Eric Lofgren's Page
RocketReviews.com Pages:
2022-08-07
Estes Mega Mosquito
Flight
Altitude
344ft
Top speed
103 mph
Thrust Time
1.65 sec
Peak Accel
8.9 Gs
Avg Accel
2.9 Gs
Coast-Apogee
4.2s
Apogee-Eject
0.0s
Ejection
344ft
Descent
11mph
Duration
27.0s
... [More]
(broken) Estes M.I.R.V.
Flight
Beautiful flight, central dowel broke on landing. One 2nd-stage motor stuck. Don't tape them inside! - B6-0/3xA10-3 - Rothfuss Park [More]
Estes Jetliner
Flight
Back from the dead. I think this is the minimum engine. Good flight & recovery w/12" chute - C6-3 - Rothfuss Park [More]
Custom Rockets S.L.V.
Flight
- B6-4 - Rothfuss Park [More]
Odd'l Rockets Breakaway (The Joker)
Flight
Separated into 4 (of 6) segments - A8-3 - Rothfuss Park [More]
Estes Mini Mosquito
Flight
- 1/4A3-3T - Rothfuss Park [More]
Estes Big Daddy
Flight
Bad altimeter data. Very cool launch. 24" parachute way too much for breezy weather.
Altitude
346ft
Top speed
12 mph
Thrust Time
0.33 sec
Peak Accel
2.2 Gs
Avg Accel
1.8 Gs
Coast-Apogee
5.6s
Apogee-Eject
-5.6s ... [More]
(broken) Estes Gnome
Flight
Motor stuck (before and after launch), tube crimped. - 1/4A3-3T - Rothfuss Park [More]
Estes Helio Copter
Flight
Back from the dead. Good recovery. - C6-3 - Rothfuss Park [More]
Estes L.G.M.
Flight
Pretty wimpy.
Altitude
139ft
Top speed
61 mph
Thrust Time
0.8 sec
Peak Accel
10.4 Gs
Avg Accel
3.5 Gs
Coast-Apogee
2.7s
Apogee-Eject
0.5s
Ejection
133ft
Descent
10mph
Duration
... [More]
2017-01-10
Estes M.I.R.V. - Stuck engines
Build Entry
While I did recover all parts of the M.I.R.V. I have found the mini engines got severely stuck in the upper-stage body tubes. One came out after an overnight out in the garage but two are still stuck. Don't add any extra tape to make them friction fit! The wrap on the outside is plenty. [More]
2017-01-01
Estes M.I.R.V. - New Years Launch
Build Entry
We had a beautiful day today and I was able to launch several "new" rockets including the M.I.R.V.
I used a B6-0 and three A10-3T. All four pieces had red crepe-paper streamers to help with recovery, and I was launching on a snowy cornfield so I had high hopes.
The rocket weathercocked a lot ... [More]
2016-12-06
Estes M.I.R.V. - Decals
Build Entry
I finished the paint and got to decals today. I'm, as usual, disappointed in Estes decals. They include only enough to cover the rocket from one angle, the angle they use for the photo. It's like when you see a fast-food burger on TV and you know they've scooched all the veggies to the camera side ... [More]
2016-11-21
Estes M.I.R.V. - Painting
Build Entry
Having painted the entire rockets with Krylon "Craft Foam Primer", and then the nose cones and fins with Rustoleum grey auto primer, I top-coated the entirety with Krylon Black "Shimmer Metallic" and while it for the most part looks good I had some weird bubbling on one of the nose cones that I'm ... [More]
2016-11-18
Estes M.I.R.V. - Shock cords
Build Entry
I borrowed some ideas from various places for my shock cord mounts. I poked a hole through the body tube and fed some kevlar through, then glued it down in the crack between the foam and the BT. Once dry it feels plenty strong.
That done it's time to start finishing. I started with a coat of ... [More]
2016-11-14
Estes M.I.R.V. - Internal launch lugs and fins
Build Entry
With the fin papering complete I cut a long 3/16" dowel (probably around 16-17") to use instead of the one in the kit. I positioned the launch lugs near the top to hold the nose together more securely.
That done I began attaching the fins. I glued one of each pair of fins, then used ... [More]
2016-11-12
Estes M.I.R.V. - Upper stages fins
Build Entry
For no apparent reason (again), three of the nine upper fins have to be glued together, so I did that first.
Paper on all nine fins then required a portion of the edge to be left uncovered, but on these it was a straight line, so I just glued them off the edge of the paper.
Same deal ... [More]
2016-11-11
Estes M.I.R.V. - Beginning body tubes
Build Entry
A quick update - gluing the BT5 body tubes into the styrofoam body segments, and gluing the plastic nose cone halves together. Next is all the fins for the upper stages, nine total, three of which have to be glued from smaller parts. I'm planning to paper all of them.
[More]
2016-11-10
Estes M.I.R.V. - Booster stage fins
Build Entry
I started working on these fins - they tuck into slots in the foam so I wanted to leave a bit of the root edge unpapered. I cut a notch from the paper before gluing, spread white glue-all, rolled out the excess, trimmed and sanded to size. I used elmer's wood glue at the aft end of each fin and ... [More]
2016-11-08
Estes M.I.R.V.
Build
As a first try at documenting one of my builds, I've decided to photograph the process of building the Estes M.I.R.V., hopefully including some of the improvements suggested by Rich DeAngelis as I go. [More]
Estes M.I.R.V. - Booster motor mount
Build Entry
The next step is the assembly of the lower (booster) motor mount. Since I read that others had trouble sliding the motor tube into the foam mount before the glue set, I decided to help myself a little bit. While the glue dried on the motor hook, I drilled a 3/8" hole in a piece of 2x lumber ... [More]
Estes M.I.R.V. - First stage fins
Build Entry
The three fins for the first stage of the M.I.R.V. are in two parts each which must be glued up, for no apparent reason other than to use a smaller piece of balsa. My piece of balsa on which these fin parts (parts A and B) were laser-cut was actually a glue-up of two skinnier pieces. The seam ... [More]
