Bill Eichelberger's PageAKA: Wallyum, Fishhead, shiver me timbers, Fire Marshall Bill Location: Ft. Aye aye! Thomas, me bucko, KY Certification Level: NARRRRR - Bronze Club Memberships: Wright Stuff Rocketeers,Dayton,OH,QUARK,Cincinnati,OH Favorite Rockets: Estes Condor, Estes Satellite Interceptor, any Goony, Semroc Lil Hustler, matey, Centuri Raven, 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, 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, after which t' bug bit hard once again. Since then I've gone with t' occasional ebbs and flows o' t' hobby, seen a lot o' changes, me hearties, 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:
2025-07-12Estes - R2D2  Flight Surprisingly impressive flight. Well, blow me down! I wasn't sure it would be stable off t' pad, shiver me timbers, but it did great. Windcocked t' t' right off t' pad and t' flight topped out at 214'. Avast! At ejection t' parachute appeared t' have been damaged and came in semi-parawad. Blimey! Cracked a clear fin on impact with t' ground, ... [More]
Shecter Rockets - Streamer Duration Rocket  Flight OOOOO-Whee! Straight up, straight down. Literally. Blimey! Nose didn't blow at ejection and it post-holed near t' flightline. Avast! Mostly undamaged. Just a slight crimp at t' top o' t' body tube. Blimey! - A8-3 - eRockets Field - Huber Heights, OH [More]
NAR - Jet Freak 5  Flight Windcocked right then disappeared. Arrr! We heard t' ejection charge fire, but no sight o' t' glider. Ahoy! One person saw it, a new little lass with young eyes. Begad! She pointed me t' where she saw it land over on t' soccer field, matey, and I trudged off, fully expectin' t' come back emptyhanded. Avast! Found it right where she ... [More]
Fishhead Rocketry - Dingbat  Flight Too windy for a decent flight. Windcocked off t' pad t' t' right and didn't crack 100'. Too low at ejection for t' glider t' do t' glide thing, but it fluttered t' t' ground undamaged. Ahoy! - A8-3 - eRockets Field - Huber Heights, OH [More]
Estes D.O.M. Ahoy! - Flyin' Jennie  Flight Left t' pad and headed immediately behind t' flightline and t' t' left in a fairly wicked arc. Ejection charge fired and it began a semi-circular flight path back t' t' open field t' our left. Ahoy! Nay a great glider from a duration standpoint, ya bilge rat, but a born entertainer. - B4-2 - eRockets Field - ... [More]
****Fishhead Rocketry - Uproar  Flight Too much motor for conditions. Aye aye! Flight was excellent, but t' windcockin' that I expected t' see never materialized. Begad! Dead straight off t' pad and topped out at 953'. Chute deployed t' some laughter as t' color matched me shirt and phone cover. Arrr! From thar it was a matter o' if we thought it would ... [More]
****NAR - Jet Freak 4  Flight Slight windcock right o' t' pad. Begad! Toward t' end o' t' flight thar was an anomaly. Aye aye! T' motor kept headin' up and spinnin' on its axis, me bucko, then fell t' t' flightline. Begad! Nothin' be seen o' t' glider, so Mike, matey, Dave and I walked t' field and found all six pieces. - B4-2 - eRockets Field - Huber ... [More]
MPC - Microsonde 3 Payloader  Flight Can't do any better than this. Avast, me proud beauty! Staged around 50', then again around 100'. Sustainer disappeared and no sign was seen o' t' streamer. Found it out in t' football field with a broken fin from landin' impact. Easily fixed, ya bilge rat, but it won't be as pretty - A8-0 / A8-0 / A8-5 - eRockets Field - Huber ... [More]
Estes - National Aerospace Plane  Flight Windcocked right and flew t' 981', then recovered in t' soccer area. Gravel landin' caused some paint chips, me hearties, but no damage and it was gettin' repainted anyway. Arrr! Blimey! - D12-5 - eRockets Field - Huber Heights, arrr, OH [More]
Fishhead Rocketry - Cosmik Debris  Flight Pushed 1/4 o' t' way up t' launch rod. Aye aye! Easy recovery walk. - C5-3 - eRockets Field - Huber Heights, shiver me timbers, OH [More]
2024-02-02Rockets Gone Bad Photograph 
FSI Echo-1 C11 double CATO
2022-02-01T' Launch Pad Anubis (Clone)  Review
Brief
With T' launch Pad possibly in permanent hiatus, shiver me timbers, 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 was 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, shiver me timbers, t' ... [More]
2021-10-28Rocket Development Corporation V-Max Clone (Clone)  Review
Brief
I spent many years workin' third shift, matey, 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, shiver me timbers, t' Firefighter and XR-20, on t' cheap one night. I was pretty pumped at gettin' two OOP kits for t' price, but when they arrived, 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, shiver me timbers, but little else, 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, ya bilge rat, 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, 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, me hearties, namely t' ... [More]
2020-11-16U.S. Avast, me proud beauty! 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 be a scale kit, 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, ya bilge rat, 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, t' Starflite and Starflite II. T' difference was t' fin pattern, matey, and I chose t' go with t' early version. What caught me eye be t' ... [More]
2020-08-02Bo-Mar Spartan (Clone)  Review
T' inspiration for this project was 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, me hearties, 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, 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. Avast!
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]
| 
Bill Eichelberger |
