"F-Bomb" - 29mm min-diam, un-fiberglassed, with Apogee 29mm nose-cone. 1/19/08 - Flew on a C11-5 at TCC Fresno Nice boost, with some spin, and ejected at apogee.  Broke slender Kevlar shock cord, and had to use Walston to recover the nosecone.  The Perfectflite altimeter says 453 feet.  Paint fluorescent orange and try for more altitude next time. 3/18/08 - Re-painted, and triple clear-coated.  Almost ready to go! 04/26/08 - Flew at Newark on a D12-5 to 1046 ft  Nice! 05/17/08 - Flew at DairyAire on an E18-10 to 2447 ft.  High!! 08/02/08 - Saturday at Aeronaut - Flew F-Bomb on an E23-8.  Arc'ed a bit, and disappeared.  Found with Walston.  1500 ft.! 09/21/08 - Sunday at XPRS - Flew the F-Bomb on an F39-12.  This little rocket disappeared when the motor lit.  Found using the Walston - partial 'chute open slowed it down, but still hit hard.  Lost the motor and adapter!  Nuts!  Also lost the bt20 nose cone I was using to close up the avionics bay.  But no avionics lost.  Weird. 02/21/09 - TCC Fresno - Flew the F-Bomb to 2114 feet on an E23-8.  Burned 'chute made the rocket come in fast, but it still went a long way down range.  No damage other than the 'chute.  Thank heavens for the Walston. 06/20/09 - With Aeropac at Mudrock - Flew the F-Bomb on a F52-11, to 4622 feet.  Had a glitch in the Walston that made recovery tough - intermittant in the cord.  Signal sure disappears when the rocket lands.  Very high! 09/18/09 - Flew the F-Bomb on an F40-10, to 4425 feet.  Thought is was way away, while in reality, it was close.  Too much hunting!  Nice flight, though.	F-Bomb - 29mm min diam with alt and tracker
"H-Bomb" - 29 mm "Arrow"   02/09/08 - After months of re-building, I had another.  Fiberglassed body, and (curiously) un-fiberglassed fins.  Fluorescent Orange, instead of Black/Yellow.  Kevlar shock cord, 15" 'chute.  Tried flying it on a E28-M (S), but the rocket cartwheeled as it came off the pad!  Found a canted nozzle when the rocket was recovered.  Very little damage, and I'm ready to try again.   03/18/08 - Prepped and ready to go, on an F27-8(R).  Triple clear-coated - should be tougher now!   04/05/08 - Snow Ranch.  I flew the H-Bomb on an F27-8.  Beautiful straight boost and ejection near the apogee.  Gee, the parachute seems to be taking a long time to come down.  Maybe because the payload section and nose are missing.  Follow the body, because I can find the nose with the Walston!  Hiked a long way, and got it off a hill.  Faint Walston signal from the pad area.  Past the pad area.  (Gee - doing a lot of walking...)  Becky G had it - nose broken off  (damn those urethane 29mms!).  Found the pieces!  Now I can repair it....  1400 feet on the MAWD.   04/29/08 - Completed repairs, and prepped with a G80-10T (old Aerotech). Note that I've reduced the BP in the G80 to about .4 Grams.  Too violent otherwise.   05/17/08 - Changed out the G80 for a RR F60-10.  Flew at Dairy Aire toward the end of the (very hot) day.  The delay was too short, and the BP was too much - separation.  Lost the 'chute and damaged the forward body tube.  Broke the nosecone, too.  The MAWD says 2489 feet!   06/09/08 - Replaced the nosecone, trimmed the payload section, and glassed on a new section.  Sanding and filling now, and trying to get the electronics tray to fit.  Note that I had a hell of a time getting the 29mm motor that I used as a mandrel, out of the repaired forward body.  This despite two coats of "no stick"!   06/20/08 - Friday at Mudrock - Flew the H-Bomb on an F27-x, no delay or ejection.  It didn't go that high, but ejected right at apogee, as that's what the Perfectflite told it to do.  Busted the tip of the nosecone.  Dang!   09/19/08 - Friday at XPRS - H-Bomb on a G77-L with Perfectflight backup.  Worked great - 3664 ft! 09/20/08 - Saturday at XPRS - H-Bomb on an H238.  Hammered off the pad, and went to 6289 ft, and won both H altitude and H Bang-for-the-buck contests! 09/20/08 - Saturday at XPRS - #2 - Flew the H-Bomb again on an H268.  Really tore off the pad, this time, threw a turn about 500 ft up, and headed east.  Didn't get the sudden increase in Walston tone that means "successful eject".  Signal disappeared too soon.  Uh-oh...  With a careful Walston scan, I got a very faint signal to the east.  As I headed out there, James D and friend reported that H-Bomb had almost hit them!  "Here, take my GPS"  - now that's useful.  Drove to the crater.  Walston beeping, but the stud is damaged, the antenna really bent up, and the front 2/3rds of the rocket is shattered.  Nuts.  Good thing I brought my shovel.  Fins can be salvaged. 081015 - Preparing to graft on new, and replace. 090129 - Rear body is grafted, and I'm fabricating the payload section. 