Mike Caplinger's PageLocation: San Diego, CA Certification Level: L3 NAR Club Memberships: NAR,DART/Tripoli San Diego Biography: My first rocket was a Centuri Javelin circa 1968. In the late 60s and early 70s I built about half of the Estes and Centuri lineups, though I built more than I flew in those days. My first flight as a BAR was on New Year's Day 2009, an Estes D-Region Tomahawk on a D12; I did my L1 and L2 about three months later. Following a series of complex flight attempts in the fall of 2010, I figured it would be easier to go ahead and do my L3, which I finished in March of 2011.
Favorite Quote: it is simplicity that is difficult to make. — Bertholdt Brecht
Club Home Page: http://www.dartrocketry.org/ RocketReviews.com Pages:
2020-01-25Jolly Logic AltimeterTwo (Kit)  Review
When I returned to rocketry as a BAR in 2009, I wanted to measure how high my rockets were actually flying. At that time, there weren't a lot of options short of a dual-deployment controller, which I wasn't ready for, so I ended up with a "How High SP" unit from Winged Shadow Systems ... [More]
2019-08-21Estes Tercel (Kit)  Review
Boost gliders have a long and not completely successful history as kits. Early Estes gliders included the Astron Space Plane, Falcon, and Nighthawk, but these soon gave way to a series of kits better known for their interesting appearance than their great glide characteristics. ... [More]
2018-08-26Skylab Saturn V  Flight First flight with engine bells; looked OK in simulation but went unstable just after burnout and crashed before ejection; minimal damage - F44-4 - Fiesta Island [More]
Madcow Rocketry DX3  Flight Test flight for tiltalt; good ascent, chute slightly tangled but that kept the rocket on the field (barely) - F52-7 - Fiesta Island [More]
2018-06-13Estes Saturn V (Kit)  Review
This is a short review of the Estes Apollo 11 Saturn V kit, number 2157. I purchased the kit in 2017.
There are several reviews of this kit in its various forms over the years on RR and tons of information on the web. Probably the definitive source of information is Chris ... [More]
2018-06-02Skylab Saturn V  Flight
Straight boost; upper section chute hopelessly tangled and came in hot, no damage; one fin fairing partially broken off at landing
- E15-4 - Fiesta Island [More]
1.6X Mars Lander  Flight Nice flight, stuck the landing, one leg's rubber bands mostly broken. - G64-4 - Fiesta Island [More]
Dueces Wild  Flight One motor failed to ignite, ejection just before impact - 2xc6-5 - Fiesta Island [More]
2018-04-29Tethys Lite  Flight weak ejection charge didn't deploy the chute; finally pulled loose about 50 feet up; 19 seconds duration - G74-6 - Fiesta Island [More]
Aerotech HV ARCAS  Flight also weak ejection charge but chute pulled out almost immediately; duration 31 seconds - F44-4 - Fiesta Island [More]
2018-04-07Talon 2  Flight first dual deploy flight using old cl1max avbay; carried GPS; landed about 0.15 miles E - I200-10 - Holtville Airport [More]
Fliskits Journeyman  Flight squirrelly trajectory after burnout as usual; one upper-stage fin broken off and lost due to snapback - E20-7 - Holtville Airport [More]
x51lite  Flight good GPS/IMU data; keychain camera ran out of space during prelaunch, no flight images; ground video was 720p30; recovered ~0.3 miles W - J460+I242 - Holtville Airport [More]
2016-06-01Estes Maxi Alpha III (Kit)  Review
The Estes Alpha, designed by Bill Simon and introduced in 1967, is the prototypical 3FNC that has introduced generations of rocketeers to the hobby. The original Alpha, of course, had a balsa nose cone and fins. The Alpha III (1971) was an easier-to-build plastic version with a ... [More]
2016-02-13Madcow Rocketry Mini DX3 (Kit)  Review
(This is a review of the thin-wall fiberglass version of the Mini DX3. There is also a cardboard version.)
The Madcow Mini DX3 is the smallest version (38mm diameter) of the basic DX3 design, which is now available in a size spectrum ranging from this kit all the way up to an 8-inch ... [More]
2016-01-31Estes Cosmic Interceptor (Kit)  Review
The Estes Interceptor, designed by Wayne Kellner and originally introduced in 1971, was perhaps the most iconic model rocket of its era. The kit was produced for 9 years and is fondly remembered by a generation of BARs (I had one but if I recall correctly never had the courage to fly ... [More]
2015-02-04Tango Papa 1.6x Mars Lander (Kit)  Review
The Estes Mars Lander, designed by Wayne Kellner, was released in 1969. I remember getting the kit for Christmas in the early 70s and assembling it over the course of a year or more; it was easily the most complex build I had ever attempted. I think mine flew once on a B6-2, and ... [More]
2014-03-19Estes Nike Smoke (Kit)  Review
The Nike-Smoke sounding rocket flew hundreds of times in the 1960s, used to measure high-altitude winds by ground photography of its smoke trail. It has also become one of the most popular subjects in model rocketry history -- the first kit I know of was the Centuri 1.6" version ... [More]
2013-12-05Leading Edge Rocketry SubZero (Kit)  Review
The SubZero is a 3-inch-diameter mid-power 4FNC rocket with a translucent nose cone and a high flux blue LED strobe light specifically intended for night flying. Other than the color of the LED and the decals, the SubZero appears to be identical to its companion product, the Leading ... [More]
2013-02-18Rockets Gone Bad Photograph 
failure sequence
2013-02-06FlisKits Journeyman (Kit)  Review
The Fliskits Journeyman is a 1/16th sport scale model of the Aerolab Argo D-8 Journeyman sounding rocket. The Journeyman flew eight times from 1960 to 1965 on NASA and AEC missions from Vandenberg and Wallops Island.
Components
The kit includes body tubes, centering rings, ... [More]
2011-06-02Wildman Rocketry Extreme Wildman (Kit)  Review
The Extreme Wildman is a 4-inch-diameter 100-inch long 75mm MMT all-fiberglass 3FNC kit. I bought one during Wildman Rocketry's "Black Saturday" sale right after Thanksgiving 2010 (1/3 off!) with the idea of using it for my NAR L3 flight.
Components
The kit is quite ... [More]
2009-12-10Performance Rocketry G3 (Kit)  Review
Brief:
The G3 is a bare-bones 3FNC dual-deploy kit with high-quality G10 fiberglass parts.
Construction:
The kit comes with a gel coated 3:1 ogive fiberglass nose cone, two sections of 3" G10 airframe tube (22"
long payload and 44" long booster), 3 clipped-delta ... [More]
2009-02-15Madcow Rocketry Super DX3 (Kit)  Review
The Super DX3 is a 4" 38mm version of the Madcow DX3. It's a 3FNC with a large payload section.
The kit includes a pre-slotted body tube, a payload tube, plastic nose cone, 3 laser-cut 1/4" plywood fins, 38mm x 18" cardboard MMT, 1/4" plywood centering rings, a cardboard coupler with plywood ... [More]
2009-01-28Madcow Rocketry DX3 (Kit)  Review
Brief:
The DX3 is a fairly simple 2.6" diameter 3FNC mid-power rocket with a large payload section.
Construction:
The kit is complete, with a pre-slotted body tube, a payload tube, plastic nose cone, 3 laser-cut 1/8" plywood
fins, 29mm 8" cardboard MMT, plywood ... [More]
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Mike Caplinger |
