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View Full Version : The rocket that got away...Estes Mosquito


UPscaler
12-14-2008, 12:33 AM
I want the kit... i bought 18" of BT-5 and a whole mess of 1/16 inch balsa. I just feel it's not the same as opening that kit, and building the entire rocket in 20 minutes.

Also, everyone i have found selling BNC-5 nose cones, want $1.05 for them, ouch.

Had i known that they were going to be so hard to find, i wouldn't have used A10 motors on the last one's found in my basement. :rolleyes:

dwmzmm
12-14-2008, 12:49 AM
Lost all the Mosquitos I've ever had, every single one of them. And on their first (and only)
flights, too. After the third lost model, I said to myself "That's it; I'm not getting these anymore!" I've had better success (and longevity) with classics such as the Astron Scout,
from which I got numerous flights from 1969 until early 2004, when I finally lost it on a C6-7 :mad: :(

Ltvscout
12-14-2008, 01:37 AM
I want the kit... i bought 18" of BT-5 and a whole mess of 1/16 inch balsa. I just feel it's not the same as opening that kit, and building the entire rocket in 20 minutes.

Not the Mosquito, but darn close. You can get three for one with our Triple Zip. 13mm, 18mm and 24mm. Check it out at http://tmrk.rocketshoppe.com/triple.htm

That's my eldest daughter in the one pic about 9 years ago. She's a Sophmore in HS now. Boy, time sure files. :(

barone
12-14-2008, 07:31 AM
I want the kit... i bought 18" of BT-5 and a whole mess of 1/16 inch balsa. I just feel it's not the same as opening that kit, and building the entire rocket in 20 minutes.

Also, everyone i have found selling BNC-5 nose cones, want $1.05 for them, ouch.

Had i known that they were going to be so hard to find, i wouldn't have used A10 motors on the last one's found in my basement. :rolleyes:
Now, of course you realize the Estes Mosquito is OOP..... :D

PM me an address and I'll see if I can get you one to produce......probably open bag so you won't get the enjoyment of actually opening the bag but if that matters, I can tape it closed for you..... ;)

jj94
12-14-2008, 12:17 PM
Why not modify it to fly on MicroMaxx?

bob jablonski
12-14-2008, 03:53 PM
Or you coukld try a C6 in a Micro or go totaly goofy and put a D21 in it (yes they will take it).
But dont expect getting it back unless you are an eagle eye.
Mr. Bob
Starlight guy

sandman
12-14-2008, 08:38 PM
I want the kit... i bought 18" of BT-5 and a whole mess of 1/16 inch balsa. I just feel it's not the same as opening that kit, and building the entire rocket in 20 minutes.

Also, everyone i have found selling BNC-5 nose cones, want $1.05 for them, ouch.

Had i known that they were going to be so hard to find, i wouldn't have used A10 motors on the last one's found in my basement. :rolleyes:

If you want to get really cheap, instead of 1/16th balsa just use popsicle sticks (craft sticks) for fins.

A little extra weight won't hurt the performance that much.

That will also cut the building time from 20 minutes to 15! :D

ghrocketman
12-15-2008, 10:21 AM
I once launched a Mosquito on an old Centuri B4-5M full-B mini-motor.
It went nearly into orbit but was actually recovered. It was painted fluorescent orange and black and was easily spotted (eventually) against the snow-covered landing area.
Unless it landed over snow I don't think it would have been found.

UPscaler
12-15-2008, 09:10 PM
C6 is 18mm if I'm not mistaken, Or is it not an Estes motor?

dwmzmm
12-15-2008, 09:22 PM
C6 is 18mm if I'm not mistaken, Or is it not an Estes motor?

Yes, C6 is 18 mm, and Estes & Quest sells it. The Estes Mosquito used the 13 mm engines;
didn't matter, as I still lost all of mine anyway.

UPscaler
12-15-2008, 09:28 PM
Yes, C6 is 18 mm, and Estes & Quest sells it. The Estes Mosquito used the 13 mm engines;
didn't matter, as I still lost all of mine anyway.

