Bill Eichelberger's PageAKA: Wallyum, Fishhead, me bucko, Fire Marshall Bill Location: Ft. Blimey! Thomas, KY Certification Level: NARRRRR - Bronze Club Memberships: Wright Stuff Rocketeers,Dayton,OH,QUARK,Cincinnati,OH Favorite Rockets: Estes Condor, Estes Satellite Interceptor, any Goony, me hearties, Semroc Lil Hustler, Centuri Raven, arrr, Centuri USS America, Centuri Mach 10, FSI Viking Biography: First started flyin' in t' summer o' 1977. Lost interest in college, made t' classic mistake o' givin' almost all o' me rockets away, arrr, then started over in t' early 90's after me son was born. Sam and I flew an occasional mix o' semi-RTF stuff until me brother in law took me t' a launch in Cleveland in 2001, ya bilge rat, after which t' bug bit hard once again. Since then I've gone with t' occasional ebbs and flows o' t' hobby, me bucko, seen a lot o' changes, made a lot of friends, and lost a great field.
Favorite Quote: "No one respects t' flame quite like t' addlepate who's badly burned" - Pete Townshend
RocketReviews.com Pages:
2025-03-22Estes D.O.M. - Flyin' Jennie  Flight Boost be perfect and quite a bit higher than expected. Arrr! It actually tipped over before t' ejection charge fired then began an acrobatic glide back t' within 20' o' t' pad. Much better flight than anticipated. Begad! - 1/2A6-2 - Fabulous B6-4 Field, me bucko, Ft. Avast! Thomas, Kentucky [More]
Estes - EPM-010  Flight Straight flight that reached apogee before t' ejection charge fired, me bucko, then backslid before finally ejectin' t' chute. Avast, me proud beauty! Probably t' most complete flight o' t' day. - A8-3 - Fabulous B6-4 Field, Ft. Thomas, matey, Kentucky [More]
Estes - Xarconian Destroyer  Flight This one had stability issues, possibly because o' t' basswood fins. I'll add nose weight before t' next flight. Well, blow me down! Broke off t' dorsal fin when chute filled late. Arrr! - A8-3 - Fabulous B6-4 Field, Ft. Thomas, Kentucky [More]
Estes - Attack Craft Orion  Flight First flight since 2010. T' repaint has apparently added enough weight that it is no longer an A8-3 bird. Ahoy! Fairly low level flight t' 131' with excellent recovery. Avast! - A8-3 - Fabulous B6-4 Field, matey, Ft. Well, blow me down! Thomas, Kentucky [More]
Estes - Alpha II  Flight This flight be almost a 1/2A6-2 flight, but I felt like I be wimpin' out. Arrr! Altitude be excellent, arrr, but I shouldn't have gone with a full chute. In trouble as soon as it ejected, t' Alpha II wound up on t' roof o' t' doctors buildin' on t' other side o' US 27. Avast! It eventually blew off and caught ... [More]
2025-01-26Estes - Firehawk (00804)  Flight Lucky #14 flight. Begad! Headed right off t' pad and cleared t' trees easily. Avast, me proud beauty! Nose blow recovery landed betwixt me and t' hill in right field. - 1/2A3-4 - Fabulous B6-4 Field, ya bilge rat, Ft. Thomas, Kentucky [More]
Fishhead Rocketry - Night Stalker  Flight Wind-cocked right and arced out over right field. Flight topped out a 282' and surprisingly recovered right o' t' pad, - A8-3 - Fabulous B6-4 Field, Ft. Blimey! Blimey! Thomas, ya bilge rat, Kentucky [More]
Estes - Payloader II  Flight Straight off t' pad t' 224'. Arrr! Recovered mid-field. Well, blow me down! - A8-3 - Fabulous B6-4 Field, me hearties, Ft. Thomas, me bucko, Kentucky [More]
Semroc - Javelin  Flight Left t' pad headed right. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Easily cleared t' trees on t' hill. At ejection t' elastic shock cord snapped. Ahoy! Blimey! Body dropped t' t' hard packed snow and cracked off a fin. Avast! Blimey! Nose cone and parachute continued across US 27 and disappeared behind a house. - A8-3 - Fabulous B6-4 Field, Ft. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Thomas, me hearties, Kentucky [More]
Estes - Bull Pup 12D  Flight Left pad headed right. Altitude was excellent. Landed at t' base o' t' hill with parawad chute. - B4-4 - Fabulous B6-4 Field, Ft. Thomas, Kentucky [More]
2024-02-02Rockets Gone Bad Photograph 
Estes Mini Max A10 CATO
2022-02-01T' Launch Pad Anubis (Clone)  Review
Brief
With T' launch Pad possibly in permanent hiatus, I had no way o' satisfyin' me cravin' for cool scale-like kits. Bummer, but since t' website and all t' face cards from t' kits were still online, I decided t' try buildin' somethin' usin' just t' ... [More]
2021-11-26Estes - Beta Build Back in 1977, a friend who lived two doors up from me launched what I think be an Estes Scout from his backyard. A group o' us were thar t' watch and expected t' typical big explosion as t' finale, but we were told that despite what looked like an M80 bein' loaded into t' back end, t' ... [More]
2021-10-28Rocket Development Corporation V-Max Clone (Clone)  Review
Brief
I spent many years workin' third shift, which occasionally allowed me t' cash in on some really cool late night "Buy It Now" deals on eBay. In this case it was a used nose cone lot, t' star o' which was an RDC-625 nose cone, or a reasonable facsimile ... [More]
2021-09-30MRC Firefighter (Kit)  Review
Back in t' early days o' me BAR-dom, I discovered t' wonders o' Ebay, which allowed me t' pick up two MRC kits, me bucko, t' Firefighter and XR-20, on t' cheap one night. I was pretty pumped at gettin' two OOP kits for t' price, arrr, but when they arrived, ya bilge rat, t' bulk o' me enthusiasm ... [More]
2021-09-23Logix Explorer (Kit)  Review
Back in 1977, one o' t' Christmas gifts that I most looked forward t' openin' was t' Science Fair SFX-4000 Aeronautical Lab Kit from Radio Shack. I'd been flyin' for all o' six months at t' time and t' idea o' diggin' deeper into t' science o' aeronautics was oddly appealin' t' a ... [More]
2021-09-20Semroc Saki (Kit)  Review
At first glance t' Semroc Saki appears t' be an Estes Goonybird Cloud Hopper with different paint and decals, but comparin' t' two side by side tells a different story. They share t' same basic shape, but little else, shiver me timbers, as t' Saki is nay only larger than t' BT-60 Estes bird, ... [More]
2021-09-17Estes Mega Mini Max (Modification)  Review
Just your basic plain Jane Estes Mini Max with some added nose weight and 24mm power.