090416 - Primed, and painted.  Still needs clear coat. 090424 - Complete.  Ready to prep and fly. 090619 - Mudrock with Aeropac - Flew the H-Bomb on an F27-P, to 1700 feet.  That was high!  And a perfect flight. 090731 - Aeronaut - H-Bomb on a G75, with the MAWD controlling.  Fast, high flight, which disappeared.  Used the Walston to track...the forward section!! Where's the back?  I think it's out on the playa - the shock cord pulled out.  It's out in the playa all-right - in two pieces (right where I repaired it.)  4500 feet, though. 09/18/09 - Friday at XPRS - Flew the H-Bomb on an H128, for a ripping flight to 5614 feet!  Took me quite a while to find the rocket, even using the Walston, with the antenna on a pole. 09/21/09 - Monday at XPRS - Flew the H-Bomb on the Irving USR H320, for a disastrous flight.  Got to the pad about 10 am, ready to go.  The motor lit, and burned through the ejection hole immediately, sending the rocket tumbling.  Tore out the shock cord, shredded the 'chute, and burned and zippered the aft body, as it thrashed around the launch site.  Someone laconically responded "Thanks Jerry" (Irving).	080922 - H-Bomb at XPRS '08 on H268 #1 080922 - H-Bomb at XPRS '08 on H268 #2 081015 - Damaged H-bomb. New n/c. Missing fwd a/f
Bottle Rocket -   After seeing all these nifty Crayon rockets ($6 at Toy 'R' Us) converted into rockets, I told E to look for a similar prop.  At the next garage sale we went to, she found it:  a big, plastic baby bottle "bank".   It's just what I wanted!!   Well, transforming it into a rocket wasn't so easy.  Had to add fins, nose weight, nose-cone mounting, and internal structure to hold the motor.  Here's briefly what I did:   a) Bought acrylic for the fins, and cut to shape, with tabs agains the motor tube. b) Put rings and the motor retention on the motor tube, and temporily mounted the main CRs. c) Glued the fins to MMT, through slots in the clear plastic BT and rear structure. d) Reinforced all fin joints with gussets of epoxy. e) Glued in the main CRs, with paper next to the clear plastic to act a "milk". f) Weighed out 4 oz of lead shot, and put it into the nose, along with a shock cord, imbedded in epoxy.   All up weight - about 17 oz - kinda heavy, but this is not an altitude bird.   Flights 05/18/07 - EX day at Dairy Aire - TCC Fresno.  Flew it on an F37 Med-Short.  It flew well, but broke a fin on landing.  Dang! 06/xx/07 - Mudrock - Flew on a G54.  Great flight, and the "S" delay was the right one.  High wind broke all three fins on landing.  Dang! Well, I'm starting to see a pattern here.  The Acrylic is just too weak to handle landings, even with a 36" chute.  And it's going to break on a hard flight, too.  I fiberglassed the fins.  It turned out okay - the fins are much less clear, but they are an awful lot stronger.  Next time, use high-strength plastic. 07/19/07 - Lockheed entertainment - Flew the Bottle Rocket on an F62, with an (M) delay element that had been drilled out .21".  (Was .45").  Ejected near (but before) apogee, and hung around on big silk 'chute.  Landed in the parking lot.  Dang, that's gonna bust a fin or three.  BUT IT DIDN'T.  No damage - guess that fiberglassing paid off. 08/05/07 - Aeronaut - Flew on a G79W (RMS) - Great flight - went high, but spun a bit.  The clear BT was damaged by the charge, which blew out a section.  Easy fix, and no damage to the fins.  Yeah! 10/19/07 - October Skies at TCC Maddox Dairy.  Flew on a G33-5(4) - Great flight, with a tight spin. 11/18/07 - Thanksgiving at TCC Maddox Dairy.  Flew on an F62 (M, shortened to an S).  Great flight again.   Pictures. 02/09/08 - Flew on a G54 at Snow Ranch.  Spun hard, but flew fine and recovered without error. 08/01/08 - AeroNaut - Flew the Bottle Rocket on an F50-4.  Nice! 10/18/08 - October Skies - I flew the Bottle Rocket on an F20-4 - Nice. 12/20/08 - Lunar at Ames - Flew well on a F25-4.  Landed on the concrete with no damage! 02/21/09 - TCC in Fresno.  Flew on a G33-5 (old).  Great flight - this is the right motor for this rocket, if they made them any more.  Somehow, I managed to tear loose a fin.  Rats! But I got a full page in Extreme Rocketry!!!  (See Picture) 06/21/09 - Mudrock - Flew on a G54-S, for a great, vertical  flight.  Bounced on the landing, and ended upright! Discovered that a fin was broken, at the Newark launch (10/3/09), and repaired it by removing the fiberglass on putting on more.  Looks fine. 10/17/09 - October Skies - I flew the Bottle Rocket on an F20-4, for a nice flight.	Bottle Rocket in flight Bottle Rocket on F62 at Fresno 11/18/07 Bottle Rocket under 'chute - 11/18/07 Bottle Rocket under 'chute - 11/18/07 In the May 2009 Extreme Rocketry magazine!
