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The RCN in the channel title stands for Royal Canadian Navy, did my time in Halifax NS

Thanks! It's finicky to load the drogue chute but I have already built a version that is both easier to load and will guaranteed detach the nose cone. Coming next year 😃

Rocket is home, repaired and already prepped for another flight! This time I will ensure I put the right engine in it! I also have an idea ... 🤣

Famous last words... "I have an idea"

@@christinablenkhorn2931 Teamed with "Watch this!" 🤣

Video this coming Wednesday (18 Dec, 2024)!

These old kits bring back a lot of memories for those of us who did rocketry in our younger days

Back in those days I only got the occasional kit, most of my stuff was DIY. I had to ship engines to eastern Canada and that sucked up most of my funds. I had to convince my uncle to get a Class 3 Explosives licence so I ordered them in his name. I really wanted this one but it wasn't possible then.

Thanks. I have flown it once, video next week, and I will adjust for a future flight

Coming next week!

That's pretty cool! I didn't know this existed. Hope you don't lose it in the RET(rocket eating tree).

@@ef7andapp170 The kit is hard to find so I snapped it up as soon as I saw it was available! And the RET went hungry for this launch 🤣

@@RCNRocketChief I didn't need a tree. I was 11 or 12 and launched a rocket I'd built the prior evening. I never saw the rocket again. It went up and disappeared in the park. I never got a tumble recovery rocket again. Sometimes the only way you could see a rocket after launching was if and when the parachute/streamer successfully deployed.

@@charlesballard5251 Agreed! That's why the second launch in the video under discussion about the RET had an 8 foot streamer. Which turned out to make a bit too much hang time 🤣

Hi! Yes I have heard of Sunward but haven't yet purchased any of their stuff. By the sounds of your description I will have to get a kit if they are such good quality!

Thanks! Every once in a while things go exactly as they should. Although not shown in the vid is my grand daughter and me messing with bad igniters for 5 minutes :D

Thanks! As you saw, the flight wasn't the best but the onboard was worth the effort

Thanks for the info. They are all in parallel but I never thought of the length being a problem. I have a 12 v battery, but it's for starting my emergency generator, I cannot drive a car onto my launch field and I am not carrying one 🤣

Here I just did the man thing and overloaded the rocket. As you have seen, it flew fine without a load. Next attempt to film separation will need to be with 18mm standard engines I guess. I will need to remind myself to go easy on the camera weight 🤣 But it's really odd for a kit to fail like that. One for the parts bin I guess!

Thanks! I am having a lot of fun with this and maybe it carries into the videos (maybe more now that I am getting better at editing, another new skill from rocketry 🤣).

😀There have been some near misses as well. And moving the launch pad doesn't help, the two tree sacrifices in the vid were from opposite ends of the field !

HAHAHAHA The lady who own is may not be impressed if I did that! The Mean Machine we could see in the foliage and pulled it down. The Storm Caster I had to wait until the leaves came off the tree. The tree(s) always win :D

Well that's awesome! We all shared a little joy

I pack the red drogue chute in a long finger like manner, wrap it in one piece of wadding and ball the kevlar string loosely to hold the chute against the side of the tube. In theory this lets the ejection charge go round it. Am I sure? No. But it did work in the second test flight. I am planning a second version of the rocket with a stuffer tube to carry the ejection charge forward and the red drogue chute packed around it. More to follow😀

And they didn't drift forever!

Indeed! A near future experiment for sure

Thanks. This works OK, but I am convinced I can improve on it. Let me know if you try something similar

Yeah, not one of my better ideas! 🤣

I just looked that up. You're correct!

Thanks 🤣Maybe the left over military in me just makes me tell what happened without messing around.

Thanks! It's an interesting challenge splicing stuff together in some sort of coherent fashion, but it is fun.

Good pick up. No it wasn't intentional for the first launch, I just forgot. It was intentional for the last but it didn't matter 🤣

Thanks! I like the silver but it is really hard to get a decent finish with it. The colour shows up every imperfection

Does it look good from 5 feet away?

@@christinablenkhorn2931 Yes! So it meets the most important criteria 🤣

Thanks! The paint job was different colours of primer sprayed on randomly and the lightning effects are craft paint. My field is a bit too small for the height achieved by this rocket, even with a streamer. Shorter one next time

Well I'm not brave enough to mix my own rocket fuel ... Yet! 🤣

Agreed! After repairs I intend to launch Tazz to do that on purpose

I have one that has made dozens of flights. I flew it many times with my kids and now with my grand kids. The engines are single use only and that is certainly what failed here.

I am glad I am not the only one who saw that in miniature here. Obviously it had a big effect on us

🤣Outside of the body tube the damage is minimal so I am sure I can get it back into action in quick time.

Thanks! Maybe the Black Brant lost in the vid is on your side of the border 🤣

@@RCNRocketChief I will look for it. My rocket club is outside Flint, it probably drifted over that way.

It's a pretty interesting recovery method!

I have thought about testing some bare nicrome. Maybe with a dab of nitrocellulose at the fold?

@@RCNRocketChief Like a dab of Ambroid or equivalent, maybe. Or make you own sure-shots using something like the Igniterman kit. Bare nichrome was all we had back in the day, your box of Centuri engines came with the engines, and 6" of bare nichrome wire. It worked fine, but as noted, it has to be in *direct contact* with the propellant. We would first lightly scrape the propellant in the nozzle to make sure there was no oxidation or dust, then force the wire in with a small cotton wad, enough to require a lot of pressure and it would stay on it's own easily. Of course, use a hot source like a car battery (or two...) keep the clips as close to the nozzle as possible and *the same on each one*. If you have any pyrogen, use that like glue to glue the wire in, don't worry, it won't blow up from excessive pressure, the cases have tons of margin.

My lesson learned to share is to check all the wiring and pieces you buy just as thoroughly as the stuff you make yourself. All my failures are from pieces I bought and assumed they would work correctly.

For drag race, the hot setup was bare nichrome igniters and two car batteries in series, it just vaporizes the wire as soon as you touch the button. Use heavy-duty wiring, of course.

HAHAHAHAHAHA It doesn't seem particularly original until you remember it was written in 1901. It, and related stories, had a huge effect on the weird / horror genre for many years after.

Thanks! Fortunately if you have the nose cone already, the rocket it easy to make. With that in mind I have the survivor loaded with a "D" and it's ready to goooooooo 🤣

Yes, your dad was pretty interested in these types of rockets. Glad you think they are cool

Thanks! The new goal is to be able to combine perfect ground video of the flight into the mix. That is just a matter of aiming my own camera better and learning how to zoom 😃

HAHAHAHA as long as he brings coffee 👍

Thanks! It was a fun getting this

Thanks! I have mastered the timing need to sync the two vids

No but I think during the winter when launches won't happen much that I need to introduce that movie to the girls!

Yes friction fitting the engine is more of an art than a science. It can't be so tight you can't get it out again! But too loose and, well, you get what happened to you

This is one used in the vid. There are even cheaper ones with the same workings but take longer to ship. Search for "cube camera" www.amazon.ca/dp/B07NWB9Y2H?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

I have also hesitated about losing an Astrocam, especially as I have already lost one. If you are willing to wait a few weeks, you can get the cube-cams for as little as $10 CAD on Amazon. I have a couple of those coming, the workings are SQ8, the same as in this vid.