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Essence's Model Rocketry Reviews is pleased to announce a new photo contest.
This contest also serves as a bonus item for the 2009 EMRR Challenge, but it is not
necessary to participate in the Challenge to participate in this contest... but, why wouldn't you?
We know that rocketeers have favorites and end up building a so-called
"family" of rockets. For instance:
- Series up up/down scales
- Same type (gliders, stubby, etc)
- Same theme (Goonies, Star Wars, etc.)
- Same paint theme
- Same rocket w/ different configurations
So let's see them!
Winners will be judged by EMRR Guests during a voting week of October 4 - 10,
2009.
- Entry photos must be at least two (2) photos
- Entry may be GIF, JPEG, of BMP - or - if you don't have an electronic photo,
e-mail us for a mailing address and we will scan the pictures for you.
- The "write-up" need only be basic information of what
"inspired" the rocket. It would be nice to know what it flies on, altitude, recovery and success (or not)
information too!
- MUST Be "G-Rated".
- Contestants may only enter (1) entry
- Contestants must be on EMRR's Announcement List to
be eligible
- Contest is over on 10/1/2009.
- Online Voting will take place from 10/11 -
10/21.
Submit your entries here:![[E-Mail]](../images/anishared_send-pencil.gif)
PRIZE TABLE*:
(Even if you can't play or win, thank these sponsors by supporting them!)
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PRIZE SELECTION: The normal prize selection procedure for EMRR
is that at the end of the contest winners will get an e-mail THROUGH THE eList
asking them to acknowledge by reply within a week. Prize selection is done through this e-mail exchange.
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![[Picture]](../images/link_aaw_logo.gif)
Art Applewhite Rockets |
Any Style of Flying Saucer kit of your choice of design up to a 29mm
motor mount. |

SpaceCAD |

(1) SpaceCAD Registration License |

ARA Press |
This book examines the social phenomenon of flying saucers through the lens of the films
and other media of the day. You won't find any chapters on Area 51, Roswell or almond-eyed Grays here. What you will
find is a detailed and meticulously researched reference on some of the most popular science fiction films of all
time. |
First Flight
Hobbies |
Production Rocket Kit #2 from newest rocket company: First Flight
Hobbies |

Guest |

(1) Fliskits Rose-A-Roc |

Guest |

(1) Estes Mighty Mites Kit |
Glenn Roth & the 4H Radical
Rocketeers |

(1) Quest Flat Cat Boost-Glider |
Entries:
Entry #13: Timothy Doll 137
points |

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Scale Family I like
scale models, especially those from the 1960s (with a special fondness for the Saturn 1B and Saturn V). I think it is
particularly interesting to assemble 'same scale' families to show the progression over the years.
The 1/100th Scale Family (above left) - all 1/100th scale models of
1959 - 1960s vintage rockets. This is my favorite 'family' as it shows the dramatic progression from the Jupiter C to
the Saturn V in less than 10 years. It is kept 'on display' on my bedroom dresser, with that Apollo 11 poster in the
background. From right to left (small too large): Nuebauer Jupiter C, Nuebauer Mercury Redstone, Nuebauer Mercury
Atlas, Nuebauer Gemini Titan, MPC Titan IIIC, MPC Vostok, Estes EST 0892 Little Joe II, Estes EST 2048 Saturn 1B, Estes
K-35 Saturn V, Estes EST 2001 Saturn V, and Estes EST 2156. In the foreground in front of the middle Saturn V is a
plastic model LEM. None of these have actually flow, but with the obvious exception of the LEM model all were built to
be flight capable, and I have versions of all but the Titan IIIC that have flown.
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The 1/70th Scale Family (above right) - all scale models, varying
in scale between 1/70th and 1/73rd (close enough unless you start measuring stuff). This collection is on display in my
'office'. From left to right: North Coast Space Shuttle, Apogee Saturn V, Apogee Saturn 1B, Estes K-29 Saturn 1B
(started in 1972, finished 30 years later with an Apogee Apollo capsule and vacuform wraps when the originals could not
be located), Estes K-29 Saturn 1B 'original', Estes EST 2019 Titan IIIE, Estes EST 1978 Gemini Titan, Estes EST 1918
Titan II. Across the front are plastic models of the LEM, X-15, and X-1, a Semroc clone of the Estes K-30 Little Joe
II, and my clone of the K-30 Little Joe II using an Apogee capsule. Aside from the plastic models all are flight
worthy, the Apogee Saturn V, Apogee Saturn 1B, Estes Saturn 1B with plastic wraps, and my Little Joe II clone have all
flown. I'd planned to fly the North Coast Space Shuttle when I was building it, but when it was finished I realized the
chance of safe recovery of the Shuttle was minimal so it was grounded.
The 1/35 Scale Family - all 1/35th scale models from the early
portion of the space age. This collection is also kept on display on my bedroom dresser (behind the 1/100th
collection). From left to right: Dragon plastic model V2, Yitah Wu Little Joe I (hard to come by), Estes EST 1976
Jupiter C, Estes EST 2167 Mercury Redstone, Estes EST 2111 Mercury Atlas. Aside from the plastic model V2, all are
flight worthy but only the Little Joe has flown although I have versions of the other three that have been flown
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Entry #20: Paul Bethel 80
points |

