Geoffrey Kerbel's Page
RocketReviews.com Pages:
2008-11-05
Madcow Rocketry Cowabunga (Kit)
Review
Brief:
This is a nice entry level mid/high power kit. Large tube, lots of room for recovery gear, simple build, and a great
flier.
Construction:
The main components consist of high quality parts and is a very complete kit!
4" nose cone
4" body tube
3 ... [More]
2008-09-01
Scratch Hawkeye (BT-50) (Upscale)
Review
This Hawkeye is a 1.79x upscale of the Estes original which was based on a BT-5 tube. It is a single stage larger version of the "mini" rocket that used a 13mm engine. Due to the size, a parachute is used for recovery.
The components used were:
Estes instructions for the original ... [More]
2008-04-12
Estes- Trident
Flight
Good straight boost even in the wind. Good drift but damage free landing. Long walk. - C6-3 - SSS [More]
2008-03-10
Excelsior Rocketry Honest Goon (Plan) (Kit)
Review
Brief:
The Honest Goon is another great idea from Fred at Excelsior rockets. It is a modest downscale of the larger kits
that are out there and comes with an outstanding set of decals. Remember though, they are GOONY! If you have never done
an Excelsior goony, you really need to get ... [More]
2008-01-12
Kerbco Rockets- Global Flyer II
Flight
Nice small motor flight. Straight boost with ejection just slightly past apogee. No shock cord snag this time and nice full chute. Damage free landing not 200' away from pad. - G80-4 - SSS [More]
Estes-Maxi Alpha
Flight
First flight with new type of baffle. Everything worked perfect! NO wadding needed at all. Real nice flight! - D12-5 - SSS [More]
2007-11-23
Estes Skywinder
Flight
This seems to be the best engine for this rocket. Good height but not enough to overfly a small park and ejection right at the top. - C6-3 - SSS [More]
Estes- Trident
Flight
Still a great flight on a B. Just right for this small park.Sure draws a crowd to see it. - B6-4 - SSS [More]
2007-10-28
Scratch 2.5x upscale Nike X
Flight
Ejection was late enough to pull locator ring apart and snag chute line. Came down mostly horizontal with chute streaming. Landed with no damage. WHEW!! - I211-M - SSS [More]
2007-08-11
Estes Mars Lander
Flight
Nice straight up flight with good chute. Damage free landing on its legs again! Great flight. - C5-3 - SSS [More]
Estes Andromeda
Flight
Good flight but chute took a long time to open. Rocket came tumbling down until it did and it landed just fine. Whew. - C6-3 - SSS [More]
Ugly Wart
Flight
Push button, blink, you missed it!! Nice flight but slight angle out at launch. Good chute but very long walk (1/4m). Great, late in the morning, tired, hot, just what I needed for the last $#%^&^% flight!! - G64-10 [More]
Ugly Wart
Flight
Nice smokey launch. Straight up and good chute. Short walk, no damage. Love those Black Jack motors! - G33-M [More]
2007-04-30
Excelsior Rocketry Honest Goon (Plan) (Kit)
Review
Brief:
The HONEST GOON is another Goony retro-bash decal/plan set that is available from Excelsior Rocketry. This is not a
kit but rather a set of instructions, fin patterns, and most importantly decals to kit bash an Estes Baby Bertha (plus
a few extra parts) into some rocketry fun. If ... [More]
2006-12-12
Aerotech 29mm RMS Motor (Kit)
Review
(by Geoffrey Kerbel - 12/12/06)
Brief:
The AeroTech 29MM RMS is a reloadable motor casing for mid-power flights with
"E" through "G" power reloads. This is a system that allows
the flier to put their own motors together with the power requirements to suit
their rockets ... [More]
2006-12-10
Plastic Model Conversion Convair ISX-SSC (Plastic Model Conversion)
Review
This is a plastic model conversion of the Revell Authentic Kit of the Convair ISX-SSC model. This was an eBay buy from earlier in the year and is the 1996 issue of the kit. This comes up on eBay quite often and can usually be won for a small, reasonable price. The original came out in 1959. ... [More]
Quest Nike-K (Kit)
Review
Brief:
This is a skill level 2 kit from Quest with pseudo-military looks using the
Nike name and lower fin shape. It is a single stage rocket with mid-body
separation. The upper section could be used for payload.
