Any opinions on starting in Model Rocketry?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I was talking with my brother-in-law about what my niece and nephews would like for Christmas. He mentioned that the lot of them keep wanting him to get them model rockets (as in the kind that you put a rocket engine in and actually fly).

Any opinions on good starter sets or other considerations for this? They would of course be supervised by an adult and the kids ages range from 7 - 12. They need the works…rocket, engines, launch pad and whatever else goes into it.

Been ages since I played with these so forgot most everything. Any opinions would be helpful.

2

AIUI Estes makes a complete starter set, with launch pad, a relatively simple rocket (perhaps even pre-made, rather than a kit) and a number of engines.

Before going out and getting that, I’d first talk to your brother-in-law and sister about whether they are ready to have their kids playing with model rockets. I’m not saying that I think the hobby is unsafe, but the kids have to be trusted to be able to use the kit within the restrictions of parental supervision, and the safety instructions.

I’d also ask your brother-in-law and sister if your niece and nephews like building models already. For me, when I was in the hobby, that was a large part of the fun and challenge - taking weeks, a little pain staking care at a time, and making the best model I could. Then launching it off, and hoping it would land safely.

I can’t think of any single hobby nominally for children, that’s more likely to lead to aggrivation, frustration and a full appreciation of Murphy’s Law than model rocketry.

Mind you, I loved it. But, some have said I’m a masochist. :wink:

Seriously, though, since it’s a gift for kids that you’re not going to be around to supervise, yourself, talk to their parents about the hazards, and frustrations, of model rocketry, before you go out and buy a kit.

Again, if the parents are supportive and believe their children will enjoy it, go for it! But make sure that they know that even with pre-packaged engines misfires happen, rockets burn up, and I’ve never gone on a launch expedition and come home with the same number of whole rockets that I started with.

3

Also, if you’re not real careful and you manage to yank on the ignition cord while firing the rocket is totally capable of going right through a window of a house on the other side of the park. That encourages good cardiovascular health because that will cause you to run like a maniac.

4

Do they have a place to fire the rockets off? Depending on the size of engine you use, you may need a huge open area. I used to be into it, but I lived out in the country without a house for a mile in any direction.

The estes starter pack is a good way to get started. You can always build from there. I think it’s a great hobby for kids to get into - as long as they are away from innocent bystanders and they observe safety precautions.

5

I’ve never known anyone I grew up with or even randomly crossed paths with that exhibited scars, burns, missing digits, partial blindness, whatever from model rocketry and, upon reflection, I find that utterly amazing.

Tres cool kidder hobby though. I wish my parents would have succumbed to my requests to participate.

6

I got one as a gift a few years back, and it came with two rockets. One was pre-made, one I had to assemble.

I really need to get back into that hobby.

7

Where do the kids live? Is the weather going to permit the shooting of rockets anytime soon?

8

The Estes Alpha III was the first of many rockets I built when I was a kid. I think its a great hobby for kids. They will need supervision. Also, it isn’t cheap. The rockets are rather inexpensive, (there’s not much too them) but the cost of engines, ignitors and such does add up. Rockets tend to get lost too.
I think I might have to stop my the hobby store after work… :slight_smile:

9

Ahh model rockets! This is slightly off topic but I must talk!

Every year I get together with about 20 guys (aged 25-50) and we go ice fishing for a couple of days every year in March. The first night in the cabins after copious amounts of alcohol we build rockets out of cardboard tubes, duct tape, styrofoam and cereal boxes. We use C6-7 engines.

The next day we launch them. Some work awesome, some die a spectacular death on the launch pad.

Good clean fun!

MtM

10

Thanks for the replies.

I have shown this thread to my brother-in-law and he appreciates the cautions some are giving but feels his kids will love it just the same. He will of course supervise closely.

Where he lives is not really appropriate for launching rockets but there are plenty of places an easy drive away where he can do that so good to go there.

Thanks again for the help.

