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Essence's Model Rocketry Reviews is pleased to announce a new photo contest.
Odd-Rocs! You've seen them, but you still can't believe they fly. Let's get some
of the most obscure Odd-Rocs out there and capture them in a picture for this new photo contest.
Winners will be judged by EMRR Guests during a voting week of July 14 - 20, 2003.
- Entry photos must be at least two (2) photos
- (1) Static - on display, on pad, etc.
- (1) Dynamic - lifting off, flying, returning, etc.
- 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 7/13/2003.
- Online Voting will take place from 7/14 -
7/20.
PRIZE TABLE (it will grow):
The winners agree to write a kit review
using the format guidelines included in EMRR's site. Previous winners are eligible for future Rocket Give-Away. EMRR
assumes no responsibility for the kit once it leaves our location. EMRR is not liable for any damages or injury caused
by the assembly or use of the kit.
Entries:
Entry #10 - Dick Stafford
= 94 |
Sweat-Stained Clifton Tracking Station Hat of Death
Around 1998, I was the project manager for a telemetry, command,
and antenna control system. My team and I traveled to Clifton, Texas to run some preliminary tests with the
antennas. Unfortunately they werent quite ready and since springtime in Texas is a tad warmer than in Maryland,
we werent happy campers. With the prospects of spending a fair amount of time walking between the not-yet-air
conditioned building and the antenna pads in the hot sun, one of my guys ran to Wal-Mart for hats. This hat became our
teams unofficial uniform, and mine came back fairly stained. I was finally about to chunk it when I got an
idea...
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I flew the hat on a G35 with the ejection charge removed. After the
unsuccessful flight of another odd-roc, the RSO must have pretty much given up, and my flight card got stamped. The hat
flew great, seeming to fly faster and higher than my similarly sized 29mm saucers. It fell slowly to the ground without
even getting dirty(er).
This was my first wearable rocket - I wore the hat to the RSO
table, to the pad, and back again after recovery. A construction article will be in the reviews section shortly.
(here)
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Entry #7 - Craig Christenson
= 80 |

Don't Kick the Kitty is a scratch built rocket I designed
that has been flown twice on an Aerotech G64W motors. One day I found one of my kids old tennis shoes and this Ty
Beanie Baby stuffed cat sitting on the floor and thought "Hey wouldn't that make a cool rocket". I was going
through a strange period in my life when everything I saw I wanted to turn it into a rocket. So my kids challenged me
and said "Dad, no way can you make this shoe and cat into a rocket that will actually fly". My kids were
wrong!
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The booster section is 2.6 inch with a 29 mm motor mount. The stuffed
toy cat became the nose cone and when the rocket comes to apogee in flight the toy cat is ejected (as if the cat is
being kicked by the shoe). A chute is inside the cats body for recovery consistent with NAR safety rules. Now I didn't
want people to think that I advocate animal abuse, especially since I am a cat fan- Hey I love cats! So I named the
rocket "Don't Kick the Kitty" so people don't get the wrong impression. The rocket has achieved about 500
feet AGL flights on G64W with successful recovery. I am a NAR Level 3 Certified flyer and rocketry continues to
inspires my creativity, whether a large or small project, and hopefully it will inspire you too!
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Entry #5 - Mike Roland =
71 |
The Worlds Finest Flying Outhouse
~9" Tall
16 Oz
29 MM Motor Mount
144" White "TP" Streamer
1/8" Aircraft Plywood bulkheads
Piston Ejection System
Lexan fins can be removed for display
Fly's well on E30 (with adapter) through G40's
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This OddRoc came about during discussions in the line for the
facilities, at XPRS 2002. This bird drew stares when we were first test flying it. Actually a prototype for a new kit
we are preparing.
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Entry #9 - Bob Cox =
43 |
The Tooth
My daugher had her braces removed recently, so when we saw this
contest announcement, she wanted to build a rocket shaped like a tooth.
