Fire and Forget - GOODBYE!

I went to the monthly NEFAR launch in Bunnell, Florida.

The Fire and Forget rocket was one of my first out of eight launches today.

The RSO read my description: "Anyone who finds it can keep it to fire and lose again. Say goodbye to my leetle friend!"

That 35 year old Centuri C6-7 engine worked like a charm. Straight boost and more tracking smoke than the newer engines have.

It was out of sight, and lost as expected.

Sorry about the out of fuzzy picture, but aren't those background tents in great focus?

Here's my Dr. Zooch Saturn V on a Estes C6-5. First time I've flown it on a "C", great straight boost. It landed on the road, just a little loose nozzle bell on landing.

Other sucessful flights: an Odd'l Rockets Wedgie on a C6-3, a Flis Diminuative Deuce on a 2 engine MMX cluster, Franken Goblin on a B6-4 and an Applewhite Monocopter on a A10-pt.

My only trouble flights were the Groove Tube clone. I'd flown it before on a A8-3 in the nearby schoolyard with no problems. Today I had two unstable flights with Quest B6-4s. I'll have to add some nose weight even though the original Centuri kit doesn't call for it in the instructions.

Other notable flights were: Brian Coyle's Hybrid, Carl Campbell's Saturn 1B on E18s, Gary Dahlke's Two-stage Dual Deploy (amazing-that's how it's done!) and John Bishop's Quest Magnum on a two engine cluster of C6-5s. There were many, many more low, mid and high power flights. I just don't know all the flyer's names yet.

A real highlight for me was meeting Eric Truax, he rode in from the Gainesville area. I learned quite a bit more about Carded Rockets. We compared notes and talked of some rocketry "personalities."

If you're not flying with a group - you should be!

Fire and Forget! OOPS!

Take a look at that root edge!

I don't know what happened here. All the other masking lines looked great. I noticed some roughness at the fillet joint and ran my fingernail over the edge. The paint rolled right off!

We'll use one of the decal "bars" from the last post on the Gereric Bars and Stars decal sheet - how convenient!


Cut the left side of the decal bar right on the color line. Because this is such a thin decal, leave a little of the clear backing of the side opposite the black edge.

Lay it right into the fillet using a small slightly wet detail brush tip.



Here's the trim bar in place ready for some clear coat.

Fire and Forget! Painting Finished

That Centuri C6-7 engine is from the early 1970s. It was in storage in the cool, dry humidity of Northern California up until two years ago.

Some may cringe at the idea of flying an old engine - but why not!

There's no streamer on this rocket, it's just (as they used to call it) "Featherweight Recovery". The engine ejects and the rocket falls "harmlessly" to earth.

I know, why would you spend so much time on a rocket you're just going to lose? Compared to most, this isn't an involved build. I figure I'd give it a good send off.

Fire and Forget! Painting Continued

If I haven't mentioned it yet, I'm using Rustloeum Painter's Touch spray paint from Home Depot.

It's about $4.00 a can. They advertise it as 2X Coverage and I believe it is. It'll go on thicker than what you're used to - so be ready.

So far it's been very compatible with the Scotch Tape masks.

Before anybody writes a comment telling me: "I tried your methods and You ruined my rocket!

If your surfaces aren't properly prepared, clean and smooth, any try at masking won't give you clean lines!

Fire and Forget! Masking Continued

In my builds, masking tape is only used to hold the larger masking material down - in this case, plastic sheet cut from a WalMart bag.

I've read where people use aluminum foil and paper for large area masks. The bag works best for me.

Regular brown masking tape is best reserved for masking window frames on your house, not for model and hobby masking.

Notice only one fin and the nose cone are exposed for the black spray to follow.

In the end, the brown masking tape is placed about 1/2 the way onto the clear Scotch tape.

Double check the entire model before spraying. The second color will find it's way into any small hole or opening. Add more tape just to be sure.

Fire and Forget! In progress build

I'd never built a "Fire and Forget" since my old Estes Streak back in the late 1960s.

This was a spare parts build, the main ST-7 body tube was even cut and notched for an engine hook.

That nose cone is a Semroc, I don't know the catalog number.

Fins were cut from some 3/32" balsa scraps.

In the first picture you can see the body is masked with my tape of choice - Scotch Tape.

For a paint scheme, I wanted to go classic with a simple Red and Black two-tone. I purposely masked the black nose area way below the top of body tube. This gives the illusion of a longer nose cone. This was easy since the nose cone / body tube joint was filled and smooth.

This shows the masking around the single black fin. Look close and you'll see multiple pieces of tape around the fin.

First pieces of tape were along the root edges. A second piece went over the tip of the leading edge. Finally two pieces were set at 45 degree angles around the tip to follow the rounded leading edge.

The 45 degree mask won't perfectly follow the round leading edge of the fin. In a future post I'll explain how to cut a mask to fit it even closer.