I knew the mosquito was a 13mm rocket, but someone above said to try putting a C6 or D12 in it, I'm pretty sure those won't fit in it. :D

dwmzmm
12-15-2008, 09:31 PM
I knew the mosquito was a 13mm rocket, but someone above said to try putting a C6 or D12 in it, I'm pretty sure those won't fit in it. :D

Yeah, I know. The closest "cousin" to the Mosquito is the Astron Streak (18 mm), which I also had one and lost it, too. :(

UPscaler
12-16-2008, 04:12 PM
Yeah, I know. The closest "cousin" to the Mosquito is the Astron Streak (18 mm), which I also had one and lost it, too. :(

don't we all lose too many rockets? :chuckle:

Jeff Walther
12-17-2008, 02:42 PM
I've launched three Mosquitos this fall and lost all of them on the first launch. Orange, yellow, green, it didn't matter what they were painted. They teleported off the launch pad, reappeared when the engine emitted smoke and vanished again after the ejection charge, never to be seen again. I even found the ejected engines out of two of them, but not the rocket.

I think part of the problem is that the thermonuclear ejection charges blow the Mosquito off in a random direction at ejection. At least, as far as I could tell, the thing was leaning over into its apogee turn just as the engine blew out. For some reason the ejected engine is always easier to follow than the Mosquito.

Strangely, I was able to fly the Swift about a dozen times before losing it. The Swift isn't *that* different, although the fins are longer, so I suppose there's a bit more drag. Maybe that makes all the difference.

But I got multiple flights out of the Swift with 1/2A3 engines, but immediately lost the Mosquitos on 1/4A3s. Go figure.

Hmmm. I wonder... If one attached a foot or so of thin yellow kevlar to the inside of the nose cone and coiled it up in front of the engine. Perhaps the string would make it visible. Of course it would also probably prevent tumble and lend just enough stability to cause the thing to lawn dart. As light as it is, that might not matter.

GIJoe
12-17-2008, 07:50 PM
don't we all lose too many rockets? :chuckle:

Sometimes you have to make a little room for some new ideas.

Joe

UPscaler
12-18-2008, 04:20 PM
Hmmm. I wonder... If one attached a foot or so of thin yellow kevlar to the inside of the nose cone and coiled it up in front of the engine.
When i fly the little buggers, i put as much pink chalk powder in before the motor as i could, it was tight and released the powder as it was falling, i usually didn't lose them until i didn't put enough powder in and it all came out at ejection. Where did you get the mosquitos at?

Jeff Walther
12-18-2008, 05:41 PM
When i fly the little buggers, i put as much pink chalk powder in before the motor as i could, it was tight and released the powder as it was falling, i usually didn't lose them until i didn't put enough powder in and it all came out at ejection. Where did you get the mosquitos at?

Ah, the old chalk trick. Actually, we were loading the Swift with talcum powder and i don't think we so loaded the Mosquitos. That could be a significant difference.

I'll tell you one difference a load of powder makes--the rocket doesn't go as high, thus making it easier to track and find. :-)

Having the nose loaded with talc also made the Swift lawn dart. This is good and bad. The good: the impact tends to jolt a puff of powder up into the air. If you're looking in the right general area, you'll see the rocket hit. The bad; it didn't land gently in a featherweight fall. I would not want to be under a powder loaded Swift when it comes down.

Hmmm. Third possible effect: A power loaded bird will not shoot off as far sideways at ejection, because the higher mass means that the momentum transfer (MV) is weighted more toward the M and less to the V.

I bought some red line marking powder at Home Depot (~$2 for a largish bottle; well compared to a Mosquito it's large), but haven't flown since I bought it so have not had a chance to test it out yet.

I got some Mosquitos in a lot on Ebay. If for some reason Barone wasn't able to set you up, PM me and we'll work something out.

dwmzmm
12-18-2008, 07:06 PM
Got mine (Mosquitos) via mail order from Estes back when they were first introduced to the
model rocketry world (early 1970's).