Up-rated Estes Canadian Arrow - 29mm motor mount, plywood fins, and fiberglassed body tube.   01/20/08 - Flew at TCC on a beautiful day, on an F23-7J.  Great flight, except for the delay being too long.   04/29/08 - Prepped to fly at Dairy Aire on a G53-7FJ.  Wearing new colors, and looking great!   06/20/08 - Mud Rock - Flew the Canadian Arrow on a G53-7 Fast Jack.  Flew great, and a perfect recovery.   09/21/08 - XPRS - Flew Canadian Arrow on an F25-4.  Nice and High.  Great motor.   10/18/08 - TCC October Skies - I flew the Canadian Arrow on an F20-4W(L), and it blew the forward closure!!!  Charred the inside of the rocket, and ruined my pretty paint job.  I am bent!  This repair will take some work.   04/16/09 - The new section is grafted on, and I've filled, primed, and filled some more.   05/16/09 - Flew the Canadian Arrow on an F42-8 - first flight after the LMS F20 failed, and fried the inside of the rocket.  A great flight, but it drifted a long way.   07/19/09 - Flew the Canadian Arrow again, on a loadable F20-7, and (whadayaknow) it failed again.  Got 50 feet in the air, and the case blew at the forward closure.  Little/no damage to the rocket, as the 'chute came out, and the grain was ejected.  But I'm tired of this.   09/17/09 - XPRS - Canadian Arrow on a G79W, for a cool, fast high climb into the haze.  Since there was NO breeze, I just walked towards where I thought it would come out.  And it did come out - right in front of me.  Very nice!	Canadian Arrow 081022 - Burned up Can Arrow Bubbled paint from bad F20.
Toys-R-Us Crayon Rockets - X 4! 03/14/09 - Flew the 4 Crayon at Snow Ranch, as part of the great Crayon Drag Race:  All ours flew on an F42-4, but I made a mistake and used the Copperhead igniters.  When the button was pushed, 4 of the 9 Crayons on the pad launched, leaving all four of ours on the pad :( . The launch setup had just enough juice to launch one at a time.   They all did a little wiggle just off the rod, and headed in different directions - ejected at apogee, and landed safely.  One tangled a 'chute a little, and two loosened the nosecone bulkhead.  Still, great fun.  04/18/09 - Flew three crayons (Pink, Red, and Blue) at Moffet field with LUNAR.  First, Chelsea's Pink crayon flew on a G77-7R - straight up, and flew great.  Both the Red and Blue didn't light.  Swapped the igniters, and got the Red Crayon to light, on a G76-10G (that I drilled out to about a 7).  Arc'ed off to the south, and someone ran to get it.  Saved me the walk!  I replaced the igniter (thanks, Gary D!), and got the old G80-10 (reduced to ~8), and it tore off to the north.  It ejected, (finally), and landed safely. That's 7 flights, and 6 of them have done the Mantis Dance (?), bending 45 degrees and bulleting off into the distance.  I'll try rail buttons. 05/16/09 - With TCC at Dairy Aire - Jason agreed to retrieve the Red Crayon on a G71R-7.  I missed the flight, but he said it did the "Mantis Dance" again - came off crooked, and he had to walk a while to get it... 07/19/09 - With TCC in July - Flew the Red Crayon on a G77-4R (Loadable), for a great, straight, flight from a rail.  That's all this design needed. 08/01/09 - With Aeropac at Aeronaut - 4 Crayons in a drag race!  Flew Melissa's Blue on a G76-7G. Chelsea's Fuscia on a G71-7R Mom's Yellow on a G104T-M, and My Red on a G77-7R.  They roared off the pads at almost the same time - mine lagging a little.  Mom's was down first, and Chelsea's was last, mine was behind the flight line - but where is Melissa's?  Out on the playa?  Oh crud - no ejection - the front half is toast.  Nuts.  Well, the rest looked good.  Quick fix, though. 9/20/09 - XPRS - Flew the Red Crayon on an H165, for a nice flight.	4 Crayons, ready to fly Picture of a Crayon's clear plastic (Lexan!!) fin Crayons on the pads at Snow Ranch - 3/14/09 Yellow Crayon liftoff on F42-4 at Snow Ranch 07/19/09 - Red Crayon on G77R-4 at TCC 090801 - 4 Crayon Drag Race at Aeronaut - G Engines
