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boarhog.
boarhog.-
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Dave Tjarks
This was posted on another list I’m on but thought it would spark an interesting discussion here as well:
I’ve often wondered what attracted other people to high power
rocketry. It’s kinda slow around here, so now looks like a good time
to find out. If you have a few minutes, would you mind sharing a bit
about how you got here?Myself, I snuck some of my money to the hobby shop back in 7th or 8th grade and bought me an Alpha Starter kit. I snuck it because my overly conservative mother thought it would be dangerous (she still rolls her eyes). A few years of building and flying a bunch of models but nothing bigger than a C.
Fast forward to 1998 or 99, I was looking for something to do with my then 5 year old son and I went out another starter kit for us. R2D2. Within weeks somebody at work introduced me to the concept of NAR and TRA and heaven forbid those crazy people flying with LDRS. Very shortly thereafter, I went out to CRASH and Dave Hansen was there to help and make me feel welcome. He signed my L1 in July 2000 and L2 at MHM 2001.
We flew contests together for the next couple years creating havoc as Dave and Dave until we decided to get back to flying more high power. Along the way, I’ve met some awesomely terrific people with whom I’ve shared many good times.
Dave2
http://www.samsfrog.com/coloradorocketry
don’t be caught sitting at the kids tableAnonymous
I personally started flying Estes rockets when I was maybe 6 or 8 years old. My older brother and I were given an Estes Mars Lander as a gift. In retrospect, I’m dumbfounded that we were able to cobble it together, but we did a pretty good job. Not the ideal starter kit, to say the least.
That was about 1967 or so. I have flown almost nonstop since, often with science projects or school groups. I took a bit of time off when I was in college, but after college I started flying with my stepson.
Just before Christmas 1998, I was in Hobbytown in Fort Collins. There was cowboy in there (Matt Baker, who no longer flies with us), and he was buying a LOC kit. He answered every question I had on HPR. I bought a Vulcanite that day, and certified NAR on an H180 in March of 1999.
‘Tis a great hobby indeed…..
Nate
Ken Plattner
For the older guys in the group, I think our stories are similar. 1966/67 is when I flew my first Estes rocket at 8-9 years old. Don’t remember what is was, but probably an Alpha. I also had a Mars Lander kit I built with my brother. Been flying low power ever since. Just started high power last year.
Chris LaPanse
Got my first rocket at age 8 or so, but unlike most people here, for me that was the summer of 1998. For several years, I flew intermittently from the local park, and then I saw a CRASH sign at Hobbytown. I headed out there, enjoyed it for a year or so, and then discovered NCR, via a couple LARGE rockets (54mm, 4-6″, probably 20lb or so). Someone brought them to display at CRASH, and I was enthralled. I headed out to the next MHM (in 2005) and got my Jr L1, and have been hooked ever since.
Warren B. Musselman
I got into rockets in 4th grade – an older neighborhood kid had a couple Estes and Centauri rockets and I saw him fly a couple of them at the local school’s football field. Then I noticed the ads in the back of Boys Life (I was a cub scout) and ordered up the catalogs. I bought my first kit mail order from Centauri – a Javelin if I recall correctly. It was all downhill from there. My best friend’s dad owned a hobby shop specializing in RC planes and as soon as he saw rockets, he started carrying them. He had Estes, Centauri, Cox, Vashon liquid fueld birds, and MPC. For a while he carried a lot of motors – even including FSI F100’s and other E and F engines, but the State of NJ shut that down because the state had permit requirements for all purchasers.
Eventually, I got really pissed at NAR and their rules and between that and discovering girls and electric guitars, I faded out from rockets although every 5 or 10 years or so I’d buy an Estes kit, build it and plan on flying it… I knew NOTHING of HPR.
A few years ago, I was flipping channels late at night and came on the Discovery Channel Rocket Challenge and absolutely flipped out seeing birds like Dan Stroud’s Team and the Aurora. Within a couple days I had a few HPR kits and had contacted NCR looking for where and when to fly. Been at it ever since… I figure I must have gotten the bug bad because I’ve been responsible for the composites on an O powered bird and plan on finally doing my L3 this year.
Warren
Jeff Stone
Start…cub scouts, then boy scouts…then got out of it for a decade, then decided it was a cheaper hobby than R/C cars and stuff…or not LOL!
Had an alpha (IIRC), then some crazy estes thing which looked like a plane, watched a buddy of mine launch an estes bullpuppy with the nose weight not secured go all out of control nearly impaling some of us watching the launch (it went up, then promptly sideways horizontal to the ground for about 100 feet before dropping to the ground)…thought D’s and E’s were big stuff. Didn’t even know about HPR.
Still relatively new to the hobby (going for L1 and maybe L2 this year) but as with all things, continue to dig a deeper hole for myself!
Ed Dawson
I blame it on retail (and my kids).
I’m not the BAR like many of you. I grew up in California where rockets were either not available, or not popular. I too saw the ads in the back of Boy’s Life an remember how expensive it seemed. I recall thinking “$x.xx for a just few seconds”, so I few RC gliders off the cliffs of Southern Cal instead (which you cannot do any more).
Long story short… I bought an Estes starter kit from Walmart for my son several Christmases ago. We launched out of the back yard/pasture and had fun chasing around here. I then went into Hobbytown USA and saw the collection of motors there. I was amazed but still thought $10 bucks for just a few seconds was, … crazy. I told myself I would never do that.
Well……….
He’s no longer into rocketry, and I’m out the $10, or so.
P.S. thanks to Joe Sanfillipo and the Hobbytown crew.
Dale Netherton
Another older guy.
Started with an Estes kit back in 1972. I built a lot of rockets, lost a few, got out of it shortly after Star Wars came out to build robots. My kids pulled me back into rocketry in 1999. Shortly after loosing a few rockets to trees I looked around on the net for clubs that fly at a better location. Found the PHITS and the TRM website, got the dates confused and went to the wrong launch. After much driving around I found the Atlas site while PHITS was holding a launch, and the rest as they say they say is history.
Bret Packard
4th grade for me, we had a contest at school and one of the prizes was an Estes Avenger. Everything I did in the contest was geared towards winning that rocket, which I did. Shortly thereafter I bought an alpha 3 starter set at Toys R Us in S California, and I’ve been flying ever since. There have been some extended periods of time when I didn’t fly much, but even in college my friends and I would occasionally come upon a kit we’d built as kids and go find a motor to stick in it. A few years ago I saw an aerotech kit on ebay and figured what the heck. After I built that and started looking into clubs I found NCR and CRASH, but the first time I came up to a NCR launch and saw the big boys, I had to try it.
I’ve always loved building things that “go” when you are done with them. I have every type of RC you can imagine, but the thrill of rocketry is really at the top for me right now. I love being up at the launch site, away from cell phones, away from work, and hanging out with people that know how to have fun.
Oh, and Ed, I also grew up flying R/C in SoCal. You can still dodge hang gliders at Torrey Pines as of the last time I was there. Where did you fly?
Dave Tjarks
Anonymous
Nate
Ken Plattner
Chris LaPanse
Warren B. Musselman
Jeff Stone
Ed Dawson
Dale Netherton
Bret Packard- The forum ‘Archives 2006-2010’ is closed to new topics and replies.