Upscale Squatty Body

Roy Houchin Jr. sent a picture of his upscale Odd'l
SQUATTY BODY.

Thanks Roy - looks great at any size!

Break-Away Spotted -

From Edward Mitton's Blast From The Past Blog - CLICK HERE

"Mike (Goss) started things off with a multi-section model similar to the Estes Wacky Wiggler.  The model turned in a nice flight."

Well it's not a Wacky Wiggler, it's the Odd'l Rockets Break-Away!

Odd'ls On Rocketoberfest

The Little Green Man and Pigasus were featured on the Apogee Facebook Page.
They are part of the Rocketober promotion posted on October 11.

Thanks to Richard Holmes for the email heads up!

Break-Away For Spot Landing Competition?

An email from John Thompson:

"I really enjoy building your kits.  The Pigasus is primed with white and almost completed.



Myself and Daniel Peirce competed in Open Spot Landing using the break-away kits.  Both worked great. Daniels break-away rocket landed 35 feet from the target and mine landed 22 feet from the target.
It’s a great kit for this event."

John Thompson

NAR 33053, TRA 2304

Hi John -
It never occurred to me to use the Break-Away kit in a Spot Landing Competition! 
You Pigasus looks great - ready for some pink paint and decals! Thanks for writing.

Little Green Man Launch, NEFAR, Sept. 10, 2016

Here's some pictures taken by Thea Mathen
at the September N.E.F.A.R. launch.

My Little Green Man flew with a Quest B6-4.

PIGS! And Bigger Pigs!

From the N.A.R. Facebook page:

From Jason Pettler:
"My daughter loves Pigasus so I up scaled it to a 3in 
and a 5 1/2 in."

Thanks Jason! Very Impressive.
There have been Odd'l upscales done before but this is the first large Pigasus models I've seen.

Pigasus Sighting

Daniel Pierce posted this on the N.A.R. Facebook page:


"Had a cool rocket class for the kids at our local hobby shop today and my fellow rocketeer John Thompson broke out the Odd'l Rocket shirt and Pigasus!!!!" - in Hood River, Oregon.

A New Break-Away Build

From the N.A.R. Facebook page:

Daniel Pierce writes:
Just finishing up this kit from Odd'l rockets. Cool breakaway recovery, and I have all those sections I can paint with whatever colors I want!!!!

Body Tubes?

Just received a BIG order of body tubes from BMS for Odd'l kits.
It doesn't look like much until you look in from the side. There are tubes in tubes!

New Break-Away Kit!

Check out the Blog Topper picture!

The NEW BREAK-AWAY kit is now available from JonRocket, Apogee and Sirius Rocketry.

New design features include:  
The main body tube is now a heavy walled BT-50, even stronger than the original ST-10 tubing.
The segment ties have been improved, now stronger and more secure.
The couplers are longer for more stable joints.

Some of the new batch of kits have already sold out - be patient, more are on the way!

New Model Making Equipment!

I picked this up on Ebay to vacu-form parts for a possible upcoming kit.
I have experience with vacu-forming, when I was five years old. Mattel made a Vacu-Form "toy".

What could go wrong? It's UL listed so it has to be safe!
Give a five year old a hot plate to melt a plastic sheet. Flip over the plate and pump the vacuum arm up and down sucking the plastic over the master form.
I'm hoping for better results with the wood box and my shop vac.

So . . . Where's All The New Stuff?

I've been busy!
Work on the Odd'l Rockets Break-Away and other products continues.
Every time I get back to work on the instructions, something else comes up!
I might be called away to do shows or a Disney audition comes up.

I'm currently producing instructions for Madcow or Aerotech. (more on that later) Orders have to be filled. Add to that model builds for customers and the MRB Blog. You can get a little overwhelmed.
Add to that model builds for customers.
I do as much as I can comfortably stand!

I got a good report back from Mike Stoop at Madcow. I asked if he had any feedback from customers from the new instructions for his 1.6" diameter kits.
He said: "No. But that's a good thing."
The new Bomarc instructions answer questions and he doesn't spend time on the phone explaining construction!

To see the Bomarc instructions: CLICK HERE
I am available to produce instructions for your kits! Contact me at oddlrockets@bellsouth.net

An Odd'l Parachute Endorsement

On TRF from JerryR708:

"Great parachute design! As soon as I got mine in the mail, I knew I was gonna love it. I liked the fact that I could cut out my own size with the guidelines. The mil thickness was perfect and the quality plastic was there, not that crinkly kind. I like how this plastic drapes nicely, and opens quicker without the fold memory of some. The plastic reinforcement rings are what kept the chute and my rockets safe to this day. 

I tried to get more last week on my last order, but they were out of stock. No problem, I will get dozens more flights with my old reliable JonRocket chute. I highly recommend them."

New / Old Kit Prototype

Here's a recent build still in the flight testing phase.

Anyone who was around in the late 1970s through early 1980s will recognize the F-16 from the Centuri Fighter Fleet series.
The fins in the Centuri kit were die-cut fiberboard. This model has 3/32" balsa fins.
I made a cardstock canopy, the Centuri kit featured a clear plastic canopy and plastic nose and tail fins on the small missiles.
I can't use the wording "U.S. AIR FORCE", I chose "U.S. FIGHTER FLEET".
Look close at the stars and bars insignia, that's a six point star. After some research I might go back to the correct five point star. I can't find any reference to the old insignia holding a copyright. The Air Force has a newer protected logo.
While this isn't an exact copy of the Centuri F-16 it still captures the spirit of the original kit.

Adeptors!

These are newly made Adeptors going to JonRocket.com.
They're a handmade item and one of the hardest accessories to make up.
The large bolts are cut in two and filed until the bottom is flat and square.
The side hole is drilled and tapped.
The tightening screw is cut to size and fitted to the tapped hole.
Instructions are printed and everything bagged up.

Back To Work!

. . . on Odd'l Rockets projects anyway!

I've been busy with other things lately.
New Instructions for six MadCow Rocketry kits have been done. Between that and cruise ship shows, development of new products has taken a back seat!
I hope to get back to the instructions for the new Break-Away and Spool kits shortly.