Powered Card Stock Rockets

[blackshire]

Hello All,

The Civil Air Patrol not only has online patterns & plans for all-card stock gliders, but also 18 mm motor-powered all-card stock model rockets (including two-stage models, see: http://nmwg.cap.gov/santafe/Activities/ )!

As with the White Wings www.whitewings.com card stock glider kits, if you spray the completed gliders and rockets with two or three light coats of clear lacquer, as is recommended in the White Wings kit instructions (allowing each coat to dry before applying the next one), it will moisture-proof the models, protect their markings from getting marred, and strengthen the card stock as well.

I hope this information will be helpful.

[Mark II]

I am glad that you brought this up, Black Shire. During my first two years as a BAR (2004-2006), cardmodeling and cardstock rockets were my passion - they were practically all that I built. Cardstock rockets are a well-established part of the hobby. Some well-known rocket-flying cardmodelers are Art Applewhite, Clive Davis, Jim Flis, Bob Harrington, Dick Stafford and Eric Truax. Both Art and Jim have several free cardstock designs available for download from their respective websites (Art Applewhite Rockets (http://www.artapplewhite.com/) and FlisKits (http://www.fliskits.com/)) and Eric Truax has published a number of great designs for flying cardstock rockets (do a Google search). Clive Davis (http://www.rocketreviews.com/reviews/davis+clive.shtml) and Bob Harrington (http://www.rocketreviews.com/reviews/harrington+bob.shtml) document some of their designs in reviews on EMRR. Dick Stafford maintains a large website (http://rocketdungeon.blogspot.com/) and blog documenting his many rocket designs (cardstock and non-cardstock). Wayne Hill also has perhaps the ultimate compendium (http://rocketry.wordpress.com/ultimate-paper-rocket-guide/) of links to online flying cardstock models in his rocketry blog. I benefited greatly during my first months after resuming the hobby by studying and building the designs of all of these cardmodelers, and I learned a great deal about rocketry from them. Some of their designs continue to be among my all-time favorite rockets - not my favorite cardstock rockets, but my favorite rockets of any kind. I think that it is fair to say that I have built far more rockets that were designed by Art Applewhite than I have by any other single designer.

MarkII

[blackshire]

What an "embarrassment of riches!" Mark II, thank you for posting all of those links. I don't know why card stock model rockets aren't more common or more popular--they're pre-colored and virtually free!

[mycrofte]

I've built a few of the smaller ones for school yard and backyard launching. Gives us something to do until the farm field gets harvested...

[gpoehlein]

What an "embarrassment of riches!" Mark II, thank you for posting all of those links. I don't know why card stock model rockets aren't more common or more popular--they're pre-colored and virtually free!

You've got me - I've been flying competition for the last three years at our local NAR chapter's regionals and a lot of my models are cardstock. All my duration models are made from cardstock - like you said, you can add color to your model without adding any additional weight or time!

Greg

[Mark II]

You've got me - I've been flying competition for the last three years at our local NAR chapter's regionals and a lot of my models are cardstock. All my duration models are made from cardstock - like you said, you can add color to your model without adding any additional weight or time!

Greg
Oh yes, I forgot to mention Greg Poehlein - another accomplished card rocket (http://www.rocketreviews.com/reviews/all/scratch_scratch_paper_lemondrop.shtml) designer. (I have built a few Lemon Drops in my day. These include a Micromaxx downscale, which is so tiny that I am afraid to launch it. It is about the size of a mosquito - no, not the Estes kit, but a real mosquito, and I'm not kidding! I did lose my regular 13mm-sized LD on its second flight, and I also have an 18mm version that uses nose blow recovery, with the possibility of deploying a streamer as well, if I can find a way to fit one in. The 24mm version awaits construction, and the 29mm and 38mm versions are still on the drawing board, as are the 2, 3 and 4 stage versions. ;) Once I get my Level 1, a 54mm Orbital Lemon Drop might one day be in the works... :eek: :chuckle: )

Eric Truax's models can be found here (http://axesworld.embarqspace.com/). He has designed some great cardstock model rockets that are wonderful fliers.

There are many cardmodeling sites that contain free designs for static cardstock rocket models, and with some ingenuity, you may be able to convert some of them into flying model rockets. Wayne Hill's Ultimate Paper Rocket Guide (http://rocketry.wordpress.com/ultimate-paper-rocket-guide/) has links to many of these sites.

Even YORFer Solomoriah has gotten (http://rocketry.newcenturycomputers.net/slidewhistle.html) into the act. :D

MarkII

[blackshire]

Even YORFer Solomoriah has gotten (http://rocketry.newcenturycomputers.net/slidewhistle.html) into the act. :D

MarkII

Uh oh...I hope Estes/Centuri Corp. doesn't go after him for copying one half of the "Two Bitz" kit! :-)

[mycrofte]

I colored a couple of Slidewhistles in Illustrator and built them for backyard launches. I had a problem with one of the paper launch lugs binding up on the rod. Other than that, they are a blast!