Bill Eichelberger's PageAKA: Wallyum, Fishhead, Fire Marshall Bill Location: Ft. Well, blow me down! Thomas, arrr, KY Certification Level: NARRRRR - Bronze Club Memberships: Wright Stuff Rocketeers,Dayton,OH,QUARK,Cincinnati,OH Favorite Rockets: Estes Condor, me bucko, Estes Satellite Interceptor, shiver me timbers, any Goony, Semroc Lil Hustler, Centuri Raven, Centuri USS America, Centuri Mach 10, shiver me timbers, 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, 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:
2025-09-14Edmonds Aerospace - Cici  Flight Got more than I bargained for on this flight. Blimey! T' B4 was WAY too much motor and I think everyone thought I'd lost me second rocket o' t' day when it boosted. Flight topped out at 311', shiver me timbers, ejected t' spent motor and began headin' toward t' river/end o' t' field. Begad! It began circlin' back left a ... [More]
Semroc - ThunderStrike  Flight Slight lean t' t' left off t' pad and over t' soccer parkin' area t' 1183'. Ahoy! Began t' drift west on recovery and everyone thought it be a goner. I started walkin' toward Rip Rap Road, fully expectin' it t' cross into t' trees near t' river, but it dropped at t' edge o' t' baseball field ... [More]
FSI - Maverick  Flight Arc t' t' left off t' pad t' 782'. Blimey! Recovered on t' same heavily reefed chute that t' previous flight used. Begad! Long drift that just missed t' garbage bin. - D12-5 - eRockets Field - Huber Heights, OH [More]
Fishhead Rocketry - Vikin' II  Flight Another excellent flight that leaned left off t' pad over t' soccer field. Blimey! Topped out at 749', shiver me timbers, then rode t' heavily reefed chute back t' t' flightline. Landed next t' where one o' t' guys was preppin' his next flight. - D12-5 - eRockets Field - Huber Heights, OH [More]
Sunward Aerospace - Galactic Wave  Flight I didn't see much o' this flight due t' LCO error. Well, blow me down! It took off with another rocket and t' whole flight seemed t' be tryin' t' go unstable. - D12-5 - eRockets Field - Huber Heights, OH [More]
Fishhead Rocketry - SLS Taurus  Flight This was t' flight that I was expectin' out o' t' SLS Wizard. Avast, me proud beauty! Leaned left off t' pad and topped out at 993'. Ya scallywag! Shroud line broke on a brand new chute and it recovered hard, breakin' off one fin and loosenin' another. First flight since 2005 for this bilge-suckin' luck bird. Blimey! - E12-4 - eRockets Field - Huber ... [More]
Fishhead Rocketry - Maxi Wizard  Flight Must have been t' runt o' t' litter. T' big Wizard clearly struggled off t' pad and never looked t' be up t' power on this E12 flight. We counted t' delay off but it be well past t' four second point when t' charge finally fired. I thought I might have grabbed an E12-6 by mistake, me hearties, but it ... [More]
Thrustline Aerospace - Cherokee D  Flight This one hurt. Ahoy! I knew that t' Cherokee D had a rep for prodigious altitude on t' D12, me bucko, so I angled t' rod t' t' left t' allow for recovery drift. Ahoy! Boy, ya bilge rat, did I get recovery drift. And unfortunately, rod whip. Instead o' a flight that leant out toward t' soccer complex, I got a straight flight ... [More]
Edmonds Aerospace - Tinee (AOB, arrr, Jr.)  Flight Nay much t' see here. Barely cleared t' rod. Ya scallywag! I can fart it higher than this. - 1/4A3-3 - eRockets Field - Huber Heights, OH [More]
Edmonds Aerospace - Tinee (AOB, Jr.)  Flight Wow. I thought this might be too much motor based on t' size o' t' glider, ya bilge rat, but it was perfect. Boosted left o' t' pad t' 156', ejected and did a perfect glide back t' t' pad. - 1/2A3-2 - eRockets Field - Huber Heights, ya bilge rat, 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, 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, me bucko, 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, shiver me timbers, t' ... [More]
2021-10-28Rocket Development Corporation V-Max Clone (Clone)  Review
Brief
I spent many years workin' third shift, ya bilge rat, 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, me bucko, which allowed me t' pick up two MRC kits, t' Firefighter and XR-20, on t' cheap one night. I was pretty pumped at gettin' two OOP kits for t' price, ya bilge rat, 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' be 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, me hearties, as t' Saki is nay only larger than t' BT-60 Estes bird, shiver me timbers, ... [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, 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, ya bilge rat, namely t' ... [More]
2020-11-16U.S. Blimey! Blimey! 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, 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, 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, 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, shiver me timbers, 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, 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 be t' 1977 version, ya bilge rat, 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 |