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From the Quark Research Institute Inspired by irony, creativity and the love of slow and low. =p (Fast is sometimes
good too.)
Current collection:
- (2) 1x @ 1/2" dia.- the Estes kit.
- (2) 2x @ 1" dia. A/B/C 18mm
- (3) 2.625x @ 1 5/16" dia. C/D/E 18 & 24mm
- (1) 3.75x @ 1 7/8" dia. D/E/F 29mm
- (1) 5.5x @ 2 3/4" dia. F/G 29mm
- (1) 6x @ 3" dia. G 29mm
- (1) 8x @ 4" dia. H/I 38mm
Partially built (2) 1/2x scale with MMX motors not shown. Used
wood glue for the 1x & 2x versions. Used epoxy for all other versions. No fiberglass. TTW construction for 5.5x, 6x
& 8x versions. Homemade decals.
All have launched and recovered several times with minor repairs
except for the 8x that was been rebuilt twice. All launches under 1500 feet +/-. Launched with Vikings Rocket Society
and Valley AeroSpace Team. Under construction is a modular 12x @ 6" dia. level 2 version: 3/4" yellow pine
removable fin design, 54mm removable MMT (CR's by P. Waite), some FG, Curtis 6:1 ogive NC, vinyl graphics, single and
dual deploy options. Future plans for 12" or 16" dia. level 3 version...
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Entry #3: Dick Stafford 69
points |

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A Bifurcation of Fireballs Here is my mini fleet of Fireball XL5 models. The scratch-built 'papa' flies nicely on 29mm motors and the
'mama' is my Deuce XL5, which is a kitbash of the FlisKits Deuces Wild!. A paper model converted for
Micromaxx is the 'baby' of the family. I recently added the 'weird uncle' that they don't like talking about.
He's just too 'goony', being bashed
from an Estes SS1 kit. Three of these have been reviewed, and the weird uncle is awaiting a flight test. - Papa:
Fireball XL5 Mama: Deuce XL5 Baby: Matchhead XL5.
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Entry #16: Jim Bassham 68 points |

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Bomarcs Family I
have always been fascinated by Bomarcs. Something about the rocket/plane combination has made them a favorite modeling
subject of mine for many years. These three Bomarcs were built for a rocket display at a plastic model show. The idea
was to show the difference in size of rockets built to fly on different motors. The smallest is a Balsa Machining
Services repro kit of the Estes Mini-Bomarc, which uses, naturally, mini-engines. The mid-sized Bomarc is a
Scratch-built "D" powered boost glider, based on Estes kit from the 70's. The largest Bomarc is the
"G" powered kit from Mad Cow Rocketry. All three were completed this year. Now I am waiting for the
opportunity to fly them when the Local NAR range opens up this fall. Since Bomarcs can be a bit squirrelly, I want to
be sure I have plenty of room to set these off.
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Entry #8: Kathy Miller 59 points |