UPscaler
12-18-2008, 07:08 PM
1971-2002, well lived

UPscaler
12-18-2008, 07:16 PM
OMG guys, a little spendy but...
http://www.easternhobby.com/index.php?crn=208&rn=1168&action=show_detail

dwmzmm
12-18-2008, 09:09 PM
Come to think of it, I just might have the needed parts in my stash of spares to build a clone
of the Mosquito. Since the model has only a few parts, it shouldn't be much to put one together.

Mark II
12-19-2008, 01:14 AM
They are easy as sin to clone, so that's what I do. I built two of them in, oh, a half hour, give or take a few minutes. Neither has flown yet, though. One was built for another project that I haven't started yet, and just last week I made a removable Micromaxx motor adapter for the other one. The adapter has a 2-56 socket head machine screw that extends through the motor block in the Micromaxx motor tube, and then screws into a really tiny 2-56 brass threaded insert that I screwed into the base of the nose cone and reinforced with CA. To mount and unmount it, I just insert a 5/64" hex wrench into the adapter's motor tube and turn the machine screw into or out of the threaded insert. The thing is, I made this adaptation after the Mosquito was built, so I had to work the insert into the base of the nose cone and CA it in while working blind from the back end of the Mosquito's body tube. The threaded insert, by the way, is really tiny. It didn't look for awhile like I could get it bored in, but persistence paid off. Applying CA all around it without getting any into the insert was also kind of tricky, because I couldn't see what I was doing. Did I mention that the threaded insert was really tiny? :eek:

Mark \\.

UPscaler
12-21-2008, 12:02 AM
wow, you did a great job on the sanding to an airfoil shape. How did you do it, i've tried three times, and snapped the fins everytime,lol!

Mark II
12-21-2008, 05:22 AM
wow, you did a great job on the sanding to an airfoil shape. How did you do it, i've tried three times, and snapped the fins everytime,lol!
You can see that in the photos?? Yes, the fins are airfoiled, but I didn't think that it was apparent in the photos.

Use hard, C-grain balsa as fin stock.
Mount your sandpaper on a sanding block.
Avoid pressing down on the sanding block as you sand. Let the weight of the block supply the pressure.
Lay the fin on a flat surface.
Sand slowly and carefully in one direction only.

Mark \\.

Mark II
12-21-2008, 05:54 AM
Oh, another thing, too: always sand your fins into shape, even if you are just rounding the edges, before you attach them to the rocket. That was implied in #4 in the last post, but I want to make sure to mention this point. It makes a world of difference.

Also, for very small fins like those on the Mosquito, put a strip of double-sided tape down on your cutting mat or board first, and then lay the fin on it. You won't have to try to hold the fin in place with your fingers while you are sanding it then.

Mark \\.

UPscaler
12-21-2008, 10:33 AM
Thank you, i w did not sand them before i put them on the rocket. What I was thinking, I'm not completely positive. I guess i will just sand an airfoil shape in my next kit or clone. Thank you for your help

LeeR
12-21-2008, 09:07 PM
8 Mosquitos and 2 Quarks on eBay now ... a 10-pack of rockets.

UPscaler
12-21-2008, 09:42 PM
thank you lee, i will be watching that, my love for the mosquito prevails!!!!!

micromeister
12-22-2008, 12:23 PM
LOL! this is a funny thread!
I've been using mosquitos as photo props for a long while now. back in the mid 80's my BSA troop had a Mosquito build and fly at least once a year. Many of my scouts painted their models in Camouflage colors and generally flew them on A3-6T or A10-3Ts I can't recall recovering many regardless of the color or motor selected even down to 1/4A3's.

I made a six model "rainbow" swarm of mosquitos in 1990, all finished in Flourescent colors and have used the swarm to photograph most of my other models since. Looking at my OOP kit stash list I noticed I do indeed still have a single 801 kit listed tho I haven't actually put my fingers on it, and still have above 2 dozen BNC-5V nose cones used often on 13mm competition models.

