You guys are CRAZY!!!
 

Yes, you know who you are...

I had my first Club Launch today, per my other post. It was pretty darn awesome. I could not believe the rockets and or the money these people have tied up in them. One guy indicated he had about $3500 into it; about an 8’ rocket. It sure makes the trip to see these behemoths launch. I couldn’t stop the word “wow” from exiting on every launch. Truly amazing and I can see how people get addicted to this… It sure made my little hobby rockets seem inadequate…

And the kids/wife loved it. They, nor I were prepared for the first high power rocket. The noise and sheer power was unbelievable… And I guess they did not shoot off the 6500’ rockets either… In 2 months they are having a major event and we will be back. They are also shooting at night, so I will have to rig up some LED’s in one of mine and give it a shot…

And the wife’s first comment when she saw these rockets was “I will never give you a hard time about spending money on your rockets”. Of course I was thinking “Ohh, boy, this could get out of control in a hurry”….

after many years I still get a thrill launching rockets ..big and small.

ofcourse I gotta say... we generally don't "shoot " our rockets ( tho a couple I've wanted to..lol) ... we just launch them..

anyway..sounds like a good day !

Yup. Remember what the wise man said:

"There's a fine line between a hobby and mental illness".

I was similarly wow-ed by my first visit to a club launch a week ago. At some point (after seeing those HP behemoths), I'd like to try a MP rocket, but that's aways down the road, yet.

We must know different wise men because I was told "It's a fine line between Saturday night and Sunday morning".

I still get a thrill out of going to launches and its not just the big stuff anymore. I get jazzed seeing a long glide from a boost glider, complex cluster, and first launch of a new bird I've put together

That's kinda how I felt about it when I got back in the hobby in 99. And still do. I was interested in the bigger stuff, and expected to eventually fly mid and high power, but my priorities included numerous LPR projects, many of which I'm still dreaming up :)

In the case of the L3 - the far end of the power scale - I see that more as a badge than a license. I'm working on it now. While I don't have a burning passion for it, it'll be a fun project as it comes together. But when I get it, I doubt I'll be flying too many $300-$1500 motors afterward :) I can do lots of the high-tech, L3-ish projects flying E-I motors. That is, dual deployment, air-starts, etc, don't need 10,000Ns motors ;)

Anyway, I flew mainly low power for a couple years, focusing mostly on BP staging. And still do with the occasional MPR and HPR flights mixed in. I did that at HPR launches, and never felt out of place - there were always lots of LPR fliers. And I saw very little HP/LP conflict.

Plus, one great thing about flying LPR at a high power event is the extra recovery space. When you fly a complex clustered/staged BP rocket, you need a little more room than the average low power field, and the extra people aid in tracking and recovery.

The other thing I've noticed is that most rocketeers appreciate a good paint job and a flight that pushes the envelope regardless of impulse level. Whether you're flying an M motor or a Comanche on a full D-C-C stack, it takes some cajones, and if the flight is successful, most rocketeers will give you a pat on the back.

So you can enjoy club flying no matter what kinda rockets you're launching.

Doug

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Well put, Doug.

I am in trouble...
 

Ok, here it starts… I guess I will start looking for a medium power rocket to fly in late March… Seems reasonable in terms of cost for rocket and motors…

I like the Blue Phenix 2.0, with payload option… http://www.apogeerockets.com/Blue_Phenix.asp This one is a wow factor, but a bit more advanced. Not sure I want to rely on my building skills just yet… http://www.rocketreviews.com/review...oc_magnum.shtml The Blue Phenix looks to be a bit more durable and basic in terms of build. Moving to the next step here, I don’t want to leap too far, so will be doing a lot of research…

Either way, looks like I will break out laquer gun on this one and use automotive paint… But we will see; I still will think on this a bit…

And so it begins.... :)

The Apogee site is down at the moment... I don't remember which Blue Phenix they sell, but it comes in 3 sizes: 38mm, 3", and 4".

I'm assuming that you're looking at the 38mm version as you mention mid-power. The 3" and 4" versions are too large and heavy to fly on mid-power.

The good thing about this kit is that it's made of Blue Tube . This is a wonderful material, overall. Extremely durable, so no worries about crushing tubes in transport. It can compete favorably with fiberglass and carbon fiber, although it does fall short just a tad in extreme circumstances.

On top of everything else, the Blue Phenix is much more of an HPR kit scaled down to MPR levels, instead of an LPR kit beefed up. The downside to this approach is that it will weigh in on the high side for it's size, so while it can fly on E power, it's much better on F or G.

As for the Magnum, that is 100% a high power rocket. It will not fly on a mid-power motor. You will need your L1 certification at minimum. It would be a fantastic first high power cluster rocket, and if you really want to challenge yourself, you could build this, and fly it for both your L1 and L2 certifications.

So many options, so little time. :)

Cheers,
- Ken