The body is a foam rubber tooth my mother-in-law picked up from an
insurance company trade show. Drag stabilization is provided by four Oral-B 40 toothbrushes. They are attached to the
tooth with contact cement and (keeping with the dentistry theme) dental floss.
There is no parachute or streamer -- the foam rubber body is
designed for "boink" recovery.
First flight was on an A10-3T engine. Flight was stable, but low
and slow, reaching about 60 feet. Ejection occurred just before impact. The rocket landed nose-first, bouncing and
tumbling a few times, but suffered no damage.
Given the weight (about 3 oz) and the high drag of this design, an
18-mm version would probably work much better. I have one more foam tooth; I just need to find four matched
toothbrushes.
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Entry #6 - Bob Ellis =
37 |



The ring fins are made from a mailing tube and the center body
tube is a plastic bag tube from my local Safeway, the only rocket parts are the motor mount and the plywood for the
centering rings.
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Willie P started life as a Holiday Yard Light, but since
he didn't sell well at Christmas he had to be rescued from a 99 Cent Bin at WalMart in an after Christmas sale. I also
picked up a Santa light, but unfortunately Santa isn't very symmetrical or aerodynamic.
He seems very appropriate for some of our launches here in
Colorado, where we launch all year round, as long as the wind's below 20 mph and the ceiling is high enough to see the
flight. Landings in snow and mud don't bother the plastic shell and the rest is painted heavily for protection from wet
landings.
Willie P can stagger into the air on a D12-3, and flies pretty
well on D13-4 and D15-4 reloads, but his best flights are on E18-4 and F39-6 reloads. He's had 10 successful flights so
far, with no damage other than burn holes in the parachute. He flies well in wind right up to 20 mph and the multiple
ring fins aren't bothered by cross wind landings that would trash regular fins.
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Entry #16 - Tim Breland = 26 |
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Batter Up!!!, or just bat that is. I call this the Whiffle
Missile. Just one of those things I saw while walking through the toy store with my kids, and thought; "hey, why
not?". It is a plastic baseball bat and ball turned into a rocket. It is fitted with a 24mm motor mount and balsa
fins that are covered with team penant stickers. I hot glued the ball to the end of the bat for looks and improved
aerodynamics. I cut about the top 3" of the bat off and attached a coupler to it so it functioned as a nose cone.
I attached a basic shock cord and parachute recovery system. I couldn't get to a large enough area in time to get these
pics, so I made an 18mm motor adapter and flew it on a C6-3 in my front yard. I was pleasantly surprised to see a
perfect flight on this small motor. It flew fairly straight, but slow, to about 200 ft, arced over, ejected, and
floated down beautifully. It was perfect for an at home flight and a lot of fun to watch. I can't wait to see it go on
a D or E. I've never hit one out of the park, but I bet I can launch one out!
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Entry #3 - Stephen Corban
= 24 |
I have 2 pictures of a cool odd-roc owned and flown by Mark Dudek. It is
a Sputnik like rocket. It is made from a globe and PVC pipe for the legs. It flew on a H242 and recovered
safely. On recovery with the parachute, the PVC legs all absorbed shock on landing. It was a real cool flight.
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Entry #14 - Pat Easter =
22 |
Have you ever been walking through a store, seen something and said to
yourself, "I bet I could make that fly." While walking through a drug store I saw some Crayon banks, but next
to them were several large Baby Bottle Banks, about 5 1/2 inches in diameter and 30 inches tall. I picked one up and
bounced some ideas around in my head and decided it wouldn't be too difficult to do. With several project looming
around the house (rockets too) I put it back on the shelf. About that time I heard my wife say, "Oh, come on. You
know you want to fly it!" So began the saga of my "Bottle Rocket".
