Model Rockets?

[dcutter]

Hey guys. So we've been binge-watching Rocket City Rednecks on Netflix, and now my offspring wants to build a little model rocket ... ok....so do I.

Anyone have any idea on where to buy a kit in the Cold Lake / Lloydminster area?

[grant]

Online is your best friend. You'll save some money for sure. I always use www.pmhobbycraft.com to browse what's out there

[Wild&Free]

My brother and I had fun with those when we we're kids. wide open space is required as you never know where they'll land.

finding rebuilding materials became very difficult though, landings and never soft.

do yourself and your kids a favor, start with a 2 stage.

edit: don't skimp out on the base and launcher either, and bring extra batteries and engines just incase.

[Bushmaster]

www.hobbywholesale.com

Its in Edmonton but they ship very quickly.

[Grizzly Adams]

Only model rocket I was ever worked on, involved the Science Club with teacher , the school metal shop and 10 lbs. of Zinc, Sulfur mixture. The technical data came officially, from the US army . Canadian army wouldn't let us launch it at Sarcee, cause of altitude restrictions, so we launched unofficially by Drumheller, calculated it made 10,000. ft. Ain't gonna happen today.

Grizz

[dcutter]

This is going to be awesome!

OK, I know absolutely nothing about model rocketry, so:

1 - What do I need? Rocket, motors.....what else?
2 - Will one of these things lift a GoPro?
3 - What is my approximate danger radius on an entry level rocket? I have a 5 acre field.
4 - How many launches (barring breakage) can I expect out of a body?

[Wes_G]

Last time I did any rocket flying is was quit expensive. Motor were about $12.00 for 3 of the A size. That was about 10 years ago, so I am sure the price has only gone way up since then. I found this a few months ago.. Could cut way down on your costs and make it a bit more of a hobby then just going out and buying the stuff.

http://www.iflscience.com/chemistry/...-sugar-rockets

[recce43]

The source stores have starter kits twi rockets for 20 bucks

[Wild&Free]

You'll need the rocket, engines, base, launcher and batteries.

our first single stage lasted 15 launches before becoming too damaged, though we had to climb a few trees to retrieve it which didn't help with the chute and strings.

single stage won't get too too high 1-300' IIRC but the rocket kit will have that info based on engine size. with wind drift it could land anywhere really.

I don't believe a single or two stage will fly right with a go pro on it, a 3 stage maybe, but flight path will be way off. they do make camera's specifically for model flying and I recall seeing them for rockets 20 years ago when I was doing this. still frame at that time, but today, could probably get goggles, transmitter little video camera and watch the whole flight POV style.

[Scottmisfits]

Check out what they have on www.pmhobbycraft.com and base your selection on what they have. If you can find it cheaper somewhere else, go for it. The stuff at PM will be hobby grade and not toy grade (not like any rocket's are toys), but that might make it easier to find appropriate supplies later on if you do enjoy it.

You can check out http://www.estesrockets.com/ for some cool idea's as well. They are one of the bigger manufacturers. A lot of the school science departments use their stuff because it's reliable, safe, and it just plain works.

[Grizzly Adams]

Whatever happened to the old Co 2 cartridge version ? Can't get much cheaper.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WS6ZrqniIs

Grizz

[recce43]

You will get hooked first its the small ones then ones with d engines then payloads then multiple stage ones then war head one opps thats what i did . Then kid will try making bazooka rocket launcher. Taping rockets to toys . Just saying

[Kim473]

They are fun. Most hobby stores have them. Find a very big area to launch it and don't do it on a windy day. when the parachute opens and it takes a couple minutes to come back down, the wind will carry it for a mile. My son used to launch his in the winter at the cottage so if it was windy at all it would land on the frozen lake and not in some trees and lost.

[happy honker]

Just be careful the trailer park supervisor doesn't back his car over it right after it lands!

have fun,sounds De-cent!!!

[Albertacoyotecaller]

We just bought a 2nstage rocket kit the other day. We need a laugh platform?

[greylynx]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams

Whatever happened to the old Co 2 cartridge version ? Can't get much cheaper.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WS6ZrqniIs

Grizz

No No No No No.

Bad stuff grizz.

[Wild&Free]

Originally Posted by Albertacoyotecaller

We just bought a 2nstage rocket kit the other day. We need a laugh platform?