Construction:
The basic components consist of the following:
Main ... [More]
2006-09-24
Scratch Federated Transport and Delivery (Scratch)
Review
( Design this
Spaceship Submission - by Geoffrey Kerbel - 09/24/06) Federated Transport and Delivery
Click on ANY picture to enlarge!
This rocket was conceived from a picture that was part of a contest that
Nick of EMRR came up with in mid 2006. There was a group of six pictures ... [More]
2006-07-02
Estes Cediming Raider (Kit)
Review
(by Geoffrey Kerbel - 07/02/06)
Brief:
"After numerous suspicious reports from the outer Alpha
quadrant, we can now positively state that the Cediming have been using a new
style Raider in their attacks at the Outer Rim Space Yard. There have been
additional reports of attacks ... [More]
2005-11-25
Scratch Upscale Blue Bird Zero (Scratch)
Review
( Contributed - by Geoffrey Kerbel - 11/25/05)
Brief:
This Blue Bird Zero is a 125% upscale of the original which makes the main body
tube a BT-60. I have wanted this rocket since I became a BAR but the Ebay
prices were too high. I then found Fred at Excelsior and while ordering s ... [More]
2005-11-23
Scratch Der Mega Red Max (Scratch)
Review
( Contributed - by Geoffrey Kerbel - 11/23/05)
Brief:
Der Mega Max is a BT-80 upscale (158%) of the big Red Max. It is my flying test
bed for my new interchangeable motor mount system for BT-80 tube rockets. This
will allow single engine or cluster flights with the same rocket. With ... [More]
Scratch Monolith (Scratch)
Review
(by Geoffrey Kerbel - 11/23/05)
Brief:
The Monolith is a single stage, mini motor all paper rocket.The Monolith
started out as one of those "lets see if this works" projects. After
many starts and stops, I was about to give up on the project when I found out
about the EMRR ... [More]
2005-09-18
Quest Nike-K (Kit)
Review
Brief:
This is a very easy to build "quick kit" that lives up to the promise
of ready to launch in 15-45 minutes. It's a decent looking design with fin can
and transition to a payload bay and even comes with a plastic display stand.
This particular kit was given to me as a prize ... [More]
2005-08-28
Quest Flics (Kit)
Review
Brief:
I just want everyone to know that the only reason I am doing this review is not
because I am desperate to get one in or because I need the points for the on
going contest! Maybe! It just so happens that I received this kit with a Quest
QEZ at the same time. These were graciously ... [More]
2005-07-10
Scratch This End Up (Scratch)
Review
(by Geoffrey Kerbel - 07/10/05)
Brief:
This End Up turned out to be a fairly high performance 24mm bird. With an Estes
E9-6 engine, it has gone out of sight on the two launches with this engine.
Rocksim shows 1600' or more at my Phoenix, AZ launch site on a 90 degree day
with ~10% ... [More]
2005-06-03
Quest Nike-K (Kit)
Review
Brief:
The Nike-K is a sport scale rocket based on the Nike booster. This is a review
of the older, out-of-production version that uses the one piece fin can.
Construction/Finishing:
The Nike-K was packaged in the usual clear plastic bag with a full color
picture of the completed ... [More]
0000-00-00
Quest Nike-K (Kit)
Review
Construction:
My Nike-K is actually very old, having been built in 1992, but I feel this
reflects the the overall quality of the design. I have bought a new kit to
compare the two, and it is pretty much identical to the early one. Quest
packages their parts separately so it is easy to find ... [More]
