All Rocketry Blogs

Rich's Rockets: Repairing giveaway rockets (part 1) (2016-05-15)

If you’re a kid and you come to one of our club launches, you’re entitled to a free rocket and a motor to fly it with. Some of these freebies are ones we’ve built to give away; ... [Read More]

Rich's Rockets: Repairing giveaway rockets (part 2) (2016-06-05)

Back to fixing up giveaway rockets. On the Monarch, I’d hoped not to have to do anything about the upper body tube but that was wishful thinking. I twisted it a bit too hard trying to see if ... [Read More]

Rich's Rockets: Repairing giveaway rockets (part 3) (2016-06-26)

I decided to repaint the Athena but to try to save the self adhesive decals, which were in good shape. Masking them worked pretty well, though the mask on the rear stripe was a little too wide and ... [Read More]

Rich's Rockets: Repairing giveaway rockets (part 4) (2016-08-05)

I finished up the giveaways with Syracuse Rocket Club decals.The Athena still needs a chute; I’m out, but I’m pretty sure our club stash has some. Also, I built four Make It Take Its. [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Cracked Root Edge Joints? TIP (2016-11-28)

I've made a resolution not to buy any more rockets where wood fins are glued to plastic. Everybody has had fins break off on a hard landing. Fins glued to plastic seem to be more prone to this. Wood ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Fixing A Corner Chip - TIP (2017-01-04)

Did you ever get a small break at the corner of a fin?  You could use wood filler but this method will stick better. In preparation, have a small amount of balsa sawdust gathered in a pile. ... [Read More]

Rich's Rockets: Repairing three giveaway rockets (part 1) (2017-06-04)

I took home three rockets to repair from a club meeting several months ago. Decided it was time to work on them. First one is the body of an Estes Freefall, but with an elliptical nose cone (and no ... [Read More]

Rich's Rockets: Repairing three giveaway rockets (part 2) (2017-06-04)

Maybe not a decent enough start, because tonight I went back downstairs and did some more. I suppose I should have looked up the instructions for the Up Aerospace before building rocket #2. I would ... [Read More]

Rich's Rockets: Repairing three giveaway rockets (part 3) (2017-06-11)

For #3, I cut six seemingly identical new fins. On closer examination one finds one of them has the grain running parallel to a different edge than the others. That became the rear part of the new ... [Read More]

Rich's Rockets: Repairing three giveaway rockets (part 3) (2017-06-16)

Here’s #1 and #2:#1, the Freefall, I think is good to go, unless I decide to run into a dollar store and look for a paratrooper toy to stuff inside. #2, not so much. I did a swing test and it ... [Read More]

Shroudlines: The Return of the Tomahawk (2018-03-26)

The year was....uh....a while back. The place was McGregor, Texas. The event was Sport Scale. The rocket was the Estes D Region Tomahawk...slightly modified. The button was pushed and she screamed ... [Read More]