Kits, and miscellaneous picsKits, and miscellaneous picsWe've got ( or had) quite a few kits. Estes Alpha, Nike Arrow, Mosquito, Quark, Astrocam, Phoenix, Comanche 3, Tomcat and Fat Boy. Two Quest Astras, an Apogee V2, and a Seattle Rocket Works' MIRV Gryphon
Kids collectionThe kids all have their own rockets. Josh has got an Estes Fat Boy, James has an Estes Mk109 that he's flown lots of times, he's also got a Quest Astra that he built himself at UKRA 98. Shaun also has an Astra, the 'Lemon Lobber' ( It's bright yellow). He usually flies it with a couple of lemon drops inside. Kieran had an Estes Mosquito. We lost it the first time we flew it! I got him an Apogee V2 from the International Rocket Weekend. These take minature Apogee engines that you can't get in the UK. I modifed it to take Estes smallest 1/2A, but the weakened boat-tail broke on the first flight and we lost a section of it and the fin.
From left to right:
KB-1Because of Kieran's bad experiences with kits, I've designed built a robust, easily recovered rocket for him, the 'KB-1'. It had to be flyable in windy conditions, not go too high, not drift, and be very rugged. So it has a single 18mm mount ( flies great on a B or a C, a bit low on an A), centered with two balsa bulkheads. Its got a nice wide body made from a paper towl core ( keeps the altitude down). Fins are mounted 'through the wall' and joined to the engine mounting bulkheads *and* the engine mount itself. Solid balsa nose. Recovery is by twin streamers cut from a carrier bag. The shock cord is attached such that the nose comes down first, followed by the body and then the streamers. All the edges of the body tube, engine mount are strengthened with CA. This is a great flyer, easily visible, and it comes straight back down for easy recovery. We particularly like the 'Fisher Price' paint scheme!
From left to right:
Download the plans ( bigger than shown).
Here's the launch crew. From left to right: Ian ( Shaun's mate), Christine ( Ian's Mum), Cookie, Karen and Callum, Shaun ( Hello!), James (peeping over Shauns' shoulder), Kieran, Joshua, and me. I guess Ian's Dad, Brian must have taken the picture. This was a great day. We launched the Mk5 twice, the Astras, X-24, and Astrocam ( Used a roll of film!) lots of times
Phil Bulmer's Mercury RedstoneI met Phil on the internet. Either he saw my page or it was rmr, I can't remember which. He's very disparaging about rockets built from the contents of people's dustbins. But that's because he knows so much about it!
His model is great. It's powered by a couple ( perhaps three) D engines, and has a sophisticated recovery system. As you can see from the pics it doesn't always work. I think the Mercury capsule has it's own recovery system too, but I can't remember how it was supposed to work, just that it would have been very cool. The pics werer taken at the International Rocket Weekend, in August 98. This is an annual event held at Largs in Scotland. This is a fantastic event, well worth the trip and the money.
From left to right:
MkI MkII MkIII MkIV MkV MkVI Saucer X-24 Camera Rockets Misc
