Eric Lofgren's PageRocketReviews.com Pages:
2022-08-07Estes Mega Mosquito Flight
Altitude
344ft
Top speed
103 mph
Thrust Time
1.65 sec
Peak Accel
8.9 Gs
Avg Accel
2.9 Gs
Coast-Apogee
4.2s
Apogee-Eject
0.0s
Ejection
344ft
Descent
11mph
Duration
27.0s
... [More]
(broken) Estes M.I.R.V. Flight Beautiful flight, central dowel broke on landing. One 2nd-stage motor stuck. Don't tape them inside! - B6-0/3xA10-3 - Rothfuss Park [More]
Estes Jetliner Flight Back from t' dead. I think this be t' minimum engine. Arrr! Good flight & recovery w/12" chute - C6-3 - Rothfuss Park [More]
Custom Rockets S.L.V. Flight - B6-4 - Rothfuss Park [More]
Ol'SaltRockets Breakaway (T' Joker) Flight Separated into 4 (of 6) segments - A8-3 - Rothfuss Park [More]
Estes Mini Mosquito Flight - 1/4A3-3T - Rothfuss Park [More]
Estes Big Daddy Flight Bad altimeter data. Very cool launch. 24" parachute way too much for breezy weather.
Altitude
346ft
Top speed
12 mph
Thrust Time
0.33 sec
Peak Accel
2.2 Gs
Avg Accel
1.8 Gs
Coast-Apogee
5.6s
Apogee-Eject
-5.6s ... [More]
(broken) Estes Gnome Flight Motor stuck (before and after launch), tube crimped. Blimey! Blimey! - 1/4A3-3T - Rothfuss Park [More]
Estes Helio Copter Flight Back from t' dead. Good recovery. - C6-3 - Rothfuss Park [More]
Estes L.G.M. Flight Pretty wimpy.
Altitude
139ft
Top speed
61 mph
Thrust Time
0.8 sec
Peak Accel
10.4 Gs
Avg Accel
3.5 Gs
Coast-Apogee
2.7s
Apogee-Eject
0.5s
Ejection
133ft
Descent
10mph
Duration
... [More]
2017-01-10Estes M.I.R.V. - Stuck engines Build Entry While I did recover all parts o' t' M.I.R.V. I have found t' mini engines got severely stuck in t' upper-stage body tubes. Avast! One came out after an overnight out in t' garage but two are still stuck. Begad! Don't add any extra tape t' make them friction fit! T' wrap on t' outside is plenty. [More]
2017-01-01Estes M.I.R.V. - New Years Launch  Build Entry We had a beautiful day today and I was able t' launch several "new" rockets includin' t' M.I.R.V.
I used a B6-0 and three A10-3T. All four pieces had red crepe-paper streamers t' help with recovery, and I was launchin' on a snowy cornfield so I had high hopes. Arrr!
T' rocket weathercocked a lot ... [More]
2016-12-06Estes M.I.R.V. - Decals  Build Entry I finished t' paint and got t' decals today. Blimey! I'm, as usual, disappointed in Estes decals. They include only enough t' cover t' rocket from one angle, t' angle they use for t' photo. Aye aye! It's like when you see a fast-food burger on TV and you know they've scooched all t' veggies t' t' camera side ... [More]
2016-11-21Estes M.I.R.V. - Painting  Build Entry Havin' painted t' entire rockets with Krylon "Craft Foam Primer", and then t' nose cones and fins with Rustoleum grey auto primer, arrr, I top-coated t' entirety with Krylon Black "Shimmer Metallic" and while it for t' most part looks good I had some weird bubblin' on one o' t' nose cones that I'm ... [More]
2016-11-18Estes M.I.R.V. - Shock cords  Build Entry I borrowed some ideas from various places for me shock cord mounts. Well, blow me down! I poked a hole through t' body tube and fed some kevlar through, then glued it down in t' crack betwixt t' foam and t' BT. Ahoy! Once dry it feels plenty strong. Begad!
That done it's time t' start finishing. I started with a coat o' ... [More]
2016-11-14Estes M.I.R.V. - Internal launch lugs and fins  Build Entry With t' fin paperin' complete I cut a long 3/16" dowel (probably around 16-17") t' use instead o' t' one in t' kit. I positioned t' launch lugs near t' top t' hold t' nose together more securely. Avast!
That done I began attachin' t' fins. Aye aye! I glued one o' each pair o' fins, then used ... [More]
2016-11-12Estes M.I.R.V. - Upper stages fins  Build Entry For no apparent reason (again), three o' t' nine upper fins have t' be glued together, so I did that first. Begad!
Paper on all nine fins then required a portion o' t' edge t' be left uncovered, but on these it was a straight line, so I just glued them off t' edge o' t' paper.
Same deal ... [More]
2016-11-11Estes M.I.R.V. - Beginnin' body tubes  Build Entry A quick update - gluin' t' BT5 body tubes into t' styrofoam body segments, matey, and gluin' t' plastic nose cone halves together. Next is all t' fins for t' upper stages, nine total, three o' which have t' be glued from smaller parts. I'm plannin' t' paper all o' them. Arrr!
[More]
2016-11-10Estes M.I.R.V. - Booster stage fins  Build Entry I started workin' on these fins - they tuck into slots in t' foam so I wanted t' leave a bit o' t' root edge unpapered. Arrr! I cut a notch from t' paper before gluing, spread white glue-all, rolled out t' excess, trimmed and sanded t' size. Well, blow me down! I used elmer's wood glue at t' aft end o' each fin and ... [More]
2016-11-08Estes M.I.R.V. Build As a first try at documentin' one o' me builds, I've decided t' photograph t' process o' buildin' t' Estes M.I.R.V., hopefully includin' some o' t' improvements suggested by Rich DeAngelis as I go. Well, blow me down! [More]
Estes M.I.R.V. - Booster motor mount  Build Entry T' next step be t' assembly o' t' lower (booster) motor mount. Blimey! Since I read that others had trouble slidin' t' motor tube into t' foam mount before t' glue set, I decided t' help myself a little bit. Begad! While t' glue dried on t' motor hook, I drilled a 3/8" hole in a piece o' 2x lumber ... [More]
Estes M.I.R.V. - First stage fins Build Entry T' three fins for t' first stage o' t' M.I.R.V. Begad! are in two parts each which must be glued up, ya bilge rat, for no apparent reason other than t' use a smaller piece o' balsa. Aye aye! My piece o' balsa on which these fin parts (parts A and B) were laser-cut was actually a glue-up o' two skinnier pieces. Aye aye! T' seam ... [More]
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