Jerry,
I live in Fort Collins (190 miles one way to Pueblo) but thoroughly enjoy flying with John Boren and the other great people of SCORE, so the drive isn't that bad. Our site in Northern Colorado has been shut down most of this year due to fire bans. The Denver group has a beautiful site in Bear Creek Lake State Park, but it's small, and flights are limited to 1500 grams weight and 125 grams propellant.

My wife joins me (she never has gone to launches, other than when we launched with our kids many years ago). I got to know John at NSL and he told me I'd enjoy flying with them. He was right.

I'm looking forward to going to NARAM in Pueblo next year. I hope a lot of the people here on YORF can attend. I've met a few over the years and at NSL.

By the way, the site is easy to find. Google Maps knows the location as "Hudson Ranch Rocket Launch Site". :)

I think I'd likely just order the kit. I'm getting lazy when it comes to cutting out fins. Of course, Semroc kit fins are usually available separately. But with all the tubes and rings, might as well just buy the kit. Oh, yeah, need the decals too! Yep, kit it is.

After my SO retires don't be surprised if we show up sometime. I like the area.

I just don't understand ANY votes for the Alpha.
That thing while classic has to be the most boring 3FNC rocket to ever exist.

Well, that pushed me over. I hadn't voted yet.

The Alpha may be boring to you, but it's been continuously available for almost 52 years now (having first appeared in MRN in late 1965). It was also the first kit to use the EH-2 motor hook for a quick change engine mount (the hook itself having first appeared in the Sprite) and the first to use the reliable tri-fold paper shock cord mount. Both of those features have also stood the test of time.

It's still uber-boring.

I had mentioned earlier that I had flown my Astron Cobra for its maiden voyage back in August, and that I had parts for an upscale. I’ve been working on it off and on for a couple weeks. Here is a picture of the completed motor mount, and the fins I cut out last week. I took this picture of parts prior to slotting the body tube. The last picture is a dry fit of the components. My Astron Cobra is shown for comparison. I now have the assembly work done, and I’m in the process of sealing the fins. They are basswood. Immensely fun cutting them by hand, especially with fin tabs.

I’m on a real Bill Simon rocket kick. I’ve got a Skyhook nearly done, just needs fins painted red, and the black striping added. I’ve also been contemplating an upscaled Drifter — it was one of my first rockets.

Nice, I really like the Cobra.

Is it me, or is that a reeeeeally short shoulder on the back of the transition?

It’s a reeeeeally short shoulder. Just like the old Estes balsa adapters! 😀

It fits extremely well, and since the payload section is short, I may leave it. On the old Estes balsa adapters, I’ve fixed in a couple of ways — a coupler section glued onto the shoulder, or my favorite, several dowels glued into holes drilled into the shoulder, with the edge of hole at the shoulder’s edge. Less friction. Requires drilling holes for dowels on a drill press unless you are really good holding a hand drill. On a shoulder that is BT-70 sized, I used four 3/8” dowels.

Great work Lee! I bet all of us including Bill himself will enjoy seeing them.