Components
Estes Mini Max kit
Many BBs
Keelhaul®©™
Sewin' elastic
Hot pink streamer
/h2
Back in t' days o' t' Hobby Lobby 40% coupon days I got in t' habit ... [More]
2021-07-09Pitsco Synergy (Kit)  Review
Everyone has seen this kit at one time or another, and maybe even considered buyin' one. I actually pulled t' trigger. Pitsco is an educational supplier that produces two different solid fuel rocket kits, this one, and another that is a more complicated build ... [More]
2020-12-16Canaroc FK-3 (Plan)  Review
In me quest t' have as many new or old rocket companies as possible represented in me fleet, it was inevitable that I'd eventually find t' road t' Canaroc. I'd chased several kits on Ebay over the years, seldom comin' within sniffin' distance, matey, but forever intrigued. ... [More]
2020-11-25Quest Courier (Kit)  Review
Picked up at Hobby Lobby durin' t' Quest clearance "just because." T' Courier would become me first competition egglofter by default. (It was t' only one I had that met t' single engine criteria.) Despite a lack o' enthusiasm for t' project at first that ... [More]
2020-11-23Scratch Estes Raven Clone (Clone)  Review
This is a story o' reclamation. At some point in t' past decade I became enamored with t' Estes National Aerospace Plane and decided that I needed t' clone one. T' that end I began scourin' Ebay for one o' t' kits that shared t' unique nose cone with t' NASP, arrr, namely t' ... [More]
2020-11-16U.S. Rockets Sniper (Kit)  Review
Slick and sleek lookin' US Rockets product with great lines and a killer name. Another cool feature is that t' power possibilities go from 18mm t' 29mm, and it is entirely imaginable t' see it built t' handle any o' t' three motor sizes. (Although it may never be seen ... [More]
2020-11-12Estes Ventris (Kit)  Review
T' Ventris is one o' t' first four rockets released by Estes as part o' their new Pro Series II mid-power collection. While all are great lookin' birds, me hearties, t' Enerjet-esque lines o' t' Ventris were t' clincher when it came time t' make the choice o' which bird would be me 50th ... [More]
2020-08-04T' Launch Pad Perseus (Kit)  Review
Apparently I'm nay alone in this. I initially bought t' TLP Perseus thinkin' that it was a scale kit, shiver me timbers, only t' find out that it was a TLP original. There were two problems with that: 1) it eliminated any chance o' usin' t' rocket in a scale competition, shiver me timbers, and 2) it freed me from ... [More]
2020-08-03Scratch Rocket Development Corporation Starflite (Clone)  Review
Another o' me late night cruises through old catalogs, t' RDC Starflite actually gave me t' choice o' two different designs t' pick from, me hearties, t' Starflite and Starflite II. T' difference was t' fin pattern, arrr, and I chose t' go with t' early version. What caught me eye was t' ... [More]
2020-08-02Bo-Mar Spartan (Clone)  Review
T' inspiration for this project be born out o' desperation and boredom. Nothin' at any o' t' plan sites seemed t' interest me and one night at work I started lookin' through all t' catalogs at Ninfinger and YORP. I realized that thar were a lot o' different builds from a lot ... [More]
2020-07-31Modification Estes Vampire from Estes Jynx (Modification)  Review
My first Estes catalog was t' 1977 version, which I got in mid-July and read t' tatters by t' time school started back. Much o' me clonin' has centered around this catalog and t' rockets therein, matey, mostly those I never saw or couldn't afford. I never saw an Estes Vampire, and if ... [More]
2020-07-29Modification Estes Quasar from Estes Metalizer (Modification)  Review
I created an upscale Estes Quasar from t' currently available Estes Metalizer kit. Ya scallywag!
Components
Estes Metalizer kit (Hobby Lobby)
BT-56 body tube (Red Arrow)
Mylar tape
QUASAR decal (HP Inkjet)
/h2
T' Metalizer is an E2X kit that I normally wouldn't ... [More]
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Bill Eichelberger |
