I finally did more than remove the bulk of the damage on Bed Knobs and a Broomstick, damaged (very bad zipper, and a gussetted centering ring partially torn) at last month’s NASA Ames launch (see the posting). The zipper on the forward portion of the lower part of the rocket went right down into the […]

Fie on burned-through delays. A pox on them and their progeny! It was an absolutely beautiful day out at NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field for the monthly LUNAR launch. Cloudless, light winds (almost no wind until about 11!), pleasantly warm but not hot, fun people, a good crowd. Paul Pittenger started us off […]

When last we visited Bed Knobs and a Broomstick, the nose cone had just been finished. I am very please to say that the first flights were very successful! It was a simply gorgeous day at Snow Ranch in Farmington for LUNAR’s May 1st launch. We were treated to lots of wonderful flights: Steve Jurvetson’s […]

I spent a bunch of time this weekend at my friend Dan’s. He has a wood lathe and is pretty accomplished with it. A few months ago, the conversation turned to woodworking and nose cones and balsa. Though he had no experience with balsa and its very low density, he was willing to give it […]

I started working on a new rocket a couple of days ago. It’s a combination of a few designs, including one whose C5-3 CATOed at LUNAR‘s Ames launch last Saturday. (It was a pretty cool CATO, even if it was a maiden flight. Who ever heard of an 18mm black powder motor CATOing? Yeah, it […]