Over 2 Million Served!

The blog hit 2,000,000 views yesterday!

Not bad for a rocket nerd.

Normal Stats!

It looks like the page views sources are back to normal again!
Russia is a medium green. Whew!

Russian Hits - What?

Today the blog got over 3,500 hits!
Sure I should be excited, but maybe not.

Over 2,700 hits from Russia?
Typically the blog gets anywhere from 750 hits to 1,500 a day. It varies, weekends get more readers.

These have got to be some sort of robotic hits but I'm not seeing any questionable sources like "Vampirestats".

I've cracked the country of Moldova this month! Great, now I have homework. What's a Moldova? 

EDIT: I just did a search. The first listing that came up was for Anatasia Date, a Moldovian Marriage site. Hooray! Rockets are finally a chick magnet with single Moldovian women!
The second listing: "Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The capital city is Chișinău."
See what you learn on a nerdy rocket blog?

Four Year Blog Anniversary

July 4th is the Four Year Anniversary of the blog!
Nearly 3,000 posts and 1,000 readers a day.

Here's the copy from the first post from July 4, 2010:

"While I've been active posting on The Rocketry Forum and EMRR, I wanted a place to archive my construction methods and builds. 
Everyone has their own "proven" ways of building rockets. This blog is not written to say I have all the right techniques. I just know what works for me and am always open for a better way to get it done.
Who knows? Someone might just pick up a new technique or be inspired to improve on what is written here."
_________________________________________________________________________

Some annual ground rules . . . 

You are always welcome to comment on a build or post. 

A comment doesn't mean: "You're wrong! That's not the way I'd do it!"

Agreed. Keep doing it your way. The blog started as just a record of my rocket builds.
I know you can't please everybody.

There have been negative comments.

My response: "Feel free to start your own blog and give your perspective."

Those new blogs lasted a week.

Regarding requests for MPR or HPR builds - 
My models and flights rarely go beyond an black powder E engine.
I don't have the budget or the storage space for larger models.
I have tremendous respect for the mid and high power flyers. 
I always watch and am impressed by the flights.

LPR models are still a challenge for me
No matter how large the rocket, out of sight is still out of sight.
Many of the LPR techniques can be applied to larger MPR models.

Occasionally I might post about something off topic, like getting electrocuted.

It's my blog, I can write about whatever I want. 

Rest assured, the next day will be back on rockets.

Thanks for following! More stuff to come . . . 

If you want to see the blog continue, join Patreon or purchase an Odd'l Rocket kit. 

2,000 Posts!

Whoo - Hoo!
Yesterday the blog reached 2,000 posts!
The numbers are steadily growing, some days it'll reach 650 readers worldwide.
Thanks for following, I'll do my best to keep it going.

My apologies to anybody having trouble making recent comments on a post.
I was hit hard last week with spammers and the Google blog people shut down any commenting for a bit. Should be back up as normal by now.

Top Ten List for 2012

Here's this years Top 10 list of some favorite posts from the blog.
These posts can be builds, products and even major disappointments.

Counting down from 10:

(Click on the names for a direct link)

10.  Most disappointing - The SPACE X self adhesive body wrap! Sheesh!

9.   THOR AGENA B - A great classic build.

8.   AVI NIKE TOMAHAWK  - One of those Bucket List builds, I'll finish it in 2013.

7.   Cheap NIGHT LAUNCH LIGHTS! These were available over Halloween, do a Google search under finger lights.

6.   Cheap BRAIDED KEVLAR! A Best Buy from the Kevlar Store.

5.   SCAVENGER Build and E9-6 Cato. Nose cone made from a Dollar Store Valentine's Day champagne flute.

4.   STEVE BRADLEY ROCKET FINISHES - Amazing paint!

3.   Dr. Zooch SATURN V - I know, it's still being built. A must have for any builder / flyer.

2.   V2 RECOVERY - Big surprise for me. The local R.O.C.K. guys got it out of the high tree!

Insert drum roll here:

And the #1 favorite blog item is:

1.   Dr. Zooch SLS!

A beautiful builder's kit and great flyer!
The Saturn V decor takes a little more time, but is well worth the effort.

Total flights for 2012 was 131, less than half of my 285 launches in 2011.

20 models were built and finished in 2012.

Where am I going to store al this stuff! Good thing I'm single.

You can visit the 2011 Top Ten and 2010 Top Ten lists. Click on the names!

Blog Post Stats

Today is the Second Anniversary of the Model Rocket Building Blog!

Each day the blog gets about 500 hits worldwide.

All Time Pageviews is 182,602.

There have been 1,577 posts, averaging two posts per day.

Here's the TOP 10 searches:

10. TIP: Budget Wadding Feb 20, 2011 117 Pageviews

9. New CHEAP Cutting Board Dec 18, 2010 132 Pageviews

8. Model Profile - FlisKits Cutaway Engine Feb 17, 2011 138 Pageviews

7. Estes Saturn V Build Part 1 Parts Apr 28, 2011 163 Pageviews

6. Estes Saturn V Build FINISHED! Jun 13, 2011, 5 comments 260 Pageviews

5. Mars Snooper Build Part 15 Fitting The Vanes Dec 13, 2011 261 Pageviews

4. Estes Saturn V Build Part 5 Engine Mount May 2, 2011 263 Pageviews

3. Spray Paint Tips Jul 22, 2010 309 Pageviews
2. Estes Saturn V Instructions Sep 26, 2010 376 Pageviews

And the Number One Search:

1. Model Profile Dr. Zooch Saturn V Nov 7, 2010 936 Pageviews

What do these stats tell me?
Model builders are cheap and like the Saturn V (in any size)

Top 10 for 2011

I had 285 launches in the past year, 90 flights more than in 2010.
For me, that's 1,066ns or 67% of a J engine.
Of the 24 builds completed in 2011, these are my top picks.
Click on the BOLD NAME to go to the finished pictures or blog post.
Counting down from Number 10 -

10. Downscale Carded PATRIOT
I did four downscales this past year, the Patriot, Astro 1, Pigletsus and Mini Bertha. Built around a BT-20, the Citation Patriot is the favorite. Click on the FREE PDF PLANS at the top of the blog for a link to make your own.