I think the part I find really funny here is Upscaler complaining about paying 1.05 for a turned balsa nosecone. If you think about the time it takes to make one, materials and equipment involved the price seems more then a fair. As I mentioned in another thread if you think buying cones is to expensive these days, do what many of us do; Turn your own.

As for cloning mosquitos, it's just about the easiest model in the world to do. I've made more then a hundred over the years for the scout troop and other youth groups as a quick and easy fun fly model even the youngest Tiger cubs can slap together.

As Mark II mentioned if you want to ensure you'll get it back and still have a decent flight profile, convert the model for MicroMaxx motors. I've even gone a step further by incorporating a rear ejection motor pod with Teflon plumbers tape streamer that further helps spot and recover the models. If you build the model as light as you can ( Hollowing out at least the shoulder of the NC ) you can get about 90-100foot flights out of them:)
a Little 9" x 1/2" teflon streamer brings them back easy and a lot slower so they can be seen on the way down.... Even in darker colors.

As for the difference between building a mosquito clone or kit, once a model is painted unless you tell people it's a clone. NOone will know the difference LOL!!!!!!
Hope this helps a little.

bob jablonski
12-24-2008, 03:27 PM
Starlight has you skeeter fans covered this holiday season. You gotta clone a skeeter we got all the parts. It's not on the web site but for the ORF folks we have the full set of parts. NC, BT, LL and fin stock for the pricey sum of $1.50 plus shipping. Catch? Nah. but you may want a few or other kits and parts cuz of shipping. To take advantage of this offer contact me at spootski@kconline
Fly high and loose em'
Mr. Bob
Starlight dude
www.starlightrocketry.com

Ltvscout
12-24-2008, 04:06 PM
Starlight has you skeeter fans covered this holiday season. You gotta clone a skeeter we got all the parts. It's not on the web site but for the ORF folks we have the full set of parts. NC, BT, LL and fin stock for the pricey sum of $1.50 plus shipping. Catch? Nah. but you may want a few or other kits and parts cuz of shipping. To take advantage of this offer contact me at spootski@kconline
That's a great deal, Bob.

It looks like you missed part of your email address though.

bob jablonski
12-24-2008, 08:07 PM
oops your right it's spootski@kconline.com :o
Mr. Bob

UPscaler
12-28-2008, 07:28 PM
8 Mosquitos and 2 Quarks on eBay now ... a 10-pack of rockets.



Out bid with 2 minutes to go... :( :eek:

Thomas Malthouse
01-27-2009, 04:02 PM
I had a Swift too but once I launched it, it just went whoosh and goodbye on its first flight, with a 1/2A3-4T. However, it was not powdered. I'm thinking about getting another one. If I get another one I'm limiting myself to 1/4A3-3Ts

sandman
01-27-2009, 05:59 PM
I have a Mosquito some Tornados and a bunch of other "little" rockets like the Alpha, Viking, Ninja etc. in the YORF auction now all for one price!

Go bid!

http://www.rocketshoppe.com/cgi-bin/auction.pl?action=disp&disp=allnew

It's the Multiple Kit Jackpot auction.

UPscaler
01-28-2009, 09:23 PM
I have a Mosquito some Tornados and a bunch of other "little" rockets like the Alpha, Viking, Ninja etc. in the YORF auction now all for one price!

Go bid!

http://www.rocketshoppe.com/cgi-bin/auction.pl?action=disp&disp=allnew

It's the Multiple Kit Jackpot auction.



Man... all gone!

sandman
01-28-2009, 10:43 PM
Man... all gone!

??????? :confused:

barone
01-29-2009, 11:30 AM
??????? :confused:
Link doesn't show anything.....

This link doesn't show any of the mentioned kits.....

http://www.rocketshoppe.com/cgi-bin/auction.pl?category=kits_0060

But this link I think is the right one......

http://www.rocketshoppe.com/cgi-bin/auction.pl?item=21233608918

sandman
01-29-2009, 12:14 PM
OK, I see.

