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  #1  
Old 04-19-2020, 03:36 PM
RobVG RobVG is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2020
Location: Seattle
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Default I couldn't find an intro board but thought some might enjoy the story

When I was growing up there was (and still is!) a wonderful little hobby shop in my home town of Edmonds owned by two brothers. The brothers started a model rocketry club and held workshops at the elementary school. All my friends and I joined the club and the brothers taught us how to build rockets. I built an Estes X-Ray and a 3 engine cluster Cobra.

They set up the launch pad on the ball field and loaded and primed the engines, but we got to push the button.

Fast forward several decades:

My girlfriend's son is 31 going on 10, which works good because I'm 56 going on 14. After sharing the above story with him, I wasted no time in ordering a kit from Amazon. Two rockets and a launch system for $35. The 30" tall "Amazon" is all plastic and went together quickly. I let the kid put it together and I built the "Crossfire" which is a traditional build.

The morning of the first launch, I set the rockets up on the floor to take a picture and stepped on the Crossfire. It just broke a fin so I cut the damage out and used a piece of scrap balsa to make the repair. The Crossfire mission was scrubbed but Amazon was still a go.

We drove to the athletic fields and were pleased to find it relatively deserted. We set up the launch system, primed and installed a B6-4 engine and slid the rocket down the launch rod to the blast shield. I hooked up the leads to the ignitor and showed the kid how to use the controller and handed it to him with a big grin on my face.

5-4-3-2-1... Lift off! It's still a rush. I remembered the sound, the smoke, and the smell like it was yesterday. It zoomed to 150' and after the 4 second delay, the ejection charge fired and the chute deployed flawlessly. We were both grinning and laughing - just like little kids.

Yesterday we went back to the fields to fly the Crossfire. We brought more family members this time including the 8 year old grandson. We set up the Amazon for him and let him launch it. We had to angle it into the wind a little so it only flew to about 100'. It still got the expected reaction from the "crowd".

I placed the Crossfire on the pad. It's smaller and lighter than the Amazon and they suggest an "A" engine for first flight but I had bought two packages of B's to be used in either rocket. Well, it went up about 600' and out of sight until the chute opened. "It's gone" I said, and started running, trying to keep an eye on it. I managed to catch it 200' from the road.

I'm pretty sure rocketry is going to be an all-family hobby. After our outing my girlfriend made us drive her to the hobby store to pick out "her" rocket. And I bought more engines...
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  #2  
Old 04-19-2020, 04:17 PM
PaulK PaulK is offline
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Excellent! We're all big kids here.
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  #3  
Old 04-19-2020, 04:21 PM
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ghrocketman ghrocketman is offline
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I'm 49 going on 15.
It's a good hobby for a lifetime.
First got involved in R/C airplanes and rocketry at age 7 in 1977.
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Old 04-19-2020, 04:49 PM
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Earl Earl is offline
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Well, welcome here to what we all hope can be another part of your extended rocketry family! Sounds like you have had a great re-start to your rocketry endeavors.

MAJOR success getting the significant other interested also!

Earl
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  #5  
Old 04-19-2020, 06:24 PM
RobVG RobVG is offline
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Default Thanks for the warm welcome

My girlfriend ended up buying a Black Brant Canadian sounding rocket model. (She's Canadian after all.) She was supposed to build it but delegated that task to me. Oh darn, right? LOL. It flys well.

Calm skies,

Rob
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  #6  
Old 04-19-2020, 07:09 PM
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tbzep tbzep is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RobVG
My girlfriend ended up buying a Black Brant Canadian sounding rocket model. (She's Canadian after all.) She was supposed to build it but delegated that task to me. Oh darn, right? LOL. It flys well.

There are a lot of real Black Brant variations, and several model variations available. Estes is producing the BB II and BB III right now. Did she pick the cool black one or the pretty red one?
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Old 04-19-2020, 08:18 PM
RobVG RobVG is offline
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It was the red one. III I think?
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Old 04-19-2020, 08:26 PM
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tbzep tbzep is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RobVG
It was the red one. III I think?

Yes, the red one is the Black Brant III if it is an Estes kit. I figured if she saw both, she'd pick that one.
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  #9  
Old 04-19-2020, 08:30 PM
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jeffyjeep jeffyjeep is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RobVG
My girlfriend ended up buying a Black Brant Canadian sounding rocket model. (She's Canadian after all.) She was supposed to build it but delegated that task to me. Oh darn, right? LOL. It flys well.

Calm skies,

Rob


Black Brant II or Black Brant III? (Black and white or red and white?)

Both are beautiful.
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  #10  
Old 04-19-2020, 08:33 PM
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tbzep tbzep is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffyjeep
Black Brant II or Black Brant III? (Black and white or red and white?)

Both are beautiful.

Yes, they are.
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