1000 flights

[A Fish Named Wallyum]

As it stands right now, I enter this weekend with a flight total of 983 dating back to 1977. With a little luck, my 1000th flight might go off this Sunday. There might be a flight or two I missed over the years, but I was pretty good about keeping up my flight logs. Anyone else keep a more or less complete set through the years>

[mojo1986]

Nope. That's pretty impressive, Bill!

Joe

[Doug Sams]

As it stands right now, I enter this weekend with a flight total of 983 dating back to 1977. With a little luck, my 1000th flight might go off this Sunday. There might be a flight or two I missed over the years, but I was pretty good about keeping up my flight logs. Anyone else keep a more or less complete set through the years>I have a log, from the BAR era, but have never counted them up. I will say, I have over a thousand motors in my stash, so I'm pretty sure I'll get there some day :)

That said, there is no stronger indication of being a nerd than knowing you hit a thousand or keeping a log :o;):rolleyes:

Doug

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[A Fish Named Wallyum]

That said, there is no stronger indication of being a nerd than knowing you hit a thousand or keeping a log :o;):rolleyes:

Yeah, I've thought the same thing. I was lucky enough to be a pack rat as a kid. I saved my flight notebook in the same file box where I kept my beer can list, and I knew right where to look when I rediscovered the hobby in 2001. :rolleyes:

[Randy]

As it stands right now, I enter this weekend with a flight total of 983 dating back to 1977. With a little luck, my 1000th flight might go off this Sunday. There might be a flight or two I missed over the years, but I was pretty good about keeping up my flight logs. Anyone else keep a more or less complete set through the years>


GO BILL! :D

I wish I had kept up with my flights. I have no idea, not even to average them.

Verna & I cheer you on! May you reach your milestone before your gall stone! ;)

Randy
www.vernarockets.com

[Chas Russell]

Brother Bill: Good Luck on Sunday with your flights. Make us proud. I'll raise a brew to you.
Heck, was going to do that anyway... I am funny that way.
I never kept a flight log since my first launches back in 1967. Too many competition flights over the years along with the sport flights.

Chas

[A Fish Named Wallyum]

Thank you, gentlemen. I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't have bothered to keep up with the flights had I not found the EMRR flight log feature, which I found when I was trying to work up the nerve to write a review of my own. In fact, that's how I realized that I was approaching the 1k mark. I was paging down to get to my list of reviews I'm working on and saw that I have 983 flights listed. :D

[dlazarus6660]

Amazing! Good luck with that 1000 flight!

[chanstevens]

Congrats on the milestone!

I too got sort of addicted to the EMRR flight logs, kept up with the for several years, though wound up dropping the habit when the site got sold and went through transition. Nothing against the new owner, but when the site went into brief hiatus, my habits changed and I stopped recording flights, also stopped posting reviews of everything I built. Plus, flying so many scratch and contest models, seemed kind of a hassle logging flights on those...

Coolest feature from my perspective was the year over year comparison showing something like 3 years' worth of monthly totals, used to motivate me to fly more and more each year beating the prior year.

[Bill]

Are those 2013 motor usage numbers up to date? They seem a bit low.


Bill

[A Fish Named Wallyum]

Are those 2013 motor usage numbers up to date? They seem a bit low.


Bill
Believe it or not, they are. I've only flown twice so far. Circumstances have conspired against me on several occasions this year. I'm thinking about stacking the odds a bit for Sunday and heading to the field with a lot of my flight victims prepped with everything but the igniter and a chute.

[ghrocketman]

I keep my flight log in my BRAIN. That is MORE than plenty for me. Congrats on being close to 1000. I know I have burned over 1000 motors since starting in 1977, but doubt the flight total is more than about 700.

[RocketRohde]

Hope you make it this weekend, I can't be there as I will be at a wedding in TN. I don't have any records from my earliest flights (1969-70), but I have some records from my first BAR trip (78-80) and this latest re-entry in 2006 which put my total at 607. Maybe you can make the trip to the museum on Saturday to make the goal a little easier to obtain over the weekend.

Mike

[John Brohm]

Bill;

You could continue that streak at NARAM; any chance you'll be there?

Congrats, by the way!

[A Fish Named Wallyum]

Bill;

You could continue that streak at NARAM; any chance you'll be there?

Congrats, by the way!
Supposed to be. I've got the vacation set up, and I'm hoping to be there at least Friday-Monday, but I may stretch it out a bit. We're having our decks replaced, so no other real vacation is planned this year. :rolleyes:

[blackshire]

Thank you, gentlemen. I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't have bothered to keep up with the flights had I not found the EMRR flight log feature, which I found when I was trying to work up the nerve to write a review of my own. In fact, that's how I realized that I was approaching the 1k mark. I was paging down to get to my list of reviews I'm working on and saw that I have 983 flights listed. :DI'm impressed with those who do keep flight logs. Depending on one's circumstances, though, that might not always be desirable. Just as some sport fishermen and hunters purposely *don't* add up all of their costs to determine the per-pound cost of the meat they harvest (because it would ruin their enjoyment of the experiences), I don't want to be in a position of being able to calculate how many dollars per newton-second (or dollars per second of flight time) I have literally burned over the years... :-)

[Doug Sams]

I'm impressed with those who do keep flight logs. I do it so that I can look back and see what chutes/streamers and motors I have used on a given bird. It helps me select a better combo next time out. For example, several times I've started to put a certain delay motor only to read that, last time I tried it, the delay was too long (or too short). Similarly, I'll have notes that indicate the chute was too much or the streamer not enough. I'll also see where I had the rod tilted too much or not enough, etc. So, my old, spiral bound notebook is very helpful when I'm prepping.