I assume you mean launch platform. I would say yes. most rockets I used had a guide and the base had a rod so the rocket wouldn't get knocked over before launch and it started with a straight vertical trajectory.

[mark-edmonton]

Just buy a kit to get started! Had dozens of these when I was a kid! Boy will have a blast!

[Albertacoyotecaller]

Originally Posted by Wild&Free

I assume you mean launch platform. I would say yes. most rockets I used had a guide and the base had a rod so the rocket wouldn't get knocked over before launch and it started with a straight vertical trajectory.

Damn auto correct! Thanks.

[Wild&Free]

Originally Posted by Albertacoyotecaller

Damn auto correct! Thanks.

I try to help when I can.

rest of the time I can't help but be a cynic. you'll get used to it.

[Jack&7]

I used to love it when I was a kid and still do with my kids now. They cannot believe how high these go (I regularly launch to 1000+ feet). Most have told you some good info here already. If you need any help or want some advice, just ask. know this: you will get hooked!

You can get very easy ready-to-fly kits (and that's not a bad place to start), but half the fun is building the more elaborate models.

At a minimum, I would suggest you need a launch pad and launcher, but if you don't want to spend the cash on those, I can help you with the DIY versions of those. Really, the only manufactured parts you truly need are the engines and ignitors. You can get kits that have everything all together...rocket, engines, launcher and launch pad. Or you can get just the rockets themselves and overall it is a cheap hobby that is fun to do with the kids.

One tip: get a rocket with a streamer recovery system. There is just too much damn wind in this province and parachutes cause huge drift which leads to lost rockets!

[Anvil1010]

Launching rockets has been a Thanksgiving day tradition for me and my family going on 25-30 years now. We have some rockets that have been up so many times that we have had to cobble together fins, shock cords, parachutes etc.

We always set up on one end of a quarter and then someone does retrieval via a quad or motorbike. On windy days, those bad boys sure can drift.

[sirmike68]

I grew up blasting rockets, and loved every minute of it. Had a 20 year hiatus but now I introduced my kids to it and they love it. Good times, fire and smoke always puts a smile on people's faces!

[jinzuke]

I have built a few of the hobby kits and it is great fun. I seen in youtube you can make rockets out of sugar and stump remover for a very low cost look it up

[300magman]

Don't try launching one with a go pro, as it will almost certainly ruin your rocket and quite possibly the camera. The weight of the camera will throw the balance off way to much, and you could end up with it hammering the ground with the motor still in full burn. Me and my son launch rockets all the time, and tried designing our own from scratch last year (no kit)....tried about 10 different times, each time being a several hour build, and every one of them either flew like complete crap or crashed due to slight balance issues. This was stuff like fins not being quite right, etc and only tried flying on D engines.

Just don't want to see you wreck a good rocket and more so a good camera, lol

[geezer55]

We haven't launched rockets in years but when my sons were younger it was one of the things we loved to do. After building from kits we started building our own designs, some flew quite well others crashed. One piece of advice so you don't lose as many rockets is get rid of the parachutes and use long plastic ribbons instead, the rockets come down a bit hard but at least they come down in the same township.

[James Henry]

When my kids were young we launched many rockets. We even delved into making our own, of the things we learned was that cigar tubes don't fly well and hiding in the truck makes a great shelter.
JH

[dcutter]

OK, now where to begin. Ended up in the truck for a 3 hour drive to Hobby Wholesale yesterday morning!

We picked up a kit with a rocket, launch pad and remote starter, and we got another rocket for the Offspring.

Figured while I was there, and since I made the drive I may as well blow some coin on one of these quadcoptors with a camera...more to follow.

So last night I was in the garage building a rocket and a buddy comes by to witness the foolishness Having never set one of these rockets off, we figured (after much consideration) that if we used some electrical tape to secure a couple of launch loops to the side of an arrow shaft (without a field point - we aren't savages ) and tape a rocket motor the the tip of the arrow, we should be able to test one of these motors.

Launch successful! That thing TOOK RIGHT THE F$ OFF!!! I did NOT expect that kind of speed!!!

Plan was today to launch off the rockets, but high winds might delay our launch day.

[dcutter]

Oh - and the traffic in Edm yesterday was BRUTAL! I heard there was some kind of skating thing in the valley somewhere, but I'm not sure what was going on. It was insane! I figured it would calm down once I got out of the downtown area, but it was bumper to bumper all the way to St Albert!

[Big Bull]

Which quadcopter did you get?