Mark Kulka's PageAKA: Mark II, the Rustic Rocketeer Location: Tupper Lake, NY Certification Level: L1 NAR Club Memberships: NAR,ASTRE #471 Favorite Rockets: Estes Astron Sprite, Semroc SLS and Deci-Scale series, FSI Nova and others, Art Applewhite Cinco, Biography: I avidly pursued the hobby as a kid in the 1960s, but hung up my microclips "temporarily" when I went off to college. I always planned to resume it again when time and circumstances permitted. Finally did so, 33 years later. Wow, had things changed. Very fervid backwoods BAR since 2004; NAR member since 2006. Level 1 cert. in 2011. I particularly enjoy building clones and reproduction kits of classic model rockets that I had longed for back in the 1960s, as well as those that subsequently came and went during my long hiatus. Those old designs are new to me! I missed a lot of great stuff and I am happily working to catch up. I enjoy and pursue the entire range of modern hobby rocketry, from micros to high power. If it's powered by a reaction motor, it's good. One of my ongoing projects is to build clones of every model rocket design that Flight Systems, Inc. produced during its 27 year history. I have also been building reproductions of many of the Estes "Mini Brutes" from the 1970s and 80s. My focus isn't all on the hobby's storied past, though; I am keenly interested in current and new designs, products and developments in the hobby in the present day. I greatly enjoy talking about all aspects of the hobby with fellow enthusiasts on rocket web forums and online social network sites. I am constantly getting blown away by the skills and creativity of fellow rocket people today, both the young and the "mature." I am particularly impressed by the level of sophistication and depth of knowledge of many of the young members of the hobby today, and the willingness to "pay forward" (along with the wit and humor!) that is demonstrated by the the older members.
Favorite Quote: Rocketry Without Pity.
In the forest, no one can hear you order a grande caffè misto.
No one is ever "Mayor" of the wild places.
Club Home Page: http://www.astre471.org/ RocketReviews.com Pages:
2024-02-25FSI Sprint (Clone)  Flight Launch was good, with a low but crowd-pleasing flight, a good deployment and a nice landing within the field. No damage was found on the rocket... a perfect flight. - B4-4 - Veteran's Park, Macomb, IL [More]
2013-09-07Art Applewhite Rockets Pinwheel 13mm "White Spinner" Flight Flown for club spot landing competition. Great spin, esp. on the way up. Drifted a little bit too much during the recovery. Landed 11m and change from the pin -- good enough for 4th place. - A10-P - ASTRE - Washington Cty. Fairgrounds [More]
Excelsior Rocketry - Der Fat Max Flight Nice boost. Ejection just a tad early. Used an oversized Nomex and a (possibly) oversized parachute, causing the bundle to have a somewhat tight fit in the rocket. Result: nose cone popped off, but 'chute failed to eject and deploy. Came in rather hard. Two cracked fin fillets, slight crimping of ... [More]
FSI Star Gazer (Clone) Flight Finally gave this perennial bridesmaid a full-up flight. Quick, nice boost, prompt staging, brief sustainer flight, straight up in now-calm wind. Would have been a perfect small-field flight. Unfortunately, nose cone got tangled up in parachute risers, preventing the 9" canopy from fully ... [More]
High Flying Cards - Carded Patriot Flight First flight at the new field. Wind check flight. Nominal flight -- a little wiggly, which I have never seen before with this rocket. Low, too, lower than expected. Perfect deployment and recovery. slight squirreliness might have been due to the gusty, variable wind at the time. Other ... [More]
Art Applewhite Rockets 24mm Delta SpaceShipEarth Flight Great boost, substantially higher than expected. Nice stable nose-down aerobraking recovery. - D11-P - ASTRE - Washington Cty. Fairgrounds [More]
Art Applewhite Rockets Turbo Delta Saucer "Hot Pink" Flight This streamlined saucer went as high on a B motor as the regular Delta Saucer did on a D motor, and it got there quicker. Nice flight but it was only a hint of the kind of performance that this rocket is capable of turning in. - B4-2 - ASTRE - Washington Cty. Fairgrounds [More]
2012-11-18SSRS LASOR 134 - Pics, pics. Build Entry A few pics added to this rocket's page. Other than still needing paint, this project is done and the LASOR-134 is flyable. [More]
SSRS LASOR 134 - Done Build Entry Done. Moving to my rocket list. [More]
2012-11-17FSI Hercules #2 Build Large diameter mid-power payload rocket with 29mm motor mount. Second clone build of the original kit using parts from Semroc and scanned kit plans at YORP. [More]
SSRS LASOR 95 Build Sleek high performance mid-power rocket, 24mm minimum diameter. Clone of the original kit using data from the LASOR 114 RockSim file at rocketreviews.com (subsequently downscaled) and from the scanned 1982 Crown Rocket Tech/SSRS catalog at Ninfinger.
2012-11-17: Just starting. Have all parts ... [More]
SSRS LASOR 114 Build Sleek high performance mid-power rocket. 29mm minimum diameter. Clone of the original rocket using data from the LASOR 114 RockSim file at rocketreviews.com and from the scanned 1982 Crown Rocket Tech/SSRS catalog at Ninfinger. 90% complete at this point. [More]
SSRS LASOR 134 Build Sleek high performance mid-power rocket. 29mm, slightly larger than minimum diameter. Clone of the original rocket using parts from Semroc and information (subsequently upscaled) from Steve Naquin's LASOR 114 RockSim file at rocketreviews.com and from the scanned 1982 Crown Rocket Tech/SSRS ... [More]
FSI Nike-Tomahawk Build 2" scale version. Clone of the original FSI kit, using parts from Semroc and plans from YORP (FSI kit plans) and Peter Alway's Rockets of the World (scale data). 65-70% complete at this point. [More]
2012-11-11Art Applewhite Rockets Turbo Delta Saucer "Hot Pink" Flight Great flight, but weathercocked a little. Impressive speed and altitude for a little saucer. - C6-3 - School fields, Tupper Lake [More]
Art Applewhite Rockets Stealth 18mm Flight Nice loud boost. Motor ejected with a loud pop at burnout. Recovery via aerobraking, slowly spinning in the process. - C6-0 - School fields, Tupper Lake [More]
Art Applewhite Rockets Cinco Saucer 13mm #1 Flight Great boost and it really got up there. Landed next to the pad. - A10-P - School fields, Tupper Lake [More]
2008-12-30FSI Nova (Clone)  Review Sport rocket with pass-through transition. This is a clone of FSI's third rocket model as it appeared during the first half of the 1970's.
The following parts were all obtained from Semroc Astronautics:
ST-1160 (6") - lower body tube
ST-8F90 (9" cut to 8") - upper body tube
ST-940 ... [More]
2008-12-01Scratch Micromaxx Spool Rocket (Scratch)  Review
( Contributed - by Mark Kulka - 12/01/08) Brief:
To a 3-year old with a hammer, everything looks like a nail. And to the rocketry-obsessed at any age, everything
eventually looks like a rocket. A chance trip to a craft store yielded the ideal material for a small spool rocket.
... [More]
2007-07-22Art Applewhite Rockets Turbo Delta Flying Saucer 18mm (4") (Kit)  Review
Brief:
A new version of Art's popular 18mm Delta Saucer that has been streamlined in profile and in price. After seeing how
this new version flies, you may have to revise your notions about the potential performance of UFO-style rockets.
Construction:
This kit was tucked in as a ... [More]
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Mark Kulka |
