 1/4 inch punch. Grrrrrrr! They were nice about it and refunded my money while letting me keep it (although I have no use for it). And so I ordered another one.

Now, mind you, this was a punch that I was going to use on one project to punch 24 little holes in a detail that most people don't even notice. Still, I was on a mission! I would not be defeated!

The next punch came in and it wascactually the right size!!! So today I buckled down and made the band! Here are some exciting pics!

Step one: draw the strips on heavy stock paper.

Step two: After measuring out the holes, use the handy dandy, extremely rare 3/16 hole punch to punch them out. Use the measurement marks to line up the punch.

Step three: Marvel at holes that cost you ten bucks and a month of your life to produce! Yay! (You may now toss hole punch in garbage...I didn't, but I kinda felt like it)

Step four: Glue strips on the exact center of the body tube. Construction is now complete.

And there you have it! Now it's time to paint! ...right when the temperature is falling and the humidity it skyrocketing. What can go wrong??? Still, by Grabthar's Hammer, I WILL get this bird finished!!!

Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!

Honest Check-In!

Well, my Estes Maxi Honest John rebuild/ upgrade must be the slowest project ever (we're on about twenty something years now), but I did make a little progress this weekend! You see, this weekend was rainy and dark...perfect building weather! So, I jumped in!

But before I get into what I got done, I have to give a HUGE shout out to Gregory Henderson and Chas Russell for their help! You see, I had some of the old parts to the HoJo, but some where lost and gone forever. Namely, the launch shoe fiddly bits. So, I put a call out on the NAR Facebook page, and Chas sent me actual pictures of the real parts (on the honest-to-gosh missile!) and Gregory snail-mailed me copies of the original instruction sheets, templates for the parts, and even instructions on how to make the "motor bands" (which I had completely forgotten about). Wow! Thanks again so much guys!

Now on to the build! The first thing I had to do was to replace the ballast on my shop light. No kidding. It was dead. Actually, I found that I could replace the whole light for fifteen bucks less than just replacing the ballast, so...

Brand new shop light!

Next, I dug into those fiddly bits! I had plenty of scrap balsa and basswood around to make them from, so I took Gregory's templates and got to work...

The all-important templates!

The parts are coming together!

Ok, a bit of explanation on this one- the shoulder on the Estes Maxi Honest John nose is short...only about one inch. That's not much stability for a honkin' big cone! Therefore, I used a bit of scrap BT-80 (slit so the diameter was less) and extended the shoulder about three inches. I used wood glue to stiffen the tube and to help the masking tape stick. The nose is much less wobbly now!

Not perfect...but not bad, either...

Epoxied on the model!

Dramatic angle!

So there you go! Next, I'll put on the launch lugs, make and install the engine band, paint, apply my Stickershock decals and BAM! we're done!

More on that soon!

Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!

Checking In With Something That Could Be Checked Out...

Well, life has gotten rather "nutsy coo-coo" lately, and STB has gotten the short end of the stick. However, I thought I'd do a quick check in with everybody by sharing something from my collection that I really like. It's my Fourth Edition Handbook of Model Rocketry from 1976!

Now, it's really not all that rare but it's fun anyway. My mom was librarian at Garland High School for quite a while and gave me this copy when they retired it. Sometimes I wonder how many kids checked it out and dreamed about rockets in the 70s. Let's take a look, shall we?

The cover, which featured contest flying. It was big back then. Really big. Now...not so much.

The title page shows that the first edition was published in 1965...It was updated very quickly to this 4th edition.

One of the coolest ideas ever was featured in the "payloads" section. I actually had a Camroc about the same time this book came out. I took exactly one picture with it (of DP&Ws Flying Boxcar) that I gave to the owner, Woody.

This is called "math." We used to use it instead of altimeters and sim programs. 

At the far right of this picture we have the massive F100! FSI knew how to do "cool."

Speaking of "cool," let's get downright cold! These rockets (originally from Vashon) were fantastic! And then the government said we couldn't have them any more....

So there you have it! There are a lot more neat things in there, but you'll have to find a copy and look for yourself. Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!

Honest Fins

Over 25 years ago I built an Estes Maxi Honest John. High power was beginning to really "take off" (pun intended), so I used my 29mm motor mount from an NCR Phantom 2600 (that met a less than glorious end) and uprated my HoJo. Unfortunately, I didn't "uprate" the most fragile part of the model...the vacuformed fins! The results were fairly predictable.

Now, over the years I have pondered about how to rebuild my injured model so that it can actually fly as intended. I have thought about solid carved bass wood (I'm not that good), thicker plastic (I never found what I was looking for), or built up fins using ply (I couldn't decide what thickness). Finally, this summer, I decided to go ahead and tackle the project. "Built up ply" won because it seemed to be the least crazy option. So I headed off to Hobby Town and plunked down some cash on a sheet of 1/16 inch ply. It was on.

I will now share exactly how I worked out these fins (mainly as I went along). To help with the descriptions, I have pictures of every step of the process! So hang on...here we go!

Fortunately, I had bits of the old thin plastic fins. These served as a template for the new fins. I used some card stock for the guide...

The traced fin...before being cut out.

...and after! The two sections were needed due to the fin's destinctive cross section.

Remember the 1/16 inch ply I was talking about? Here it is with the fins laid out. I was able to butt them up against each other and still use my Dremel cutting tool to cut them out because they are slightly oversized due to tracing them from the original.

16 pieces all ready to go! At this point they were fairly rough. I actually numbered each section so that each fin was "married." This meant I knew which parts went with each other so that slight differences could be accounted for.

The epoxy begins to fly! I put a 1/8 inch ply stick in between the two halves to get the cross section right...

...because I had an interesting idea on how to do the through the wall construction. First, I cut out the sections marked with a rectangle...

...then I cut out these interesting looking internal spars from 1/8 inch ply...

...thusly...

...and then epoxied them in like this. The spars not only hold the fins steady, but give them structural strength. 

The 1/8 inch sticks used to form the fin cross section while gluing them were therefore removed before the fins were glued to the model.

A little F&F to make things neater. At this point I could no longer read my 1,2,3,4 markings on the fins, so I lined them up in order. Each fin was specific to a position on the model.

A little epoxy on the spars and the fins are in place!

Next came the epoxy fillets. These are structural as well as for looks. The whole assembly is pretty darn strong...

When the fillets dried, I test fitted the body tube and nose cone. Not too bad, if I say so myself!

So there you go! The Maxi Honest John now has sturdy fins!

Now I need to complete the rest of the build. Don't worry, I'll share it right here!

Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!