Any rocket builders out there

[todpod]

Anybody build model rockets? Any good place online to buy stuff from. Walmart has some stuff, havn't really looked at it though.

Was watching discovery channel and they had 3 hrs of this on saturday. Watched with my 5 yr old, he thought it was pretty cool. I used to do this yrs ago.

 

[Danman]

I used to that awhile ago. My brother and I used to get the Estes rockets from Ace Hardware and build them. Very, very fun.

 

[Eli]

Walmart? lol...

Try online hobby shops.

link

 

[SSP]

I did this in school as a project, but the engines were provided by the school.

 

[Walleye]

my rockets are awesome.


i got one that'll take pictures still getting it done, though. it aint finished yet.

 

[todpod]

are there any "Neweggs" of the rocket biz?

 

[RichieZ]

For beginners try Estes, and then move up to Aerotech

 

[Lvis]

My boy and I used to do it. Bought them at walmart. He was about your boys age, and loved it. Make sure he understands that not all rockets make it home.... Some just can't be found, at least if you want them to go really, really high.

Five year olds can have trouble with this.

 

[Gravity]

I have a good friend that builds real rockets. He's a bubba but apparently one of the leading aereospace engys in the world. Come to think of it, he builds anti-rocket rockets now. Hmm...

 

[arcas]

I used to be into the high power rocketry scene (was an early member of Tripoli Rocketry Association) while I was in college. I bailed out when I decided things were getting too expensive. At the time, there were no hybrid motors and reloadable motors were just beginning to be introduced so we were pretty must stuck with single-use motors. Like most hobbies, there's the desire/pressure to build something bigger, faster, higher altitude, launching bigger payloads (launching VHS camcorders using an 'L'-sized motor wasn't unheard of). When my addiction got to the point where I was spending, say, $50 or $80 per launch, I decided I just couldn't justify it anymore. It's an ideal club hobby though where you can divy up the costs. When hybrid motors were introduced, it almost lured me back into the hobby but by then I already had more than enough hobbies to absorb all my discretionary cash.

I still have most of my old rockets though. They tempt me every time I open that closet door.

Edit: I think the final straw, though, that caused me to leave the hobby was my disgust after losing a fiberglass rocket due to a failed parachue. I spent a good 4-5 months constructing that guy. *sniff*