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  #1  
Old 11-06-2008, 10:26 AM
bacasino's Avatar
bacasino bacasino is offline
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Default Whats the story with The Launch Pad???....

I have picked up pieces of the story here and there about them moving and the owner being sick. Do they still produce rockets?? have they made any new designs?? etc. Just curious if any one wants to take the time to fill me in. Thanks in advance.
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  #2  
Old 11-06-2008, 10:42 AM
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Doug Sams Doug Sams is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bacasino
I have picked up pieces of the story here and there about them moving and the owner being sick. Do they still produce rockets?? have they made any new designs?? etc. Just curious if any one wants to take the time to fill me in. Thanks in advance.
Last I heard, they were shipping some kits to dealers/on-line resellers, but had no direct presence on the web. Someone - can't recall who - recently posted that they had received another shipment for resale, and from that I surmise Chuck is still in biz

Doug

[EDIT] I said TLP had no direct presence on the web. I should have said little direct presence. (But they have more presence via multiple resellers.)[/EDIT]


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Last edited by Doug Sams : 11-06-2008 at 02:11 PM.
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Old 11-06-2008, 10:45 AM
jetlag jetlag is offline
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I thought they were back in business. Just a few months ago, they sent fresh kits out to the venders, and I was glad they were back up and running.

Launch Pad's site: http://www.the-launch-pad.com/products.htm

Red Arrow appears to have quite a few:
http://redarrowhobbies.com/the_laun...rocket_kits.htm

I know this did not really answer your original question, but perhaps someone will chime in with some news...........Hope they are alright.
Allen
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  #4  
Old 11-06-2008, 11:11 AM
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Gus Gus is offline
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Commonwealth Displays has a huge number of Launch Pad kits in stock.

Launch Pad has been around a long time and has had a few periods where their kits were not available due to illness/injury to the owner, Chuck Barndt. Last year they moved to Florida and now appear to be up and running again at full steam. From what I understand, current versions of the kits appear slightly improved from the old ones with new nosecones which, for a number of kits, no longer require add-on cardstock cone tips.

I've read some complaints about how these kits are very basic, almost scratch-build sets with instructions, but I disagree. These are builder's kits with very good instructions and all the materials you need to produce really cool models. I think the kits are also very reasonably priced for the work that went into designing them. I'm really glad to see them back up and running again.
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  #5  
Old 11-06-2008, 01:24 PM
marcsl marcsl is offline
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We have them in stock too :

http://www.rocketarium.com/thelaunchpad.html

Marc
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  #6  
Old 11-06-2008, 02:52 PM
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bacasino bacasino is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gus
Commonwealth Displays has a huge number of Launch Pad kits in stock.

Launch Pad has been around a long time and has had a few periods where their kits were not available due to illness/injury to the owner, Chuck Barndt. Last year they moved to Florida and now appear to be up and running again at full steam. From what I understand, current versions of the kits appear slightly improved from the old ones with new nosecones which, for a number of kits, no longer require add-on cardstock cone tips.

I've read some complaints about how these kits are very basic, almost scratch-build sets with instructions, but I disagree. These are builder's kits with very good instructions and all the materials you need to produce really cool models. I think the kits are also very reasonably priced for the work that went into designing them. I'm really glad to see them back up and running again.


Thanks for the info guys!! I agree that these are true builders kits. My Perseus 2 was anything but basic. A lot of precise measuring and cutting of the fin holders and the fins. I truly enjoyed the build. I look forward to adding a few more to my collection. Thanks again
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  #7  
Old 11-06-2008, 10:18 PM
harsas harsas is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marcsl
We have them in stock too :

http://www.rocketarium.com/thelaunchpad.html

Marc


I defintely recommend buying kits from the Rocketarium. Marc's shipping time is excellent and his prices are very competative.
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  #8  
Old 11-08-2008, 10:25 AM
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I love these TLP kits!

I'm finish-painting the Lance and the PAC-3 right now. I have a Standard missle in the queue that I'll probably start before the end of the year.

Now they are sport-scale, but with Pete Alway's drawing and access to a couple of display Lances around here, I think mine now looks pretty good. I reshaped the fins and eliminated a conduit. Some white paint and it'll look just like the one at the museum!

I highly recommend these. I had a lot of fun building them. My only quibble was that the ones I bought all had the paper cone glued on the front of a too-short plastic cone. A good 4:1 BT-80 plastic nose cone would be something TLP should invest in.
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  #9  
Old 11-08-2008, 12:17 PM
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cas2047 cas2047 is offline
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I've got two TLP rockets, the AMRAAM (a 24mm two engine cluster) and the HARM AGM-88A (a 24mm single engine).

The HARM is one of my absolute best fliers. It has had countless flights. It flies slow and fairly low on a D12-3, but it always gives a great performance.

The AMRAAM flies very well on two D12-3's. However I did have a bad experience with it once when I was attending a CMASS launch here in MA. I wired it up as usual and as soon as it took off I knew that only one engine lit. It was moving extremely slowly trying to gain altitude. I think it only made a hundred to a hundred and fifty feet or so when it healed over towards the spectators area and it hung there for a moment at a 45 degree angle to the ground before it took off like a bat out of you know where directly towards one of the folks who was wiring up a multi cluster bird for flight. It buried itself a good ways into the ground nearby.

It was surmised that one engine had lit but that when that engines ejection charge blew it somehow lit the other engine. Now I don't know if a spark got into the business end as the ejection charge blew (maybe blowing sparks out the nozzle which got back into the nozzle of the unlit engine, or if it lit from the back end). I'd never seen anything like it.

The point being that the TLP kits with clustered engines don't use stuffer tubes, and a couple of people at the launch told me that you need to take precautions as a result. Aside from using beefier igniters than the Estes type to guarantee ignition, I was told that there are a couple of things you can do to; 1. put tape on the ends of each of the clustered engines to prevent any possibility of a back-light. 2. Build in stuffer tubes to make sure sparks don't pass from one engine to the next.

Anyone ever hear of something like this happening?
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  #10  
Old 11-08-2008, 12:30 PM
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cas2047 cas2047 is offline
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I've since fixed the rocket. I haven't finished the paint yet.

Anyway here's some pictures pre and post. I took pics of the engines hoping that someone might be able to confirm the cause based on the burn patterns. Not sure if that's possible but I figured what the heck you never know...
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Name:  TLP AMRAAM Damage 01.jpg
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Name:  TLP AMRAAM Engines 01.jpg
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Name:  TLP AMRAAM Business End 01.jpg
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Name:  fix3 01.jpg
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