16 Apr
2004
16 Apr
'04
2:40 p.m.
From: "Jay West"
<jwest(a)classiccmp.org>
Hi
I used to make saltpeter and sugar rockets when I was a kid.
To bad one can't get saltpeter anymore without signing your life away.
I used to have about a 75% successful launch rate. The others
would tend to clog the nozzle and blow up on the pad. I even
made a two stage that the second stage went out of sight. A
couple minutes later, I saw the smoke trail and recovered the
top stage. All great fun.
Dwight
> Model Rockets, anyone?
That used to be
a HUGE hobby of mine. Haven't done anything with it in
years. I want SO bad to get back into it, and design heavier rockets than
balsa and cardboard. Need a better propellant though - love to try LOX. But
that's not the the real goal that makes me want to get back into it. I want
to program microcontrollers to launch inside of it and regulate movable
control surfaces. I want to paint a huge target on the ground (grass), and
the competition would be to see how close you could get the rocket to target
(and hit) the bullseye. Twould be fun stuff.
Jay