model rocketry 30 years ago and now...

You need to sit down.

Center yourself.

Ready?

now....

Go to

That's just a start.

And many more.

Yes, the B14 is late and lamented. Yes, Estes made F motors similar to Aerotech's but I think they just didn't know how to market them at the time (mid to late 90's).

You want balsa nosecones? Check out Balsa Machining Service

or my current fave, Semroc (url above).

Good hobby shops do still carry dope, sealer, and fillercoat. Even craft stores like Hobby Lobby carry SIG sealer and dope. However, a lot of people now like to use Elmer's Wood Filler, thinning it a bit with water. I occasionally use Durham's Rock-Hard Water Putty, again thinning it a bit more than it says in the directions. With either sealer or filler, using a spray sandable primer for the final filler is in vogue, but it can get a bit heavy.

The B3-xt motors made by MRC are long ago history (as are the B4-xm motors made by Centuri), but there have been other 13mm and smaller B motors made by Apogee (a composite B8 and a 10.5mm B2) more recently, though no longer available.

The 18mm D21 motor touted by Enerjet but never sold back in the early 70's has been available for most of the past 15 years from Aerotech (along with a reloadable 18mm D13!)

The Enerjet E and F were neat, with NO smoke and progressive burn, but those are the precise qualities that made them not so good for most applications. Low liftoff thrusts meant that heavy rockets could get blown about by the wind after they left the rod.

Aerotech and many others make not only D, E, and F, but G, H, I, J, K, L, M....... with many different smoke profiles and normally high liftoff thrusts that taper off.

Many other discoveries await.

Roy nar12605

The Hobby shops I go to still handle the d-o-p-e and sanding sealer and fillercoat.

Any hobby shop that carries R/C supplies will probably carry sanding-sealer. A *great* substitute is a bottle of Testor's "Dull Coat" with some talcum powder mixed into it. Actually, some talcum powder mixed into just about *any* paint, clear or not, can make a great sanding sealer.

My favorite "concoction" is Bondo brand "Glazing & Body Putty" (available at auto parts stores), diluted with Testor's Liquid Cement. The Testor's red Hobby Filler Putty is the exact same product as the Bondo putty (both made by the RPM Company).

As far as painting the balsa pieces after sealing....you can use any paint (well...water colors might not be a wise choice...lol)

Thanks! You're better than Google.

Actually that's the one thing I'm good at. I suspect my mini lathe would be just the ticket to make nose cones with. I've already learned wood turning by making some chessmen on the lathe. (the knight was made half on the band saw, and half on the lathe). Might have to get my tools real sharp to work on balsa wood (or just use sandpaper blocks ).

I'll have to look CLOSER in the R/C airplane section on my hobby shop. I think he might keep those paints there. I remember advise on making sanding sealer with powder mixed into clear dope.

I remember using those.

I had a friend back in HS that flew NOTHING BUT Enerjet E&F models. He lost a few Cineroc's to Enerjet powered boosters. They didn't have any problems going up and true (except for the time a gust of wind blew over an Estes tilt-a-pad at the wrong moment sending an F67 powered model in a horizontal flight about 15 feet AGL at what seemed to be about 400mph+)

Remember the Flight Systems F7? (9 seconds of 'powered delay'.) Just about ANYTHING powered by that would fall out of the sky before the ejection charge fired.

Thanks for all the links. Yup, I got some 'exploring' to do.