John, you have already heard my wish for PR's Nike-Apache to come back. Lots of semi-scale stuff becomes possible if there are high quality transitions or boat tails available. Not all of us are good at fabricating that sort of thing. I like those complex shapes and its worth the time+effort reduction to buy em, but they dont exist. Maybe just not cost effective for anyone.

Barring that, For your next kit, i'd have to vote for a 98mm airframe "short and stubby" with ready-made ebay-inside-coupler (or nose cone) with all the attendant hardware.

Having just bought two of your kits, and a Kestrel bought by the guy i build rockets with, I'd say you are on the right track with bringing the PR products to where they should have been in the first place. Heres a few suggestions for any kit:

- add a rectangular plate of G10 for the most common e-bay configuration, or have them on hand as a reasonable add-on. Keeps guys like me from needing to procure more G10 just for that and dealing with cutting the nasty stuff precisely (think in a townhome in the city... not everybody has a good spot to make lots of glass dust with lots of cuts).

- top notch kevlar is good, but dont bother with the kind (in Kestrel) that de-braids too easily. The bigger sizes you have are great. The 1/4" 1500lb stuff is much better when it is similar. I know its out there, have bought some from Tim at Apogee in Colo Springs before.

- the fin alignment jig with kestrel is dead simple and valuable. Not sure what it adds to your kitting cost. Again, for guys that dont have as much time and space, being able to procure this precision tool in a number of sizes would be great if you can keep the cost down. I'd buy a whole set of em in 3 and 4 fin, 38/54/75/98mm. The brand etching on em is nice advert for you, but not necessary or replaceable with a sticker if there is any cost at all.

- not sure what your options are for noses. Their construction is good except that very rough inside is not friendly to work with when putting a transmitter or other electronics up there. not friendly to bulkhead plates either. Not sure if anything is doable here without driving up cost or weight.

- everybody has their favorite rail buttons or guides. I tend to forget that they exist until i am done painting, so i'd like to see em with the kits. I like ACME, or the PML plastic ones for smaller stuff, or maybe your innovative mind can come up with something better! Not a fan of buttons due to attachment and mostly the snag problems they can create for some projects. On smaller guys like LDDD, might have a "pick one" option for rail or rod lugs.

Nike-Apache, Nike-Ajax, Nike-Herc are all things I have thought of. I have a ton of experience with a lot of things in HPR, but not with staging… so that holds me back just a bit.

That is a GREAT suggestion on the G10 plate for the avionics sled, and for my next kit I’ll do just that.

Kevlar – I continue to look for the “right stuff” there. I carry 6 sizes now. I’m really excited about 5 of them, the one I’d like to do better is the 1500# material. I’ll keep my eyes open there. I think the 1500# material is good-but-not great. Still looking.

Fin alignment jig – it is a WONDERFUL thing that is built by another club member. There are a number of challenges with coming out with a set of them… not everyone’s tubing is the same diameter, fins are not all the same thickness, and most importantly – the slots are not always 120 degrees apart on commercially slotted frames (Performance Rocketry included!) I spec’d my slots to within .001 and that was not cheap. The jig wouldn’t work on most of the 54mm tubes out there. All that said – is it cool or what!?! I’ve been cutting them from cardboard for years. BTW, the etching doesn’t add to the cost so I’m glad to have my advertising on there…

Nosecones are the greatest challenge. Working on a supplier now. The innards can be rough, and that is an artifact of the construction process. Nosecone sourcing is probably my biggest nightmare.

On kits that 3 Dogs Rocketry does in the future, I will almost assuredly have rail buttons. I didn’t use them for the KestreL as it is designed for tower launching.

All good input, all appreciated!

JW3DR

yep the 1500lb kevlar is what i was referring too.