One other thing it's helpful with: If I've prepped, then scrubbed, I have a list of what's stuffed into the birds, so, when I finally go get a chance to fly them, I can look it up without pulling the motors and chutes out. Those stagers with friction fit motors are a royal PITA to disassemble then reassemble. And I fly lots of stagers. (In addition to the notebook, I will usually tape a note to the prepped rocket listing the setup.)

I've found that with rocket gliders, the log book is especially helpful. Those types of rockets tend to be much more finicky about how they're set up. When they loop off the rod, then eject 5 feet above ground, they don't coast very far (even if they are horizontal.) So getting the rod angle (w.r.t the wind) and the right delay can make a huge difference. And the log book really helps!

Doug

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[A Fish Named Wallyum]

Hope you make it this weekend, I can't be there as I will be at a wedding in TN. I don't have any records from my earliest flights (1969-70), but I have some records from my first BAR trip (78-80) and this latest re-entry in 2006 which put my total at 607. Maybe you can make the trip to the museum on Saturday to make the goal a little easier to obtain over the weekend.

Mike
No, no museum for me. Sunday will be tough enough as it is, especially since I have to be at work at 10pm. :eek: I've done it before. It just makes getting home on Monday morning that much nicer. If this weekend gets washed, I might give Muncie a try next Saturday. That is, if they'll have me. ;)

[A Fish Named Wallyum]

I really don't think about the cost. My wife buys trees and plants for the yard that the deer immediately destroy. I think it's money down an eternal hole, but she likes it.
As for the actual physical log, the one I have is minimal. I've been working to update it into a book that is large enough for details like Doug suggested, but I can't stand to sit still long enough to make much progress. Such is the life of an ADHD child. :D (Or whatever letters they're throwing around to describe me these days.)

[blackshire]

I don't worry about the cost, either; I'm not going to be taking one cent of it with me, so why not enjoy it? I also heartily support Doug's reasons for keeping logbooks. Also (depending on what types of data one records), such logs could even be used for motor age (and/or production lot) versus performance studies, especially if one often flies SAMs (Streamer Altitude Markers) in the models. In 1974, Bill Stine did this, and his flights revealed a 10% - 15% variation in motor total impulse based on the SAM descent times he recorded.

[A Fish Named Wallyum]

I don't worry about the cost, either; I'm not going to be taking one cent of it with me, so why not enjoy it? I also heartily support Doug's reasons for keeping logbooks. Also (depending on what types of data one records), such logs could even be used for motor age (and/or production lot) versus performance studies, especially if one often flies SAMs (Streamer Altitude Markers) in the models. In 1974, Bill Stine did this, and his flights revealed a 10% - 15% variation in motor total impulse based on the SAM descent times he recorded.
I wish I could say I had reasons as noble as Doug's for keeping records, but I mostly use them when the time comes for writing reviews. I guess I could say that keeping a log might prevent me from making mistakes like trying a C5-3 in a Mach 10 again, but the truth is that the mighty loop and crash have been what stuck in my mind all these years later. :D

[ghrocketman]

A 18mm Cox D8-3 would be even better in a Centuri Mach 10 !
A B14-7 (or even B8-7) would be downright hilarious.

[A Fish Named Wallyum]

Well, the deed is done, but at quite a cost. :eek: I flew 8 today, wrecked four, two are dead and two may be repairable. I'll have pics later. Gotta do Mother's day. ;)

[blackshire]

Well, the deed is done, but at quite a cost. :eek: I flew 8 today, wrecked four, two are dead and two may be repairable. I'll have pics later. Gotta do Mother's day. ;)Well...that is a seldom-mentioned advantage of our hobby, although none of us enjoy "exercising" it--our flying models are *much* cheaper than the R/C flyers' (although a detailed scale model rocket may contain as much "sweat equity" as a scale R/C fighter).

[Doug Sams]

Well, the deed is done, but at quite a cost. :eek: I flew 8 today, wrecked four, two are dead and two may be repairable. I'll have pics later. Gotta do Mother's day. ;)Congrats..I think :confused:

Glad you made the mark, but sorry to hear about the carnage.

I do look forward to seeing the pics :D

Doug

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[A Fish Named Wallyum]

I do look forward to seeing the pics :D


The only thing that makes it somewhat worthwhile is seeing the pics. ;)
Then again, nothing made the Ventris experience worthwhile. That sucked with a slurping sound.
BTW, the pics are in the "Entertaining the ROCI boys" thread. :D

[Randy]

Well, the deed is done, but at quite a cost. :eek: I flew 8 today, wrecked four, two are dead and two may be repairable. I'll have pics later. Gotta do Mother's day. ;)


CONGRATULATIONS! Can't wait to see the photos!

And remember, crashing is far more preferable to never having flown. It's a great excuse to build more!

Randy
www.vernarockets.com

[ghrocketman]

I have wrecked/lost FAR fewer R/C aircraft than rockets and have been enjoying both hobbies since 1977. The initial investment in R/C is higher than rocketry, but it is FAR cheaper than even little 18mm Estes engines on a per flight basis. A Gallon of R/C fuel is about $20 now, and that will fly the thirstiest .61 R/C on a tuned pipe at least 8 flights. Most of my 60 sized models have 12 oz (not the more common 16oz) tanks and will run Wide-Open on-the-pipe for at least 10 minutes. Usually my flights are only 50% on-the-pipe so I fly for about 10 min and have at least 1/3 the tank left. That's about $2/flight on my largest glo-power models. The electrics are considerably cheaper.