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Military Family This
is a photo of a few of my military-type models. Included are the Estes Phoenix, Estes Bull-Pup, Estes Heat-Seeker,
Estes Black Brant II, The Launch Pad Perseus, Scratch-built Nike-Hercules and Falcon as well as the two new latest
editions the Model Minutes Multi-Operations Missile.
* Model Minutes Military Operations Missile added
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Entry #12: Verna DeArman55
points |

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Red Squadron Red
Squadron was inspired by the tv show Battlestar Galactica and these photos are of some of the clones I've built. They
fly on A, B, or C motors, except the Hyper Viper that is a 4 engine cluster. They all fly and recover very well
anywhere from 200' - 1000' depending on the engines being used. The Vipers are fun to build and fly.
Red Squadron has flown collectively more than 20 times.
There is a build article on my website www.vernarockets.com for
those interested.
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Entry #2: Robert Gustin 50 points |

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My Comanche-3 Family In the summer of '07 I was on a BIG staging kick. I couldn't get enough. During a trip to the local hobby
shop I picked up an Estes Comanche-3 kit. While building the kit I began thinking of making a minimum diameter
downscale version at the same time. This was an easy decision since 18mm booster motors are readily available. I had
the proper BT-20 nose cone and of course fin stock and tubes, so I set to work. I found the Comanche-3 plans on Jim Z's
site to scale down fin patterns and decals to print at home. I had to set them aside for a week while I went to NARAM
49. While there I bought some OOP Estes A3-0T and A10-0T motor packs. Can you say DOWNSCALE? You bet!! After NARAM I
went back to the Comanches, only with another addition to the family. Finally, in September, during one of the last
launches of the year, with the best weather for staged flights, I got the whole family, at this point, in the air. All
flew great. During the day, flying 3 separate 3 stage models, and finding all 9 separate pieces with help from others,
I felt very blessed by the rocket gods.
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Skip ahead a year. After NARAM 50, where I got some Quest
MicroMAXX items in the contestants grab bag. THANKS QUEST!! So, now another downscale Comanche-3 was about to be born.
The fins are just comic book backer board, with BT-2.5 tube and nose cone from ASP. That makes 4 Comanche-3 models, so
far....
Finally I have it finished. A NEW member of the Comanche-3 family.
Welcome the Comanche-3 CHIEF.
1) COMANCHE-3 WARRIOR - Estes Comanche-3 kit, flown
numerous times with the HIGH ALTITUDE motor set D12-0,C6-0,C6-7. Streamer recovery, no clue on its altitude.
2) COMANCHE-3 BRAVE - BT-20 downscale, flown on a more reserved motor set of C6-0, B6-0, B4-4. On it's
most recent flight I managed to loose the second stage.
3) COMANCHE-3 PAPOOSE - BT-5 downscale, first flight was A10-0,A10-0,A3-4T. That was a nice flight. A
friend has it on video here
4) COMANCHE-3 ITCH - BT-2.5 downscale, it's just 3 MMX motors barely taped to each other. The short
delay makes it nose over a bit but it does work. I just packed the upper motor nozzles with 4F black powder using a
pencil. It has only one flight. I managed to get the second stage stuck to the sustainer, which then burned the lower
stage pretty badly. I'll rebuild and then put some decals on it.
5) COMANCHE-3 CHIEF - BT-55 upscale. With a Transolve P7 Altimeter with apogee ejection I won't have to
worry about a chute deployment if any upper stage fails to light. Motor choice for this rocket is D12-0, E9-P/0 and
E9-6.
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Entry #18: Eldred Pickett |

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Crayon Rocket Families FI build Crayon rockets. Seriously. I get the big Crayon coin banks from Toys R Us, and turn them into
high-power rockets. I have a 38mm, 54mm tube-fin, 38mm 2-stage, and 38mm cluster version. I also have a 54mm 3FNC
version that's under repair. So that's the family. I had someone who knew of my crayon fleet give me a purple bank to
use. I decided to build a rocket for a proposed drag race at LDRS 28
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Entry #5: William Beggs |