Ranger - Purple 38mm body rocket with 29mm motor mount.   09/20/03 - Flew on a G40 at XPRS to a high, great flight.   12/29/03 - Flew at MDARs on an H128, to 3770 feet!  Took two minutes coming down at 30 ft/sec!   05/07/2005 - Snow Ranch - Flew the Ranger on an F23-7, to a disappointing, low and arcing flight.   07/17/05 - Flew Ranger on G40-7 at TCC, for a great flight.  Tried to zipper the tube again!  Right where I patched it last time!  Next flight - there's a bumper on the shock cord there...   05/06/06 - Snow Ranch - Flew the Ranger on a G38-7, (the sibling of the one that blew up and tore up the Io years ago).  No problems, but it does decend fast on the two chut combo.   05/13/06 - Night launch at Lunar - Flew on an F20-7 - Tilt into the wind was a mistake - the rocket weathercocked badly, and headed out over the rodeo stadium.  Saw an event, but not much more.  Several folks got a bearing on it, and I set out after it.  Had to climb barb wire to get into the rodeo area, and I was without hope, but I spotted it in the back of the land, and walked right to it.  The big parachute didn't open, but the small one did.  Other than some chipping, it wasn't damaged.  Whew!   08/04/06 - Aeronaut at Black Rock - Flew the Ranger on G40-10 - Great flight - high and straight.   09/22/06 - XPRS at Black Rock - Flew on a G54M - 29/100 hardware.  Nice flight.   09/24/06 - XPRS at Black Rock, again.  Flew on a G40-7 - Nice flight.   10/13/06 - at TCC on an F40.  Flew okay.   12/02/06 - LUNAR at Snow Ranch - Flew the Ranger on a G64-10, after a long wait.  Straight, high, flight, and perfect recovery!   03/03/07 - LUNAR at Snow Ranch - Ranger on a G33-7 - Great flight on a long-burn "G".   04/21/07 - TCC Fresno - Flew on a F62 - Great flight, and recovery.  And I didn't have to walk for miles.   08/02/07 - Aeronaut with AeroPac, at Black Rock - Flew the Ranger on a G75 full "G".  Went a long way on that baby.  Arc'ed a little into the wind, but only came back a little!  Not much wind up there in the early AM .   09/15/07 - With Aeropac at XPRS - Flew the Ranger on an H220.  Another huge motor/small rocket combo.  Used a Walston and a Perfectflite to help recovery.  Ripped off the pad, and disappeared.  Saw an event at apogee, but no 'chute.  Dang!  Eventually found with the Walston.  Slightly burned 'chute (burned closed, of course), and a cracked fin.  Rats.   11/18/07 - The TCC Thanksgiving Launch - Flew the Ranger on a G104.  Great flight, and apogee eject.  Drifted a long way on the 'chute, and had trouble finding it in the alfalfa.  It was farther away than I expected.   09/19/08 - XPRS - Flew the Ranger on a G104.  Nice.   01/18/09 - TCC Fresno - Flew on an F62 for a high, hissing flight.  Very nice, and the landing hit my truck!  Would have landed in the bed if the shell wasn't on.   05/17/09 - TCC Dairy Aire - I flew the Ranger on one of the LMS F20-7's.  I was nervous, as I had two LMS failures last year, one of which roasted my Canadian Arrow.  This one didn't fail, and easily boosted the Ranger to a high, straight flight.   07/31/09 - Aeronaut - Flew the Ranger on a Roadrunner G80-10.  High, soaring flight to 2413 feet, and easy recovery just by the west end of the flight line.	Ranger - Ready for G104 flight
Upgraded Estes Big Daddy  I bought a Big Daddy from a fellow rocketeer, then ordered the Piestrak (sp?) upgrade kit, with ply fins, ply rings, and a 29mm motor mount.  Tough, and it looks great painted.   06/07/08 - Lockheed Young Astronauts - Tried to fly this rocket on an E16-7(s).  First the Copperhead failed to light it, then the Firstfire Jr plugged the nozzle and it blew!  No damage, but a fair amount of frustration.  And "Bang!!!" is always bad for your nerves.   06/14/08 - Got another shot at redemption.  Flew it again on an E16-7(s), this time with LUNAR at Moffett, wearing black paint but no decals.  