I guess I didn't think to try the link. :o

I'm old...easily confused. :o

Shamous
02-10-2009, 06:23 PM
So does anyone know why Estes discontinued the Mosquito?

dwmzmm
02-10-2009, 07:33 PM
So does anyone know why Estes discontinued the Mosquito?

Estes has discontinued many, many rocket kits over the years, but for me, I just got
tired of losing the Mosquitos (had two or three) on the first launch. It was probably my
fault due to poor engine choice; maybe just using the 1/4A is the only engine that should
be used.

Jeff Walther
02-11-2009, 09:19 AM
Estes has discontinued many, many rocket kits over the years, but for me, I just got
tired of losing the Mosquitos (had two or three) on the first launch. It was probably my
fault due to poor engine choice; maybe just using the 1/4A is the only engine that should
be used.

It would be interesting to know whether Mosquito losses increased when Estes started using nuclear ejection charges. Many (all?) of my losses seem to be propelled by the ejection shooting the Mosquito off in a random direction at apogee. I usually have it in sight up to that point thanks to the smoke trail. That is, the smoke trail lets me find and see the rocket itself, but then the nuclear ejection charge shoots the rocket off in a random direction with such force that I never see it again.

Of course, the fact that they all head for the school building roof doesn't help. :p

UPscaler
02-26-2009, 08:31 PM
Of course, the fact that they all head for the school building roof doesn't help. :p


Yeah, i should say not...

I can't believe how many people have posted on this topic...

Jeff Walther
02-27-2009, 10:04 AM
I can't believe how many people have posted on this topic...

Well, the Mosquito had a really really long life as an available kit. It was probably the lowest priced kit, increasing its appeal and availability, and it has a compelling simplicity. I'm not surprised that almost everyone has something to say about them. On the other hand, I am relieved to see that I'm not the only one who loses every one he launches.

There's a person on the Austin Rocketry Group list whose handle is "poofshesgone" which perfectly describes the Mosquito to me.

mycrofte
03-07-2009, 01:13 PM
I never did care for the little ones like the Mosquito. One of the 1st rockets I lost (1974) was an Estes X-15 (all plastic). The wind was fine on the ground but gusty above the tree line. Went up nice and straight until it cleared the trees and went horizontal. It stayed up in a tall tree top for about 10 years and I finally found it run over by the school riding mower.

Jeff Walther
06-16-2009, 12:26 PM
I went to my first club rocket launch a couple of Saturdays ago. The launch site was a sizable cow pasture with ankle high to somewhat higher brush. Winds were high and gusty.

One fellow flew a nicely painted Mosquito on an A3-4T. I just stood there with my jaw near the ground as they announced the engine choice.

There was some light cloud cover so we never even saw the smoke delay...

PaulK
06-21-2009, 12:35 AM
Last fall our club had an informal contest on the smallest rocket to be launched & recovered on an A3-4T. I used a Fliskits tumbleweed; it was launched and recovered *twice* on an A3-4T. On the 2nd launch, I told a bunch of kids (including my son) whoever finds it gets to keep it, figuring they'd never find it, but it would keep them busy looking for a while. We all saw it tumble down, and my son found it in the tall weeds. No one else recovered theirs. I think the key to not losing it was that I didn't really expect to find it; in fact, I was *expecting* to lose it.

Mark II
06-21-2009, 05:04 AM
Back in 2006, I took my Tumbleweed out for its first flights at an informal launch in a big complex of athletic fields next to a suburban high school down in Albany. I launched it four times - twice on A10-3T's and twice on A3-4T's. In all four launches I saw the tracking smoke but I never saw the recovery. Nevertheless, because I knew approximately where it was each time when the ejection charge fired, I had a good idea of where it fell. This was in September, and the fields were nicely mowed for soccer and football games. Walking a tight grid pattern, it took me anywhere from 20 minutes to 45 minutes, but I did find it each time, lying neatly on the grass. The landing spots ranged from 100 feet to 350 feet away from the pad. The FlisKits Tumbleweed is the tiniest rocket that I have ever launched from a regular pad with a 1/8" launch rod.

