Bill's Rocketry
Launch Reports
This is a summary of the inventory at most of the hobby shops in the
DC area. It includes out of production kits still in stock.
My Rocketry
I started with an Estes "Streak" back in the mid 70's as a family thing,
then rediscovered rocketry in junior high and built a healthy stable just
in time to mothball it for high school & college. At graduate school,
I re-rediscovered rocketry, resurrected the stable, and launched
a bit at NASA's Goddard SFC. Recently, I've been building larger rockets
and obtained my Level 1 certification in October 1999. I now fly at a
handful of high power launches each year.
New construction from scratch uses basswood or plywood fins with epoxy
stitched surface mount or "to-the-tube" mounting.
It is certainly heavier, but as much as I love construction, I really hate
making repairs. This construction can survive some pretty good impacts,
and from my launch reports, you'll see why that's a factor for me!
I'm now building large rockets (36"x2.6" and up) with Stu Barret's
anti-zipper design.
The Stable
(C=Centuri, LP=Launch Pad, CM=Custom, Q=Quest, HD=Holverson Designs, PMC=Plastic Model Conversion, all others Estes)
(repro = reproduction, all others are original releases)
(X indicates scale factor relative to original size)
Several of these were originally built by other family members.
Rockets followed by "*" indicate plans have been prepared (many forwarded to JimZ).
From left to right by rack:
- Wac Corporal*, Alpha III*, Superflea*, Scout*, Streak*, Streak*,
Mosquito, Mosquito, Javelin* (on ground)
- Orion Starfighter*, Torellian Invader*, Dragonship 7*, Scorpius*,
Photon Disruptor*, Satellite Interceptor (custom paint), Condor*
- Red-Eye (C), X-Wing, Starship Vega*, Wac Corporal*, Scud*,
Scram Jet (C) (on ground)
- Gyroc, Aerofin*, Snipe Hunter (C)*, Quasar*, Soaring Eagle*, Stiletto*,
Bandito (C)*, Micron (C)*, Mark II
- Mini-Shuttle*, Mig-29 (C)*, Tartar*, LTV Scout, Titan, Sea Dart*, Shuttle
-
Screamer "Mega Brute" (4.8X repro),
Screamer (1X repro, 2-stage)
MinuteMan, Phantom*, Rogue* (custom paint),
Gabriel AS/III (LP),
Pegasus (1.8X repro) (on ground) JimZ plans,
Klingon K'vort Class Attack Cruiser (PMC) (on ground)
- R2D2 (24mm mount)
- Mosquito (4.8X repro, 29mm mount)
- "Stupids" Alien Ship (custom design)
- Quark
- Quark (4.8X repro, 24mm mount)
- Excalibur (#1338) (1.59X repro, 29mm mount)
- Mark II (3.53X repro, 29mm mount)
- Starlab (0.75X repro, 18mm mount) (on ground)
- Solar Warrior (4.86X repro, 29mm mount) with Tango Papa decals
- Scorpius (2.70X repro, 29mm mount) with Tango Papa decals with launch photo
- Trident (repro) JimZ plans, with Tango Papa decals
- Silver Comet
- Goblin (3.02X repro, 38mm mount) JimZ plans, with Tago Papa decals
- Photon Disruptor (4.10X repro, 38mm mount) with launch photo
- EAC Viper (4.10X repro, 38mm mount) JimZ plans with launch photo
Awaiting First Fight
In the Vehicle Assembly Building
- Scissor Wing Transport (2.2X repro, 29mm mount)
- Saturn V (1:144 PMC, 24mm mount) (rebuild, Houston, we have a problem)
- Ariane 44L (1:125 PMC, 24mm mount) (repairs, landing damage)
On the Drawing Board
- Level 2, payload booster
- Alien Explorer (2.22X repro, 38mm mount)
- Amphibious something or other (4" diam, 38mm mount)
Featured Rockets
-
This is a plastic model conversion. After some milling for clearance, an
18mm tube was epoxied in with a bulkhead to allow motor ejection and a
brace against the body to prevent the motor and tube from moving.
The neck was too narrow for a recovery system, so the nose was permanently
attached and the parachute loaded into the left wing for rear ejection.
A plastic sprue taped to the motor unblocks the chute compartment and
deploys the chute at ejection. the shock cord is attached at two points
to allow the rocket to fall "flat", hopefully slowing the descent and
spreading the impact rather than applying it all to the nose.
The rear body panel
hides the workings for display, and is removed for flight.
The nose is well weighted for stability, and with the thick plastic body
this sucker is heavy. A C6 will get it high enough to eject just before
impact (if launched from a hilltop). An attempt with an Aerotech D21
(my first Aerotech attempt ever) never left the pad but didn't result in
any damage (see launch report of 8/24/97).
-
This are Estes kits from 1980 and 1981. From left to right are
undecorated 0.33X scaledown Dragonship 7 (one flight on A10), an original
Dragonship 7 kit (lots of flights), a 1.59X scaleup Dragonship 7 (two flights
on D12-5,C6-5,C6-5 cluster), and a 1.59X scaleup Excalibur (one flight
on F20-4).
The original Dragonship 7 has a lot of wear to the fins and decals.
I think the wear and the painting error around the guns gives a
sense of fierce battles. Several clearcoats applied when it was
pulled out of mothballs will hopefully stabilize the decal wear.
Gone But Not Forgotten
- Amraam (fiberglassed, 29mm mount) - first flight, not recovered, 1999
- Centuri Excalibur - forest landing, never spotted, Goddard SFC, 1994
- Estes Scrambler (w/24mm mount) - misplaced during house move, 1988
- Estes Flying Saucer - misplaced during house move, 1988
- Estes Apogee II * - misplaced during house move, 1988
- Centuri Moonraker * - misplaced during house move, 1988
- Estes Marc II - no deployment, just kept going, 1978?
- Estes Quasar - landed just inside a federal installation, 1976-77?
- Estes Wac Corporal - forest landing, never spotted,1976-77?
Gone And Forgotten
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