Flew easily to 600 ft, but the 'chute tangled, and it landed in the weeds.  No damage.   08/02/08 - Aeronaut - Flew Big Daddy on an F40-7.  Nice flight, but it broke a fin on landing.  That's why my designs have forward swept fins!   10/18/08 - October Skies - Flew Big Daddy (with a larger 'chute), on an F40-7.  Booming flight and high eject.  Long drift into the orchard.  Good eyeballs got me a vector, but I had to jump a ditch, and got a little wet (didn't fall in, though...).  Found Big Daddy, and the front of Mike P's missing rocket...   4/4/09 - LUNAR at Snow Ranch.  I flew the Big Daddy on a G64-10.  This was extreme flying, and I knew it was going to go high.  And it did - hammered off the pad and coasted until I could only see the tracking smoke.  Ejected at apogee, and drifted back.  Landed nearby.  Found a slight zipper in the body tube.  I also found another thing I've never seen before.  The motor would not come out of the rocket.   I finally pried it out, and found a bulge in the case!  It nearly blew in the rocket - discolored and bulged, but not blown.   08/1/09 - Aeronaut - Flew my last flight of this launch with the Big Daddy, on an F20-7.  Perfect, straight up flight, tail-stand, and ejection with close landing.  Very, very nice.   10/3/09 - Newark - Flew Big Daddy on an F22-7, to a high, smokey, perfect flight.   10/17/09 - October Skies - I flew my Big Daddy on an F40-7, and Justin flew his Bulldog on an F20-4 in a drag race.  We lifted off at the same time, and diverged.  Both recovered beautifully, but we gotta get a bigger 'chute in his Bulldog.	081022 - Big Daddy with 29mm motor tube.
Wasp - 29mm minimum diameter "Arrow".    STATUS:  MISSING/LOST   In the course of building the "Arrow" series, I decided to build a 29mm version of this rocket.  Features:   1) 2oz fiberglassing 2) Fiberglassed Plywood fins 3) Perfectflight MAWD with 9v battery, (tight fit!) 4) Engine eject, with option for apogee-deploy with MAWD.   This is rocket can fit 29/360 engines!!   History:    7/18/04 - Flew first time at Fresno with an ancient E15-7.  Did not eject until it lawn-darted, bending the body tube and ruining a great paint job.  Repairing.   09/26/04 - Repaired all the damage.  Flew again at XPRS - Great flight on F21-8.  Reached ~1900 ft, and recovered fine.   05/07/05 - Flew at Snow Ranch on an F21-8 again, and had another great flight to ~1800 feet. Recovered fine.   07/17/05 - Flew at Fresno on an F50-9.  Huge, fast flight to ~2200 ft.  Chute wrapped around shock cord, so the rocket came down fast.  That was good, because the swivel tore open!   07/21/05 - Flew at Livermove on an F23-7BJ.  Went ~1100 ft on a nice flight.  Note that I removed the swivel.  Next flight:  XPRS on a G80-10!  Or more!   11/18/05 - Flew at TCC on a G80-10.  Huge flight - ripped off the pad, and coasted forever, except the chute opened early!  Tore off the chute, and it fell into the grape orchard.  Used Walston to find it.  Damaged nosecone had to be replaced.   07/15/06 - Flew at Lunar with an F37-L, with MAWD eject.  Separated at Ejection, but landed without damage.   09/24/06 - Flew at XPRS with an H238, and MAWD ejection.  Huge, fast flight, ripping off the pad.  Didn't see anything after that, but had a fix with the Walston gear.  Retrieved pieces from the desert - the rear separated, and the tube broke on landing.  Recovered the av bay, and the MAWD said we went 5154 feet!  Now to repair...   02/20/07 - Extended the body tube, and repaired the break, both with fiberglass.  Fitted an Ellis Mountain I69.  Now that's a large motor.  Primed and sanded.  Gonna need new colors.   05/18/07 - Flew at Dairy Aire on Desearch Day on an F40-7.  Lit badly, and headed for the orchard!  Saw a deployment, but couldn't find it in all those trees!  The owner's son assured me it'd show up, though.  Dang!  It looked great in the new paint, too!   STATUS:  MISSING/LOST	The little one in front is the Wasp.