John A. Wilke

Which motor was that? Lots of mach diamonds! I saw a lot of them on my I216 boost – Ray caught that as well. It is great to have him out there!

Nice! Steve J got his L2 as well. Anyone else?David, did you use tracking, or just eyeball it? That is a LONG ways up there w/o a transmitter or GPS. Good job.L3 next 😀

Amazingly enough, we both had it from the bluff to the S of the launch site. We then outsmarted ourselves and drove around the back way, thinking it had landed over thattaway. It came in fairly close to the launch…   Read more»

Don’t forget Adrian and his goodies. I think we are one of the very few clubs who can offer pretty much one-stop shopping. I’ve flown at a lot of sites and I think we have an extremely unique situation.Those of…   Read more»

They are indeed nice. I did my L3 on a kit… it was a Dynacom kit (who is no longer in biz). I paid about 2x for my stuff vs. what it costs today and it is very nearly the…   Read more»

Speaking of which, what was the final altitude readout from your attempt, John? A bit over 14K if I remember correctly.14,188’….. BTW, Sunday would have been the day to do the shots – it was REALLY calm. Wonderful day! Altitude…   Read more»

… so, uh, don’t single deploy at 15000′

Too late. I’m prepped. I ain’t scared.JW

I’m very excited about the possibility of the I216’s being flown in min. diameter optimized rockets. The first time that anyone will be attempting an altitude attempt with these motors. That would be very cool.Looking forward to seeing the results….   Read more»

I might chug along with an I216 shot of my own… though mine isn’t as glamorous (exposed rivet, conical cone, phenolic, thicker fins, etc.).Maybe we do Dr. J the honor of breaking the TRA record twice in one day? I’ll…   Read more»

Good names John. If it was me I would drop the name Raven so that there would be no confusion with Adrian’s Raven altimeter.Note that I said “Raven, Shadow, Dark Star, Nighthawk, etc. are taken” – meaning I won’t use…   Read more»

At the risk of having threads collide, I’m leaning toward doing an entirely black rocket for my next kit – new tubing material (dare I say REVLOLUTIONARY tubing material??), black G10 fins, black gelcoat cone. It would not need finishing,…   Read more»

Woo-hoo!!! 😀

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…   Read more»

Next three kits will likely be:a.) An entirely black rocket – featuring an exciting new, very black tubing material… (it is not carbon, but it WILL meet my high standard for strength). Will also have black G10 fins, and a…   Read more»

Argos — Odysseus’s dogJohn and I will get a tear or two in our eyes with this name, and he used it for his L3. VERY good name though.INDEED – Argos was the faithful dog of Odysseus (from whom…   Read more»

Cerberus is a GREAT name and certainly with the “dog” theme. Ken, you are probably right about it being a niche. Another issue is that I’ve never built a cluster (or staged) HPR rocket and I’d have to do that…   Read more»

All cool suggestions, and I *LOVE* the modular idea. You will see it in a 3DR kit eventually. Right now, the economies of scale dictate I do 30-50 of something more or less repeatable. If I end up with a…   Read more»

A dart is on my list (and has been for a long time). I think it is the essence of doing something that pushes all the boundaries. Check this out http://www.rocketryplanet.com/content/view/236/38/Alas, it is probably not a good kit – thin…   Read more»

I like the 5 fins idea. That is pretty intriguing, actually!I also like tube-finned rockets, though I don’t think that is in the cards.JW

I vote for 75mm w/54mm mount. Something light that has a long enough motor mount for some hybrids and longer solid 54’s.EdwardThat is sort of where I’m leaning now. One note – it helps out a *lot* if I can…   Read more»