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The nipple was a perfect fit for LOC 2.6" tubing, so I got out the
trusty dremel and made holes in the top and bottom of the bank to accept the tube. I didn't want to slot the sides of
the bank and decided to pass a body tube through it and attach fins to the tube. The bank rests on the fins and is kept
from sliding forward by a section of tubing glued around the outside of the airframe tube. I epoxied a 2.6' tube
coupler to the flange at the base of the nipple, added nose weight and epoxied a bulkhead and screw eye for recovery
system attachment.
After a long winter of cancelled launches, the Bottle Rocket
finally got a chance to fly on March 1st. First it flew straight and true on a G80 FWL to around 800 feet. Then I took
out the adapter and flew it on an H123. Boy did it scream. I flew it again at the GLRMR-3 regional launch on May 3rd,
again on a G80. Unfortunately the ejection charge failed and it lawn darted. The original had plywood fins that
detracted from the bottle too much, so this was a perfect excuse to rebuild it, this time with clear fins. The rebuilt
Bottle Rocket made two flights at NYPOWER X on a G64 and another G80.
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Entry #15 - Gary Meier =
6 |
EggLofter
I saw these plastic eggs on sale at K-Mart, just begging to be
blasted skyward. I didn't want to add external fins, but I was fairly certain that no amount of nose weight would make
the egg stable. My solution was to add a draggy base disk, covered, naturally, in green paper Easter grass. Holes
drilled through the base disk and egg accommodate the launch rod, eliminating the need for an external launch lug.
Recovery is by rear ejection of motor mount and parachute.
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Prior to launch, put a handful of wrapped chocolate Easter eggs in the
grass on the base disk. They will disperse in flight - a wonderful labor-saving alternative to the tedium of hiding
Easter candy one piece at a time!
Flight Report: An E18-4 lifted the EggLofter with authority. The
draggy design allowed for a flight that was slow enough to enjoy. The egg flew through one vertical loop while under
power. This flight behavior was a design feature, so as to maximize the dispersion of the chocolate eggs being carried
aloft. (To those who doubt the veracity of this statement, I can only say "Hey, YOU try to calculate the CP of
this thing!") Rocketeers desiring a more traditional up-and-down flight path may want to add additional nose
weight and/or increase the diameter of the base disk when constructing the rocket. The ejection delay was too long, as
expected, but the egg landed without damage during the coast phase. When the ejection charge fired, the parachute
deployed perfectly, gently lowering the engine pod back to the ground. The crowd went wild; and the flight was
considered a critical success.
See Descon 8 Entry
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Entry #11 - Rick Dickinson
= 5 |
My "Big Red Crayon" had its first HyperTEK hybrid
flight at ROCStock XVII last month. While I've become well-known for flying all sizes of crayons (particularly RalphCo
crayon banks) on all sorts of motors, this was my first hybrid motor flight, and I'm quite proud of the fact that it
went off without a hitch.
The Big Red Crayon is made from 8.5" diameter QuikTube
concrete forms, fiberglassed for strength and durability. The nosecone is made from poster board, which I glued into
the shape of a conical transition section, and then fiberglassed. The chute is a 15' military surplus cargo chute,
which is a bit large for this rocket, but it does give a nice gentle touchdown.
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The Crayon carried my G-Wiz LC Deluxe 800 aloft for deployment duties.
As usual, it performed quite well.
The Big Red Crayon actually has a cluster of 4 motor mounts -- a
central 54mm mount is surrounded by 3 38mm mounts. For this particular flight, I used a single HyperTEK J330 (54mm,
835cc tank, J-FX grain). The Big Red Crayon has flown in the past on a single K550, on a single K1100, and once, on a
single K550 with three airstarted J350 motors.
For its next flight, I'm planning to use a HyperTEK J to get it in
the air, and then airstart 3 solid motors (I'll have to see what motors are available -- the AeroTech fire really cut
down on the variety) to give me more altitude and some tracking smoke. Maybe I'll do a Redline/White Lightning/Blue
Thunder combination, since the next launch will be the week after the 4th of July....
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