11

Whack-a-Mole, I’m glad you’re doing this. My brothers and I went through a few years when we were into making and lauching model rockets, and it was fun! I never quite had the patience for getting the fins on right, and launching them was more fun than making them, but we really enjoyed ourselves. We used the standard Estes stuff, and got several flights per rocket as a rule. We started simple and went on to more and more elaborate rockets.

Of course, this hobby may have lasting effects. 30 years later, no visit from one of my brothers is complete without something getting stuck in the trees or on the roof of my parents’ house! :smiley:

12

I was into model rocketry as a kid. I had few failures. They aren’t that hard to build with a little patience. It made me get a few bad ideas in my head that I’m glad I never actually carried out. For instance, I thought it would be a really cool thing to use a primary stage engine that has an explosive charge at the end of it’s fuel that is meant to ignite the second stage.

Well now, wouldn’t it be just nifty instead of having the explosive charge ignite a second stage have it ignite an explosive instead? Ballistic Missiles! Cool! I got as far as taking apart firecrackers for the gunpowder before my older brother told me I was going to kill someone or start a fire and made me stop. The Jerk.

13

Good advice so far. I did this as a kid.

I remember one work-around that was helpful when the damn battery just would not fire the igniter. Jumper cables to Dad’s car battery solved that problem.

Trying to mount a flashlight bulb circuit on the rocket for night flights was somewhat less successful.

Oh, and you might want to avoid building your rockets while travelling by air.

14

Whack-a-Mole, sounds great! I hope your niephlings* enjoy model rocketry.

*a word I’m coining to mean the children of one’s siblings, as a collective group. Er, after a look via Google, someone else has come up with it, but they’ve used it the same way. So it’s not just me that’s crazy!

15

Oh, one more caveat - make sure that your brother-in-law knows he has to check with the local fire department. Some jurisdictions have laws requiring people using model rockets to get a permit.

When I was growing up, the only town in my county that required said permit was the one where I lived, and the permit was quite easy to get: biked over to the fire station one fine Saturday morning in the spring, asked whom I had to talk to get one, was quizzed for about three minutes by the fire chief. (The questions were on the order of, “Can you point the rocket at anyone?” “Would you launch during a drought?”) Then I was told to be safe and have fun.
ETA: Last time I was in a hobby shop, I was saddened by the fact that while modeling glue was locked in a cabinet behind the register, the black powder rocket engines were out in the open. :eek: :smack: One of these things does not compute.

16

Kids that grew up flying model rockets went on to do this. :smiley:

17

I was into model rocketry in my late teens and early 20’s. A starter kit with a pre-built rocket is the way to introduce kids. Most kids aren’t prepared to spend a lot of time building a nice rocket and then lose it or see it destroyed…sometimes on the first flight.

18

You might want to check, in this new era of paranoia, on local laws concerning the firing of rockets and the legal liabilities if something or someone is hit by one. Many cities, counties and states have fireworks laws that might be a factor, also.

19

I was into rockets when I was about 14ish. Great fun. I lived in Nevada and used to launch on a dry lake south of Carson City… lots and lots of open space. There used to be a fin alignment tool that was a plastic bracket to get perfect 90 or 120 degree gluing of the fins - that helped a lot with straight flights. We once launched a 4-stage model over 3000’. A few we “launched” flew a few inches too. :slight_smile:

20

Ignition cord? Not entirely sure what you’re getting at, but rockets are electrically launched. Which brings me to an anecdote…

I was preparing to launch an Estes Cherokee D back in the '70s. D-engine, and a very pointy nosecone. I put the rocket on the launch rod. Hooked up one alligator clip. Hooked up the other one. What’s that hiss? :eek: I threw myself backwards and watched the rocket take off with a woosh.

The launch control has a ‘safety key’. (I think I was using one piece of a little wire-puzzle – the one where you have two straight wires with loops at the top and you have to separate them – really simple puzzle.) I left the key in the control. Only on my previous launch the launch button, being cheaply made of plastic and square in shape, remained depressed in the ‘launch’ position completing the circuit when I hooked the leads to the ignitor.

Always remove your safety key before preparing a rocket for launch!