9. Semroc BABY ORION
The finished model seemed much smaller than I thought it would be. Still a great build and a chance to do some small detailing. Eventually sent to Carl at Semroc for a late birthday gift.

8. CWF MIX FOR BODY TUBE SEAMS
This wasn't a build, but I may have found a workable mix that stays in the body tube seams when sanding it to surface.

7. Centuri FINLESS
After many stable flights with the Hot Rod Rockets Bell Bottom (A smaller conical stability rocket) I was surprised that the Finless wasn't stable with anything larger than an "A" engine! Recreating the roll patterns with Blackboard Contact Paper worked great.
Why is an unstable rocket on this list? Because it just looks cool!

6. CD SPOOL
This was one of those rare surprises. The spin on recovery is very fast! A perfect small field flyer.

5. 260 SPACE BOOSTER
Another one to scratch off my bucket list. After all these years, clear plastic fins still pop off on landing.

4. PIGASUS!
After a frustrating first try, the new Pigasus is a favorite especially with the wives and girlfriends dragged to a launch. I was happy it was stable!

3. Odd'l Rockets CYCLONE
An amazing, no moving parts helicopter recovery rocket. When flown with a 1/2A engine, I'm still surprised at the long flight duration of the monocopter recovery. This one puts the fun back into sport rocketry. Many thanks to Jonathan Mills, Ph.D for a great design.
The Cyclone was #1 on last year's Top 10 list after just a few test flights. It's on this year's list now that it's in production as a successful Odd'l Rockets kit.

2. Semroc DEFENDER
A rewarding build, but I was nervous to try my first three engine cluster. It was worth the wait. Very FAST off the pad, it reminds me of an old B14 engine in a minimum diameter rocket.

1. Estes SATURN V
This was a long build and one I was proud of. Over 70 blog posts from start to finish. (Too many according to some blog readers!) I've heard the blog helped others with their Saturn V build. It remains a "shelf queen" for now.

Thanks to everybody who reads the blog!
If you are not a "follower" yet, why not sign up?
If the interest grows, the blog will continue.
Let me know if I'm on the right track!

One Year of Model Rocket Blogging!

Today marks the
1 Year Anniversary
of this blog!

850 posts and 50,000 hits!
On average, the blog is now getting 275 hits per day, 8,250 hits per month.
Blog hits increase by 500 each month.



From last week, here's the hits from around the world:
United States 1,170
Canada 117
Germany 66
United Kingdom 53
Australia 30
Spain 13
Malaysia 11
New Zealand 11
Serbia 11
India 10

If you have learned something from this blog, why not join as a follower?
Leave a comment when you can.
The feedback, good or bad, will keep it going.

Thanks for reading!

5,000 Blog Hits Last Month!

Yeah, sure - BIG deal!
Well, it is for me.

This blog has seen a steady increase in hits since it was started July of last year.
In March it had over 5,000 hits for the month!

TOP TEN Countdown for 2010

Taking a cue from Dick Stafford's Rocket Dungeon,

Here's my TOP 10 FAVORITES since starting this blog last July.

(Click on the names to go to the blog entries)

10. A-20 Demon

Just a classic downscale.

9. MX-774

Favorite kitbash from an Estes Bullpup kit.

8. Sky Hook

Retro build from 1972

7. Big Girtha - picture at top right

2 engine cluster "sort-of" Bertha

6. Freedom 7

Great new kit from Dr. Zooch

5. Powered FLIC

One way to fly the Quest "freebies"

4. Engine Hooks "How To"

Highest number of views

3. Martian Patrol CATO - picture at middle right

Best picture captured by Roger Smith

2. MMX Skywriter

A great MicroMaxx performer

And the biggest surprise of the year -

1. CYCLONE

Mapleseed Recovery Rocket

Simply amazing on recovery.

You've got to try one of these!

The blog build is coming soon!

Blog Stats - Two Months In

September 5th marked two months of blogging!
There is a counter at the bottom of the main page, here's some more accurate numbers.
I was surprised by some of the results.

July Hits = 2496
August Hits = 2991
Each day this site gets around 100 hits

Since the first post, visitor hits were from:
1. United States - 5,747
2. Canada - 208
3. Belgium - 39
4. Germany - 34
5. Australia - 21
6. United Kingdom - 21
7. Japan - 16
8. China - 8
9. Pakistan - 8
10. India - 6

1st Place - Most Popular Post:
How To Make Your Own Engine Hooks
2nd Most Popular Post:
Quest (BP Engine Powered) FLICS
(Huh? I guess everybody has a few of those)

Top Referring URL:
http://rocketdungeon.blogspot.com/
Thanks Dick!

Top Searches that brought readers to my blog:
Filling Seams & Building Tips