#41
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Estes has discontinued many, many rocket kits over the years, but for me, I just got tired of losing the Mosquitos (had two or three) on the first launch. It was probably my fault due to poor engine choice; maybe just using the 1/4A is the only engine that should be used.
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Dave, NAR # 21853 SR. |
#42
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It would be interesting to know whether Mosquito losses increased when Estes started using nuclear ejection charges. Many (all?) of my losses seem to be propelled by the ejection shooting the Mosquito off in a random direction at apogee. I usually have it in sight up to that point thanks to the smoke trail. That is, the smoke trail lets me find and see the rocket itself, but then the nuclear ejection charge shoots the rocket off in a random direction with such force that I never see it again. Of course, the fact that they all head for the school building roof doesn't help. |
#43
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Yeah, i should say not... I can't believe how many people have posted on this topic...
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Active rockets: Extreme Darkstar(HPR) BSD 4" Little John(HPR) Ultimate Darkstar (HPR) 5.5 polecat NIKE smoke (HPR) Retired: Estes Mosquito (Mini Brute) under construction: L1 5.5" Standard ARM RIP Erik Gates. Your talents will never be forgotten. |
#44
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Well, the Mosquito had a really really long life as an available kit. It was probably the lowest priced kit, increasing its appeal and availability, and it has a compelling simplicity. I'm not surprised that almost everyone has something to say about them. On the other hand, I am relieved to see that I'm not the only one who loses every one he launches. There's a person on the Austin Rocketry Group list whose handle is "poofshesgone" which perfectly describes the Mosquito to me. |
#45
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I never did care for the little ones like the Mosquito. One of the 1st rockets I lost (1974) was an Estes X-15 (all plastic). The wind was fine on the ground but gusty above the tree line. Went up nice and straight until it cleared the trees and went horizontal. It stayed up in a tall tree top for about 10 years and I finally found it run over by the school riding mower.
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#46
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I went to my first club rocket launch a couple of Saturdays ago. The launch site was a sizable cow pasture with ankle high to somewhat higher brush. Winds were high and gusty.
One fellow flew a nicely painted Mosquito on an A3-4T. I just stood there with my jaw near the ground as they announced the engine choice. There was some light cloud cover so we never even saw the smoke delay... |
#47
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Last fall our club had an informal contest on the smallest rocket to be launched & recovered on an A3-4T. I used a Fliskits tumbleweed; it was launched and recovered *twice* on an A3-4T. On the 2nd launch, I told a bunch of kids (including my son) whoever finds it gets to keep it, figuring they'd never find it, but it would keep them busy looking for a while. We all saw it tumble down, and my son found it in the tall weeds. No one else recovered theirs. I think the key to not losing it was that I didn't really expect to find it; in fact, I was *expecting* to lose it.
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Paul If we weren't all crazy, we would go insane - Jimmy Buffett NAR #87246 www.wooshrocketry.org |
#48
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Back in 2006, I took my Tumbleweed out for its first flights at an informal launch in a big complex of athletic fields next to a suburban high school down in Albany. I launched it four times - twice on A10-3T's and twice on A3-4T's. In all four launches I saw the tracking smoke but I never saw the recovery. Nevertheless, because I knew approximately where it was each time when the ejection charge fired, I had a good idea of where it fell. This was in September, and the fields were nicely mowed for soccer and football games. Walking a tight grid pattern, it took me anywhere from 20 minutes to 45 minutes, but I did find it each time, lying neatly on the grass. The landing spots ranged from 100 feet to 350 feet away from the pad. The FlisKits Tumbleweed is the tiniest rocket that I have ever launched from a regular pad with a 1/8" launch rod.
I have a couple of Mosquito clones, but I haven't flown them yet (which is why I still have them). The TW is actually smaller than the Mosquito, and it is smaller than a number of my Micromaxx rockets. The (slightly out of focus) picture shows my Tumbleweed with a Mosquito clone, and a couple more FlisKits models: a Crayon and an Intergalactic Man of Space. The latter two are Micromaxx rockets. The IMOS is the smallest (shortest) Micromaxx rocket that FlisKits sells. MarkII
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Mark S. Kulka NAR #86134 L1,_ASTRE #471_Adirondack Mountains, NY
Opinions Unfettered by Logic • Advice Unsullied by Erudition • Rocketry Without Pity
Last edited by Mark II : 06-21-2009 at 05:40 AM. Reason: Added a picture |
#49
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BTW, I got my Tumbleweed kit in the mail a couple of days before FlisKits announced that they were switching to laser-cut fins for that kit. I had to trace out and cut those tiny fin caps from a sheet of balsa by hand!
MarkII
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Mark S. Kulka NAR #86134 L1,_ASTRE #471_Adirondack Mountains, NY
Opinions Unfettered by Logic • Advice Unsullied by Erudition • Rocketry Without Pity
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#50
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Quite a bump. I'd like to show you what came out of all this
Thanks go out to Barone for sending me the first kit that I actually completed It ain't no trailer queen either. Two flights and has been recovered both times .
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Active rockets: Extreme Darkstar(HPR) BSD 4" Little John(HPR) Ultimate Darkstar (HPR) 5.5 polecat NIKE smoke (HPR) Retired: Estes Mosquito (Mini Brute) under construction: L1 5.5" Standard ARM RIP Erik Gates. Your talents will never be forgotten. |
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