OK
Onto my next discussion. I was wondering how various people transport their rockets. I have found that laying them in the back seat usually results in boken fin on the way out and one on the way back.
I am considering those long flat boxes that Rubbermaid sells for storing wrapping paper.
For you L3's - please, nothing involving a motor home, semi, or other capital investment. Just some stuff for the wekend BAR.
Thanx!
I would invest some capital into a semi that could pull a motor home.
Jim
If you do NOT rebox them but just lay them in your rocket lay a unused tube ACROSS the underside of the row of rockets just ahead of the fins to keep the fins off the surface or less pressure on them.
I have been just stacking rockets in a pile for years (every other one reverse direction,nose cones against fins).
Anothe rtrick is if you have exttra clothes with you, put those down first to keep the rockets on a padded surface.
Jerry
Do a Google search for this subject. Not too long ago. A year at most. Some good info. I lay mine on the carpeted floor of my van.
da rmr plumber Gary R Goldenbaum NAR #73669 L1 Northwest Florida remove 'nichspam' to reply
For local launches, 50 miles each way, I use the back seat of the truck, with a Fleece Throw Blanket to protect the rockets.
Start with the blanket on the seat, tucked over any seat belts. Place the rockets on the blanket, staggering fins to prevent hitting. Flip the end of the blanket over the rockets, this keeps them in place and prevents them moving around. Small rockets can then go on top of the blanket, in the low spots between the larger rockets.
For longer distances, I use a Rubber Maid Foot Locker, it's a bit bigger than the wrapping paper box, with wheels and a top that's stiff enough to sit on. I keep it filled with styrofoam/starch peanuts and can just bury the rockets, fasten the clips on the top and throw it in the back of the truck. It also keeps the wife happy at Christmas when she can get packing peanuts for mailing boxes, I just have to remember to refill it after Christmas.
Bob Ellis
Unless someone sits on them this shouldn't be a problem.
Those boxes should work OK. I've been using a large Rubbermaid footlocker for at least a decade now. It will hold a model as large as a Graduator or WartHog. For bigger stuff I use a car top carrier, although I don't put it on the top of the car unless I absolutely have to.
For longer trips I fill the container with styro popcorn to reduce shifting.
Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!
I put one between my legs, hold one in my mouth, hold one in each hand and pile the rest on the dash where I can keep an eye on them. It makes driving a bit tricky, but the Interstates don't have any sharp turns anyhow.
OK, actually, I divide them up in various boxes. Small models in one box, mid-power in another box, and high power rockets lying loose on top of the boxes or wherever. That is how I did it before I got the trailer and that is basically the same system I use in the trailer except that some things are on shelves instead of on the seat in the truck. Keeping rockets of similar size and weight together in the same box seems to minimize the breakage. I haven't had damage in transit in several years. The rockets are loose in the boxes - no padding. My paint jobs don't require special care.
-- Eric Benner TRA # 8975 L2 NAR # 79398
I have seen model rocket guys using what I called "Tub-O-Rockets" Large Rubbermaid or sterilite tubs with the rockets tossed in.
I use the long cardboard boxes HPR rockets are shipped to me in from kit manufacture for my medium power and even small model sport rockets. They slid right in the back of my pickup.
I put my competition rockets in a sterilite plastic box like you talked about sold for storing wrapping paper etc. I use R/C plane holders and PVC pipes made into rocket holders for my large hi-power rockets.
"Tub-O-Rockets" and "Box-O-Rockets" seem to be the most popular at the launches I've gone to.
Art Upton
Bust up a bale-o-dog barf wadding into that tub-o-rockets for padding and an endless supply (modroc speaking)
transport their
results in
I got a piece of plywood about 24" x 36". I put two handles on it so I can carry it sort of like a serving tray. Then I drilled holes in it for pegs made of 6"pieces of 1/4", 1/2" and 1" dowel. I also put a couple of 1/2" iron pipe flanges and 6" iron pipe nipples on there for the heavier models. I spaced these pegs fairly randomly all over the board. The rockets go on the pegs, and the board goes in the back of the Explorer (or the Voyager. Or the motor home, the times we went to LDRS and NARAM.) If the rockets are too tall to fit on the board, I put each section on a different peg (if they break in the middle) or I lay them down on a blanket in the back. This works for model rockets; for high power rockets I just use the blanket.
--tc P.S. you can put spent motor casings over the ends of the dowels to ensure both a decent fit and to reduce damage to the models (especially from the iron pipe :-)
Al, I had some furring strip (rough pine 1" x 2" x 8') cut in to 3x 18" sections and 3x 30" sections. then laid, them out in to a 3x3 and put a
1.5" #8 wood screw in to each crossover. this makes a sturdy and light lattice (a duodecathorpe!!) in to which you can drill holes for 1/4" dowels. stand the rockets up on the dowels. put motors on the ends of the dowels. total cost was about $3 worth of stuff already in the garage.the only drawback is in height, your tallest rocket can only be as tall as your vehicle. the truck is 30" high, the van is nearly 50" high. but rockets that long you usually want to lay down anyways.
pop-quiz: figure out how to mount a Deuce's Wild on this rack.
Cliff
Al Gloer wrote:
I throw mine in a big pile in the back seat of the car. If yours break fins by just sitting there on their side, I'd say the rocket is the problem, not the storage technique. Most any landing is going to be more force than a rocket laying on its side for a car ride.
Maybe more than you're looking for but it was cheap to do it this way.
I use the wrapping paper storage box with a cradle for the bottom layer of rockets and then just pile them on. My original cradle was made from pine with semicircular notches sized to the rocket diameter and padded with foam tape. Later I realized that it would have been much simpler to carve the cradles out of blue foam from Home Depot which would not have required padding. I have not broken fins, but I have scuffed paint by simply piling the rockets on top of each other.
Larry
Al Gloer wrote:
We've a minivan where I often set the nice large ones lengthwise atop of the two rear seats. When driving during daytime, folks will give you a nice wide berth...
Andy
You know you are a real rocketeer when your roofrack is barely strong enough to hold the rockets hanging out both ends of the legal car length limits, and, when you go around turns you have to compensate for all of the fin corrective force.
Jerry
I use a Sterilite plastic container about 3 feet long with two latches along on side and wheels at one end. I find it sturdy enough that I can use it as a bottom-layer in the back of my van and place clothes bags, recovery and engine boxes and other loose stuff on top of it. I just wouldn't place something really heavy like a cooler chest on top of it.
I also have a wooden box, built for me by my wife, that fits onto the hitch rack carrier on the back of her van. It's a bit too heavy and unwieldy for me to use much, though it is sealed to be waterproof and stores about 3 times the stuff the Sterilite can fit.
Tom Ha President, Central Pennsylvania Rocketeers NAR Section #659 NAR #76754
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