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!