About 5-6 years ago, our Walmarts were clearancing all Estes rockets. I picked up the boxed Taser Twin for around $5, plus the other boxed kits, the Crossbow SST the Star Stryker, and the Ricochet. I've only built the Ricochet. The Taser Twin also reminds me of the Apogee II, my first two-stage rocket. The fins on upper definitely reminded me of the Sky Hook fins.

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Lee Reep
NAR 55948

Projects: Semroc Saturn 1B, Ken Foss Designs Mini Satellite Interceptor
In the Paint Shop: Nothing! Too cold!
Launch-Ready: Farside-X, Maxi Honest John, Super Scamp

Two of my 4-H kids are building the Taser Twin this year. I have a pack of Quest B6-0's and some Estes A8-5's... hopefully we can make do with those. I can't find A8-0's locally at all, so I'd have to order them.

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NAR # 115523
Once upon a better day... SAM #0076
My site: http://rocketry.gonnerman.org

Agree about the Sky Hook fins.
The Apogee II used fins that looked like 75% sized Big Bertha fins on the sustainer.
Replace the sustainer fins on the Taser Twin and you essentially have an Astron Apogee II.

Find some A8-0's or order them.
The booster on that rocket is very small and potentially hard to find even using a B6-0.
I'd use a 1/2A6-0 if those were still readily available.
If you insist on a B6-0 in the booster for the first flight, at least paint it Flourescent Orange or Yellow to be able to find it.

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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC !

One thing that can help with recovering first (and middle) stages is to drop a straight stick, a strip of wood, or some other such long, straight object on the ground so that it points to the stage's impact point, as it appears to the person who sets the "pointer" on the ground. (This technique is useful for marking the impact points of boost-glider motor pods, too.) This enables an observer to watch the upper stage (or glider), then find the lower stage (or motor pod) later. Just remember to keep looking down while walking the bearing line established by the pointer--the stage or pod is usually closer than it seems to be! Also:

With a two-stage model such as the Taser Twin, the first stage could be streamer-recovered *and* be a "minimal wanderer," by using 13 mm A10-0T motors in it. The A10-0T would ignite the 18 mm second stage motor via vented gap-staging, and this ignition event could also--utilizing Evan "Buzz" Nau's vented gap-staged booster recovery method that he demonstrated in a NARAM R & D contest--rear-eject the 13 mm motor mount out the rear of the BT-20 first stage airframe. The motor mount would be attached to the first stage tube via a length of Kevlar cord, and a streamer would be attached to the motor mount's BT-5 tube (or somewhere in the middle of the Kevlar cord). A metallized Mylar or Kapton streamer would make the first stage easy to spot on the ground.

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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

To really make an Apogee II clone you'll need to add a clear payload section!

I gave my Taser Twin to a friend at work before I flew it.

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NAR #27085 - Oregon Rocketry - SAM

That clear plastic tubing is easy enough to find, or to scrounge from another kit that has it. Or one could just use the same length of BT-20, and "count" it as a clear plastic payload section whose transparency is obscured by the sheet foam rubber liners inside (it would still be transparent at radio wavelengths)... :-)

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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

Or cover it with chrome mylar from an auto accessories store to help with tracking during descent.

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Friends Don't let Friends Do TRF

I've always found silver things hard to track in the air, actually...

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NAR # 115523
Once upon a better day... SAM #0076
My site: http://rocketry.gonnerman.org

Me too. Unless they were a payload section hanging from a parachute and the sun reflecting

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Jeffrey Deem
NAR16741
CIA section 527

I have a handfull of 1/2A6-0 and quite a few A8-0 in my big motor box.

I actually am kind of down on minimal-sized staging rockets. They zoom along like crazy, but it is hard to retrieve them on the small fields I do spot flying and demonstration launches on.

I have a small-company two-stager that I hope to build light and use as a demonstration flyer.

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NAR #27085 - Oregon Rocketry - SAM