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My Fat Boy Family One
of my rocket families includes the very popular and now OOP Estes Fat Boy. As you can see I don't like to keep things
"Stock". Only one of my Fat Boy's is in the "Stock" configuration and that is the purple one. The
others have some type of modification and all of them fly on a regular basis. From left to right on the picture that
you can see the motor configuration is the following:
1) Blue - One 24mm motor mount with
balsa/carbon fiber fins.
2) White with red - One 24mm motor mount with G10 fins.
3) Red - One 24mm and six 18mm motor mounts and G10 fins.
4) Yellow 4" upscale - Seven 24mm and six 18mm motor mounts with G10 fins and a fiberglass nosecone.
5) Green with white - Four 24mm motor mounts with balsa/carbon fiber fins.
6) Yellow - One 29mm motor mount with G10 fins.
7) Purple - One 18mm motor mount and is completely stock.
I have one additional Fat Boy that is need
of repair due to a hard recovery and it has a single 38mm mount with G10 fins. Another one that was lost in tall grass
was a 24mm version with balsa/carbon fiber fins and paper/carbon fiber body tube and centering rings. Hopefully it will
turn up some day to be reunited with its family.
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Entry #10: Jason Orosco |

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Der Max Family The
first time I saw the Estes Red Max was 1974, My dad built one and I never did get to fly it. Flash froward to 2007 I
decided to get back into Rocketry. I Built the Der Goony Max and also Der Big Red Max decided to rebuilt it from a
extra Der red Max kit I had this year. When Estes released Der Red max I finely able to fly it 33 years later. I saw
decals for Der Blue Max and built that rocket later in 2007, Over the winter of 2007 and 2008 I built a 159% upscale of
the Red Max one of our cats decided to take a chunk out one of the fins.
- Der Goony Max have flown it on A8-3,B6-4 and B4-2.
- Der Red Max have flown it on B4-2 and B6-4.
- Der Big Red Max Have flown it on B6-4 and B6-6.
- Upscale of the Der Red Max have flown on D12-5.
- Der Blue Max, Have flown on B4-2 and B6-4.
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Entry #14: Jewel Barton Butler Jr.
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Camo Patterns The
rocket family photo contest.This family is an inspiration from the Estes Solar Flare and my love of war movies.Well I
hade just finished my Upgrade of the Estes Solar Flare when . The Halls of Montezuma came on featuring Richard Widmard.
fighting in the South Pacific and I took notice of some of the camo patterns .So I just added a thing or two here and
there and this is what I came up with.
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Entry #24: Matthew Bond |

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Gangs! Ladies and
gentlemen of the rocketry world there is a problem creeping into our homes and communities with an ever increasing
frequency
Rocket Gangs! From the largest club launches to the backyard flyers, these gangs of young punk rockets
are turning up and sowing disorder in our otherwise peaceful hobby. Typically comprised of low power rockets, these
gangs find strength in numbers and show their alliance through distinctive coloring or makings. Becoming bolder and
more destructive as their numbers grow many of these gangs have taken to various illicit activities such as selling
black market igniters and recovery devices, usually scrounged or stolen from the range boxes of unsuspecting
rocketeers. Originally nothing more than a nuisance, the increasing number of rocket gangs has led to turf wars over an
ever shrinking supply of motors and range space. It is not uncommon to see these rockets throw down at the
field, flying motors and recovery systems well beyond their capabilities in an effort to represent their
colors, often with tragic results.
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What weve seen is just the end result, the real question is,
what drives these young rockets to such drastic action? The gangs shown here are from my own fleet, but the story is
sadly consistent across the land. Born Again into rocketry, I dove into my re-discovered hobby with a
passion and budget far greater then when I was a kid. I built and flew dozens of low powered rockets, clones of my old
favorites, and designs from many new vendors as well. Life was good, and then it happened. I got my L1 certification.
My time, my money and more importantly my attention was increasingly spent on the big boys while my low
powered rockets sat un-flown on the shelves. Sure I still took them to the range, but more and more they got left in
the car, and the ones that did get to fly got tossed up to check the winds. Eventually most of them were
simply left at home. On their own, these low power rockets banded together out of necessity, and created
their own version of range brotherhood. Most of these rockets are good flyers gone bad, low power kids
trying to survive in a high power world.
My friends it is up to us to stop the slide that many of our low
power rockets have begun. There is more to being a BAR then just building bigger rockets and spending more money. We
also bear the responsibility of caring for what we create. Every rocket needs to fly and we must give them that
chance.
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Entry #22: Brain Ray |

