Thursday, November 20, 2014

Wrong! Rant

Sometimes I cringe when watching rocket construction videos on YouTube. There's a LOT of interesting information out there.

I rarely post on the forums anymore. My posts were sometimes followed by somebody saying I'm doing it wrong. That's one reason I started the blog.
On rocket forums I usually only post now complimenting a great build or some rocket trivia or history.
After 45 years of rocket building and flying I'm still trying to figure it all out. These blog builds are just how I build rockets. Do what works best for you.

Some forum and video posts are produced by inexperienced modelers.
I've got to give the video builders credit though. They have taken a lot of time to shoot, edit and post their work.
But that's part of the problem - too much information and too many cooks.
On the other hand, I wish this much information was available to me when I was first starting out building rockets. We only had "The Idea Box" in the Estes MRN or the occasional TIP on a catalog page.

How do you know what's right or wrong?
On a forum, check the number of how many posts the writer has. If there are only four posts, chances are the builder is just starting out and may not know what he is doing - yet. But, new hobbyists can bring new ideas and techniques from outside the normal rocketry sources.
What's the NAR membership number?
If the NAR number is low they've probably been around for a while
Just take it all in and come to your own conclusions on building technique.

1 comment:

  1. when it comes to building tips, I go to your site and yours only.

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