I have a couple of Mosquito clones, but I haven't flown them yet (which is why I still have them). The TW is actually smaller than the Mosquito, and it is smaller than a number of my Micromaxx rockets. The (slightly out of focus) picture shows my Tumbleweed with a Mosquito clone, and a couple more FlisKits models: a Crayon and an Intergalactic Man of Space. The latter two are Micromaxx rockets. The IMOS is the smallest (shortest) Micromaxx rocket that FlisKits sells.

MarkII

Mark II
06-21-2009, 05:34 AM
BTW, I got my Tumbleweed kit in the mail a couple of days before FlisKits announced that they were switching to laser-cut fins for that kit. I had to trace out and cut those tiny fin caps from a sheet of balsa by hand! :eek:

MarkII

UPscaler
10-15-2009, 10:22 PM
Quite a bump. I'd like to show you what came out of all this :D


http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm246/bigb1011/DSCN0546.jpg




http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm246/bigb1011/DSCN0552.jpg



Thanks go out to Barone for sending me the first kit that I actually completed :D It ain't no trailer queen either. Two flights and has been recovered both times :D.

barone
10-15-2009, 10:49 PM
Great finish. Most people don't get rid of the demarcation line between the nose and body tube.

sam_midkiff
10-16-2009, 08:22 AM
I once launched a Mosquito on an old Centuri B4-5M full-B mini-motor.
It went nearly into orbit but was actually recovered. It was painted fluorescent orange and black and was easily spotted (eventually) against the snow-covered landing area.
Unless it landed over snow I don't think it would have been found.

The last mosquito I launched was while I was a grad student at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). I painted it a bright orange, launched it in a large field outside the football stadium, saw it come down and went to look for it. It was at that point that I noticed the large amount of orange trash on the field. UIUC's colors are orange and blue. It was never found despite spending 20 minutes or so looking for it. My future wife was with me at the time, and I think she was convinced by that launch that this was a pretty pointless hobby!

Sam

UPscaler
10-16-2009, 05:24 PM
Great finish. Most people don't get rid of the demarcation line between the nose and body tube.

Thanks! I didn't like it with the big gap, so i put some very light filler in it and sanded it smooth. I think I might retire it though, the last time I launched it, It took about half an hour to recover. :chuckle:










I live in boise...so if I could somehow access BSU's blue football field i think I could recover them nicely.

Shamous
10-20-2009, 08:42 PM
Here are my 5 keys to finding a mosquito:

1) Only use a 1/4 A engine.

2) Launch with a large crowd. Someone is usually bound to see it.

3) If launching alone or with a small group, be very quiet (we're hunting wrabbits!) and listen for the sound of it landing. It will lead you right to it.

4) Always paint it in bright colors.

5) Make sure the grass is short.

Using these rules, I have launched about 100 mosquitos and only lost 1.

metlfreak
10-22-2009, 11:48 PM
I have lost all of them.....mater of fact the last one I had was just a 13mm motor with the fins and nose glued on....just kiding, but man I never get them back.

UPscaler
10-26-2009, 03:57 PM
Here are my 5 keys to finding a mosquito:

1) Only use a 1/4 A engine.

2) Launch with a large crowd. Someone is usually bound to see it.

3) If launching alone or with a small group, be very quiet (we're hunting wrabbits!) and listen for the sound of it landing. It will lead you right to it.

4) Always paint it in bright colors.

5) Make sure the grass is short.

Using these rules, I have launched about 100 mosquitos and only lost 1.

Wow, that's pretty good for mosquitos.

ghrocketman
10-27-2009, 12:21 PM
I always thought mosquitos were supposed to be the original "fire-n'-forget" rockets anyways. They make quite the flight on original Centuri B4-5M 13mm engines !