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Homage to the Der Red Max I have loved the Der Red Max since my friend had one what seems a hundred years ago now. Not having the
resources then to acquire one, I tried to copy his and did so poorly. Getting into rocketry again gave me impetus to
duplicate that classic rocket. I still dont have an actual Der Red Max, but here are the family
photos of my duplicates and homages. One picture is of the current DRM-esque fleet of rockets, which are from left to
right:
- BT-50 downscale Orange Max
- Jayhawk-inspired Red Max
- 2 Red Eye Max based on the Centuri Red Eye
- Scratch 18mm fluorescent Orange Max
- The newest family member, created for this contest: Der Viper Max
III. It is a BT-60, 3x18mm combination of the Der Red Max and LOC/Precision Viper III
- 2 Goony-esque Der Green Max
- BT-60 Goony-esque Der Red Bird Max Zero
- Two stage BT-55 downscale
The second picture is of those Red Max variants that have met a
disappointingly early demise:
- BT-55 downscale of the Der Big Red Max this one I called
the Big Red White and Blue Max. Hindsight shows that the E9-8 on that windy day was not the right motor.
- Der Silver Max. Salvaged from a build with some Scouts, this 18mm
version made from a paper towel tube was stepped on by an overzealous 7 year old chaser. I told him to keep it.
- BT-20 to BT-50 variant. Landed in an irretrievable location.
- BT-20 Mini Red Max. I let one of my boys carry this from the car
to the field and somehow it disappeared in between. Flew great on 13mm motors before the loss.
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Entry #9: Hans "Chris" Michelssen
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GOBLIN FAMILY After
getting back into the hobby, I discovered cloning. These four family Goblins were not built from commercial kits.
My first attempt was an all time favorite - The Goblin. It was
built stock, around the BT-55 airframe. All parts were ordered through Semroc. The plans were from Jim Zs site
and the decals from Excelsior. It has flown many times on B6-4s and C6-5s. Back in the 1970s I lost my original Goblin
on a D13, I havent gotten the nerve to fly the clone on a D11.
My BIG Goblin is a 1.7 upscale. It was the first big model
Id built since the Enerjet days. The body tube is the Semroc heavy duty 225 tubing. Through the wall basswood
fins, and that big, beautiful BD-25588 nose cone. The engine mount is made for 24mm engines. Recovery includes a baffle
and a 24" rip-stop nylon parachute. I know (now) there are available kitted upscales of the Goblin, but this one
was upscaled and built from parts.
My Baby Goblin is a carded model from the Rocketry
Blog website: http://rocketry.wordpress.com/ultimate-paper-rocket-guide/paper-rocket-partial-builds/ All parts were
printed on 110 lb. Cardstock. The nose cone is balsa and a small streamer is used for recovery. It has flown using
Quest Micro-Maxx engines.
Just added is my new fleet favorite, The Franken Goblin! This model was built and flown as The New
Member of the Family for the 2009 EMRR Challenge. The economy dictated which parts were available, anything and
everything already in my spare parts box. From existing and retired models, I pulled and cut-away enough parts to piece
together the monster! The mainframe is 8 ½" of BT-60. A Goony? Well, sort of - but just a little
scarier. Id bought decal paper but hadnt used it yet. This model cried out for a revised
Goblin treatment. Overall, I was happy with my first attempt at decals. The green and black paint decor
suits the Frankenstein theme. A stable, fun and reliable flyer, B6-4 engines are a great fit.
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Entry #17: Ron Wirth |

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One Rocket for Two Families For the Rocket Family Photo Contest, I decided that I would add one rocket that could belong to two of my
favorite rocket families. Those two families are the Thunder-series and anything Goony. What better way is there to
link the families together than with the ThunderGoon. The rocket is a kit bash from a Baby Bertha kit that has the nose
cone replaced with a BNC-60NA from Semroc. I designed the decals and printed them onto laser decal paper (I wish I had
color). The rest of the "Thunder" family (ThunderBee, ThunderChief, ThunderHawk, ThunderBird, ThunderRoc)
were created from kits and parts that I picked up at Semroc. The ThunderStrike will be added as soon as it gets
painted.
The Goony family consist of Goony Retro-Bash
decal/plansets from Excelsior Rocketry with the exception of the ThunderGoon. Current members of that family include
Goony Max, Honest Goon, Kram, Iron Wombat, Goonybird Zero, and Nike-G. This family will be growing with more decals
& plansets from Excelsior plus some really cool designs floating around on The Rocketry Forum.
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Entry #7: Howard Smart |

