Launch, Orlando R.O.C.K., July 5, 2014

It's Florida, hot and humid. Why do we do this to ourselves every Summer?
There weren't as many flyers as in June. Rain was forecast and it's the Holiday weekend so a smaller turnout was expected.
Today was meant to be the shakedown for the Little Green Man. I arrived late, around 11:00 a.m.


The LITTLE GREEN MAN was first flown with an Estes B6-4. Stable, full deploy with no damage on recovery. Height? Maybe 325 feet.

Lonnie B. had plenty of new models and engines bought from a hobbyist getting out of rocketry. These looked to be well built models.

On the right is the top of a Mercury Redstone styled A.C.M.E. Spitfire.
Lonnie prepped it with a D12 engine and it fire balled.
The model was still smoldering on the inside and the BT-50 interior tube pretty torn up.
Lonnie's Skywriter flew higher than expected with a C6-5. It might be lost in a tree.



Here's Kirby and John.
John launched his Estes Tazer with a C6-5. Great altitude but too much drift over the main road and into the trees.
Kirby went out with his extension pole to help get it down.
By the time he got to the road, John found his rocket, on the ground and clear of the trees.





It took two igniters to get the MMX Fliskits M.A.C.M.E. in the air.
I thought it would only go 15 feet but was surprised when the apogee was closer to 35'.

The streamer blew out and it was recovered in the grass with no damage.





I really wanted a C6-5 flight on the Little Green Man today.
I left an igniter lead over a foot and the entire flight was on the launcher.
This picture was taken after ejection. Altitude 2".
I haven't had a stuck flight in years.




My last two flights - first was the CHEROKEE GOON with a Quest B6-4.
Great altitude to probably 350', no damage on recovery.
Finally got the LITTLE GREEN MAN up on a Estes C6-5!
Stable with a slow turn during boost. The slow turn is probably from the three upturned feet.
Altitude is an estimated 600'. A spill hole cut in the parachute kept it close.

Only four flights today. Arriving late and ignition problems with the MMX MACME, slowed me up. But, two more good test flights for L.G.M. is progress!

Fliskits MACME Shrew Build, Part 9, Base Shroud Forming

The shroud was pre-curled in the heel of my hand, by rolling a dowel over the paper.
The gluing tab on the base shroud tail cone is narrow!
I wouldn't recommend using white glue on this, use a glue stick.
TIP: Instead of laying glue on the small tab, try gluing the inside of the opposite edge. It'll still glue over the tab and you won't have to worry about any glue on the outside of the shroud.

The long, smooth jawed tweezers really help when holding the shroud closed.
The pressure helps "set" the glue.

After the glue stick adhesive has dried, a thin coat of white glue was rolled on the inside tab seam with a Q-tip.

Fliskits MACME Shrew Build, Part 8, Skins and Fitting

Before removing the cutting guide wraps, mark the inside of each segment.
The "AB" inside the tube stands for
A Section - Bottom.

It's easy to get these mixed up and it would be a jigsaw puzzle if not marked.

Now I can cut out the segment skins.
The seam edges were cut right on the line, the curved edges were cut wide and will be sanded off later after gluing.

The skin seams fall right on the black lines.
Again, use a glue stick to adhere them. The glue stick isn't anywhere near as messy at liquid white glue and allows for pulling up and re-positioning.

This is the first dry fit of the segments, the fit is very good now.

The white bottom segment will get a shroud cover.
The hole on the bottom ring is in line with the penciled launch lug line.

Good 808 Keychain Camera Directions

If you've ever bought a Key Chain Camera, you know the badly translated instructions can be hard to figure out.

The Apogee Website has written up great instructions for the 808 Key Chain Camera.
CLICK HERE

These directions are for the lower resolution 808 camera.
It records at 30 frames per second and with an image size of 640 X 480 pixels. It's considered low resolution but still impressive for the price.

The Apogee PDF shows which buttons to press to start and record video. It also shows how to change the time and date!

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. 

Fliskits MACME Shrew Build, Part 7, Tube Cutting

After cutting, lightly sand the cut ends flat.

The fit of these segments is important.
Make clean cuts and don't sand off any more than you have to.

Here's the edge sanding before and after.

When I got to the last "D" segment, there wasn't much holding the cutting guide on the tube.
It slipped and I ended up with a bad cut.

Small pieces of Scotch tape were rolled over the ends of the tube to keep the cutting guide in place for another try.

Here's the first dry fit of the body tube segments.
The second try at the tube cuts were worth it.

Estes Specials (Clearance Items)

While I expected to see a Big 4th of July Sale at the Estes website, they are now listing all the sale items as "Specials".
EDIT: It is now listed as a 4th of July Specials on the home page.

Many of the same rockets are listed from the past sales held in observance of:
Easter, Father's Day, Mother's Day, Groundhog Day, Prince Johah Kalanianaole Day, Arbor Day, Jefferson Davis Birthday, Rosh Hashana, White Cane Safety Day and Kwanzaa.

The page title says "Specials"
But the web address line says clearance.
http://www.estesrockets.com/clearance/

Great prices on all listed items.

Gee, how many more Super Alphas can I put into storage?