My Rocketry web site

[mperdue]

Awhile back I mentioned my rocketry website in one of the forums and I was surprised by the number of people who visited from here. So, just in case some of you be into rockets, I thought I'd let you know that the site has just undergone a major rework. If you're interested in model or high-power rocketry please feel free to visit.

http://www.indyrockets.org

Mario

 

[joeadt]

rocketry

Good to see rocketry is not dead yet. Good website

 

[damaged]

Oh man, do I miss that, between the ages of 11-15, that was all I and my friend spent money on, engines, ignitors and kits! (nothing as big as on your site though, you need a special license or something for those, right?)

Eventually though I got to the point where we started to try and jam too big of rockets in smaller models, then taping them to a skateboard, model cars, etc etc...lol, I'm with joeadt though, glad to see it's still around.

 

[mperdue]

Rocketry is alive and well in spite of attempts by the BATFE to shut us down with draconian regulations.

I've been flying rockets since I was 9 years old and have really enjoyed it. The larger stuff is the most recent branch of the hobby. To fly them you need to be a member of one of the national rocketry organizations and be certified for the size motor you plan to fly. Becoming certified isn't terribly difficult; you have to take a written test then build and fly a rocket with a motor in the size range you are testing for. Pass the test and have a successful flight and your're ready to go.

Check out http://www.nar.org to see if there's an active club in your area. You too can be a born again rocketeer.

 

[damaged]

Rocketry is alive and well in spite of attempts by the BATFE to shut us down with draconian regulations.

I've been flying rockets since I was 9 years old and have really enjoyed it. The larger stuff is the most recent branch of the hobby. To fly them you need to be a member of one of the national rocketry organizations and be certified for the size motor you plan to fly. Becoming certified isn't terribly difficult; you have to take a written test then build and fly a rocket with a motor in the size range you are testing for. Pass the test and have a successful flight and your're ready to go.

Check out http://www.nar.org to see if there's an active club in your area. You too can be a born again rocketeer.

Hmm, thanks, I may indeed check it out, I've been playing around with the idea of going back into gas powered RCing again, this might be even better.

 

[angiodan]

I also spent a ton of cash on Estes rockets when I was a kid. In my garage, I still have my Saturn V and Mercury Redstone (nothing like the size of the one on your webpage!). I'm sure with a little sprucing up, they would probably still fly.

I used to love launching the V, nice dramatic liftoff, about a hundred feet in the air, and boom, 24" double chutes for the body and the nosecone coming down with an 18" chute. People loved watching it. And the best part was I didn't have to run like a madman to retrieve it!

Some of those smaller ones I had that would hit 500-700 feet, with any wind at all, it would feel like a marathon trying to get to it. Lost a few that way too!

Nice website!

 

[damaged]

I also spent a ton of cash on Estes rockets when I was a kid. In my garage, I still have my Saturn V and Mercury Redstone (nothing like the size of the one on your webpage!). I'm sure with a little sprucing up, they would probably still fly.

I used to love launching the V, nice dramatic liftoff, about a hundred feet in the air, and boom, 24" double chutes for the body and the nosecone coming down with an 18" chute. People loved watching it. And the best part was I didn't have to run like a madman to retrieve it!

Some of those smaller ones I had that would hit 500-700 feet, with any wind at all, it would feel like a marathon trying to get to it. Lost a few that way too!

Nice website!

Did you ever fly the Space Shuttle/Booster one? It (booster and shuttle) would go up together, and when the nose faced down at descent, the shuttle would release from the booster (via gravity) and glide down, that was my favorite, it was also the one we did the most running to retreive, 2 parts, and one glides for like 1/4 mile...'nooo, you get the shuttle this time, I ran to get it last time'...lol

 

[angiodan]

I never flew that one, but it was one that I wanted to buy. A few I had that I remember the names were the Der Red Max, Big Bertha, and the space station one.

Being the geniuses we thought we where, we once tried putting a glider hooked on the side of a rocket, so it would be similar to the shuttle one. Well, you can almost know what happened when we launched it, not putting any weight on the opposite side to balance, that thing went up about 15 feet, and quickly turned and shot off ripping along horizontal to the ground. A couple of hundred feet later it hit the ground. Fortunately, no one else was around in the park we were in, since someone really could have been hurt. When we got to the rocket, the nosecone was buried in the soft ground a few inches, and there was our glider about a foot in front of it!

Us crazy kids, a complete bunch of idiots!

 

[mperdue]

When we got to the rocket, the nosecone was buried in the soft ground a few inches

That sometimes happens with the bigger rockets too except that it can be a few feet instead of inches and recovery involves a shovel (or sometimes a backhoe...) Needless to say, every rocket (even the Estes sized stuff) is inspected by a safety check-in officer prior to getting approval to fly on our field.

Mario