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Boost Glider FamilyUntil I went through the NARTREK program I had never really given boost gliders a thought. They just didn't
interest me. I built a couple of the parasite type boost gliders, but never a design that was meant primarily as a
glider. Ever since I did the NARTREK Silver level I have been bitten by the glider bug. Pictured are five of my recent
creations:
- CMR Mini Manta Built from scratch using plans found at Ye
Olde Rocket Plans
- Turnup Also scratch built using plans off the internet.
NARTREK also supplies this plan with the Silver Level materials. I have placed in NAR competitions with this design.
- Semroc Hawk This one I reviewed for the 2009 Challenge
- Quest Space Shuttle Intrepid An early parasite glider I
built
- * Semroc Nighthawk My most recent addition. I also reviewed
this recently. I love this glider. Very light for how big it is, large wing area, great glides.
A note about the Turnup glider. The one pictured is my third. This
is a very good glider design. My first two flew too well and spiraled away never to be seen again. The last one was
last seen gaining altitude on its way out to sea. This is the one I prefer to use in competition for 1/2A and A boosts.
The pod shown is my 13mm pod. I also have an 18mm pod. I still need to replace the one that went to sea, because the
one shown has a spruce boom, which is strong but adds too much weight compared to the recommended hard balsa. It is not
competition-ready.
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Entry #6: Brian Nessing |

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Short & Stubby FamilyWhen I first decided to enter this contest, I was going to use my four helicopter rockets, then my four camo
paint rockets. But after a closer inventory was taken, I discovered that the short and stubby account for a much larger
portion of my fleet with greater variety. They are also more photogenic. I'm a big fan of rockets that provide a short
walk for recovery and/or an unusual flight. So here they are, in all their splendor!
- Estes Baby Bertha - Outstanding on a B6-4.
- Loc/Precision Warlok - Aerotech I284-6W (I certified level 1 with
this rocket when it had just two coats of primer).
- Scratch built 7.5" dia. spool rocket - Aerotech G40-4W - 300
ft. (I consulted every EMRR spool rocket article I could find to build it).
- Mod of an Art Applewhite Stealth - 29mm - Spins like mad on the
way up, spins slow on the way down.
- The ever popular Estes Fat Boy - 18mm.
- Square spool rocket - 18mm - Yes SQUARE, and it flies fine.
- "Tiny" 3FNC - C6-3 - disappears off pad.
- Five Art Applewhite inspired paper rockets with St. Louis Rocketry
Association logo - A10-PT - Great little fliers for cheap!
- Three egg and spork rockets - A10-PT - Spin like mad going up,
autorotation recovery (purple is 18mm).
- Estes Mini Marz Lander - A10-3T - Flew once, very low apogee,
deployed fine. Now I just like to look at it.
Total = 16 FUN ROCKETS
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Entry #4: Matt Gillard |

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Air-Pressure Rocket Family My entry for the family contest is a family of air pressure rockets made by myself
and a group of cadets that I took for a rocketry sessions during our inspection day. The pupils where given basic
information on the design and then made their own, the session finished by then using their rockets to spot land on a
target 100 meters away, - I was the target! There was a range of styles, including rotated fins, tube fins, differing
lengths etc.
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Entry #19: Bob Morstadt |

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Estes Orbital Transport My Rocket Family consists of the original Estes Orbital Transport as shown in the photograph taken 40 years
ago and the latest 4x Scale Estes Orbital Transport taken in July 2009. In that time I have grown a lot older and the
Orbital Transport has grown a lot larger. Originally, the Estes Orbital Transport was 18 inches in length. The scaled
up version is 72 inches in length and has an orbiter that Remote/Controlled.
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Entry #15: Peter Stanley |

