A word on scratch building. (rant)

When I learned about high power rockets one of my first and unfortunately inaccurate observations was that most people tended to scratch build rather then build kits. I thought that there was no way that someone could make a huge kit and expect people to buy it instead of designing their own. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
When I'm looking at someone's fleet at a launch or browsing build threads on TRF, I see the majority of people building kits rather then scratch building. This is one thing I don't understand about rocketeers.
I dont understand why most people would rather build a kit then scratch build. In my opinion, scratch building is much more enjoyable then building from a kit.
When you scratch build you end up with something unique. Your rocket is yours and yours alone. With a kit there are hundreds or possibly thousands out there that are exactly the same as the one you just built.

I think that kit building also takes the creativity and challenge out of rocketry. Sure, you might have to get tricky with the AV bay or do some small modifications, but beyond that all of the work is already done for you. The rocket is designed, the fins are cut and the body the body tube is slotted. All you need to do is mix up some epoxy and throw everything together. Anyone could do that! Give yourself a challenge for a change. No one said building a rocket was going to be easy.

I see lots of people trying to pick out a kit for their L1. There are pluses and minuses for each of their options. Maybe he likes the look of one but the motor mount is too small. Maybe one looks perfect for him, but he thinks the fins are ugly. Maybe he wants a dual deploy one but the one's he's considered are too heavy for smaller motors. I dont know. With scratch building you can have the best of all of them! Light, dual deploy, a good sized MMT with good aesthetics. Problem solved!

The more you can scratch build or modify, the better. If you can cut your own fins, great! If you can roll your own body tubes out of fiberglass, great! If you can mold your own nosecone, fantastic! In my opinion, the more parts you can fabricate yourself, the better! It's also much cheaper to do things yourself. I can make an all fiberglass tube for about the same cost as a cardboard one of the same size!

Dont get me wrong, kits are perfectly fine! I have many of them and there are perfectly good reasons to buy them. If you see a design that is interesting of very visually appealing, by all means get it! It's more honest to buy a kit then to clone one exactly like it. There are other perfectly good reasons to buy a kit instead of scratch build. I can't slot fiberglass. I dont have the tools or know of anyone who does, so for now, all of my non-minimum diameter fiberglass rockets are kits.
 Some people might have arthritis or some other condition that make it very hard to work for long periods of time. Kits are the way to go for them!
 I think kits are perfect for any one starting out building rockets. Kits give you a good foundation for future building. Building a kit helps you practice skills that would later help you in rocketry, like fillets, shock cord attachment, and basic flying skills.

In all it baffles me when I see people with the time, money, equipment and experience to scratch build, instead buy a kit.Instead of worrying about your "build" pile and you stash of kits, start stocking up on body tubes, nosecones, plywood and fiberglass.
So what are you waiting for! Open up openrocket and design away!

Scratch Built LPR/MPR Rocket

It's been a while since Ive built something small. I got a Mean Machine from Kaelan but I couldnt waste all those tubes on just one rocket....

-Got a coat of primer on the Booster:

Coat of Orange:

This is how I am going to do the name. I'll place these over the orange and paint over them.

Just a reminder: Dont remove masking tape with paint on your fingers.

Finished!

Carbon Daddy

Carbon fiber things goin' on...

Stay tuned!

4in Scratch Build

Big things goin' on...

Stay tuned!

Rocket site of the week! "Greg Smith's quest to spend even more money on rocket science..."

One of the most interesting rocketry blogs out there is "Greg Smith's quest to spend even more money on rocket science".
http://hawtakshun.blogspot.com/
I find this to be one of my most visited blogs.
His blog is exactly as you would imagine one with such a title. Lots of very expensive rockets.
 Posts are generally about what you would expect from a rocketry blog. Builds, launch reports, videos, updates etc. It is all very professional and well done (unlike my blog).
One of my favorite parts of the blog is the pictures. Greg Smith takes some of the most beautiful pictures I've seen. Both lift off pics and others.
I havnt seen to many pictures as good as these.

Also the entire blog has great production value in general. (Is production value the right word?) It's definitely one of the best ones out there.
If you didnt see the link above, here it is again:
http://hawtakshun.blogspot.com/

Hellfire Launch review.

To view my Hellfire launch review click here.

Hellfire was great! Took over 300 pictures so much that I needed 2 flickr accounts:
Here they are:
Aksrockets
Aksrockets2

The full hellfire video is here:

Sorry I didnt post a launch review on my blog, I might later but for now the TRF one will have to do.

The line up for Hellfire 17

Hellfire is just around the corner. I'm already making checklists, comparing motor prices, looking over my budget and doing final adjustments to rockets. Last year I focused on getting as much flights in as possible. I was always frantically running around. This year I'm just going to sit back and relax. I'll fly what I can but if I don't have the money or the time, no biggie. I am planning on flying all of my minimum diameter rockets. The 24, 29 and 38. This should be a fun line up, a bunch of mach busting flights and I'll spend a good bit of time tracking these things down.  Here is the stats for all of my flights:

Motor Mounts are for sissies
Diameter: 1in
 Length:  10in
Weight; about 1 oz.
Motor: F32-8T
Estimated Speed: Mach 1.03 (trans-sonic)
Estimated altitude: 3000ft.
Simon should be preping and flying this one. The rocket is all home wrapped fiberglass except for the nosecone. We will be drag racing Kaelan with his rocket, also on an F32T.

Shockwave29.
Diameter: 1.25in
Length: 25in
 Motor: H410-14VM
Estimated Speed: Mach 1.5 (supersonic)
Estimated Altitude:  5400 feet.
This will be tower launched. I should get some serious speed out of this little guy. All carbon fiber construction. Tracking smoke and a mylar streamer will aid with visibility.

MachMobile38.
Diameter 1.6in
Length: about 3feet
 Motor: H400 vmax
Estimated speed: Mach 1.2
 Estimated altitude: 4500 feet
I might fly this on the CTI 2G white thunder reload instead of the vmax. It should be fast anyway. This will be rail launched.

If I have any extra money, I might fly one of my larger rockets like darkstar or my Little John. GOT IT???

The Stub 2.0

The stub 2.0 began as an "Im bored" project. I had a few extra hours to kill, a 2.6in tube and some fiberglass cloth. Having nothing to do, I glassed the tube out of bordem. I found a nosecone, one from my old 2.6in patriot that I had scraped. I had some scrap plywood and a few extra centering rings so why NOT make a rocket? I cut 3 fins out of 1/8in craft plywood with a jigsaw and started building.
This little guy has a big old 38mm motor mount, capable of flying on a large H motor. It will reach almost 3000 feet on the largest motor, The H100IM. However, it will fly great on Fs and Gs. A large E motor would also be good to fly at the local park.
The original stub was built in 2010, exactly 2 years ago. It was my first 2.6in rocket. I thought it was huge!

A 2G motor sticks up quite a bit into the BT

Not quite sure when I'll fly this or IF i'll even fly this.