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Hellfire Family The
one on the left is my long since retired TLP Hellfire. The second,
blue Hellfire is scratch built. It is
based on measurements I took at an air show of one mounted to an Apache Helicopter.
These two married and gave birth to the
Hellion, who is the newest member of the
family.
There was also a minimum diameter 24mm version no longer with us,
R.I.P.
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Entry #11: John R. Brandon III
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Quest Rocket Family Each of the six rockets shown was manufactured by Quest, and each two-stager shown was made from two
identical kits. The Falcon and Icarus are shown next to their counterparts the Falcon-Hi and Icarus-Hi. At the top is
the Big Rage and its two-stage counterpart, Elevated Rage. This family was inspired by Hobby Lobby going rather wild
clearancing a large batch of Quest kits...
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Entry #1: Glenn Roth |

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Repaired Family Enclosed are a few pictures of my "repaired fleet." Mr Pringles was built with all recycled items
except the new "nose cone" and body extension I got from another kit. Saturn V was a repair job w/ separation
in middle, (about 8" from tip). This was done to allow quicker deployment of over 60" of parachutes. I took a
standard "Courier" and extended the nose cone to accomondate two eggs from a mailing tube.
Added the repair of the
Jupiter II used for the Design this Spaceship contest.
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Late Entry: Chan Stevens |

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THUNDER FAMILY The
Thunderbee is one of may favorite 13mm models--long, sleek, relatively high performance flyer--so when Semroc announced
two more members of the family were coming out this summer, I jumped at the opportunity to adopt the bigger brothers of
the tine little Bee. The Thunder Chief is a little over 18mm diameter, and finished in the same Day-Glo yellow and
white scheme. The much taller Thunder Strike flies on 24mm motors and is a whopping 51" tall. Believe it or not,
though, these are still the juniors in the family. Planned for future releases are the 42" Thunder Bird, falling
somewhere between the Chief and the Strike and the 60" Thunder Roc. I can only hope that this family's Christmas
portrait will include a few new arrivals.
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Late Entry: Duane Boldt |

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Gangs! I am a big fan
of Semroc rockets. Many of my favorite rockets come from their vast offering of rockets. I especially like their scale,
SLS and Retro-Repro lines.
One of my favorite rockets and the first Semroc kit I built is the
Semroc SLS Aero-Dart. This is just an awesome rocket all around. Very solid, high quality parts throughout. We have
flown it on a variety of 24mm motors. I highly recommend this rocket.
All the Semroc rockets I have built have flown fantastic. They are
some of the highest quality kits I have built and would highly recommend building some yourself, especially any of the
SLS kits or the Saturn 1B.
I am anxiously awaiting their Saturn V that is soon to be
released!
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What weve seen is just the end result, the real question is,
what drives these young rockets to such drastic action? The gangs shown here are from my own fleet, but the story is
sadly consistent across the land. Born Again into rocketry, I dove into my re-discovered hobby with a
passion and budget far greater then when I was a kid. I built and flew dozens of low powered rockets, clones of my old
favorites, and designs from many new vendors as well. Life was good, and then it happened. I got my L1 certification.
My time, my money and more importantly my attention was increasingly spent on the big boys while my low
powered rockets sat un-flown on the shelves. Sure I still took them to the range, but more and more they got left in
the car, and the ones that did get to fly got tossed up to check the winds. Eventually most of them were
simply left at home. On their own, these low power rockets banded together out of necessity, and created
their own version of range brotherhood. Most of these rockets are good flyers gone bad, low power kids
trying to survive in a high power world.
My friends it is up to us to stop the slide that many of our low
power rockets have begun. There is more to being a BAR then just building bigger rockets and spending more money. We
also bear the responsibility of caring for what we create. Every rocket needs to fly and we must give them that
chance.
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* The actual number of prizes issued will not exceed 3/4ths of
the number of contest entries (e.g. if there are 10 prizes and only 10 entries, only 7 prizes will be issued). EMRR
assumes no responsibility for the prize once it leaves our or the prize donor's location. EMRR is not liable for any
damages or injury caused by the assembly or use of the prize.
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