Ok so I decided to get something a bit different - a rocket set.
Bear in mind that I am a TOTAL beginner to rockets so my unboxing and review will be from the point of view of a complete novice.
So the kit I have gone for is the Estes Riptide Easy-To-Assemble set plus the needed combo of the recovery wadding, motors, and AA batteries.
The total cost of the kit was less than £50 so all in all a great way to get into this branch of the hobby.
Here are a few pictures of what you get:
Wadding
Main Rocket Tube
Pole that rocket sits on for launch
The only part of the combo not pictured are the motors themselves as I keep them in the garage for safety reasons.
They come as a pack of 3 so we have a few launches (unless we lose the rocket!).
The stand and pole go together very easily and the rocket body needs to have the motor attached along with the recovery wadding and the parachute inside the top.
There is also a small round blast protector to stop the bottom of the stand being damaged by the motor when it launches.
The launch pad has a long wire that connects to a hand held launch button (novice wording there!), which means you can safely launch the rocket from a decent distance away - the batteries in the handheld launcher send a small electrical signal along the wire thich triggers the burn. Once a rocket begins to burn there is no stopping it. They are not like jet engines with variable thrust - it is all or nothing!
Remember the motors in these things are basically like fireworks without the explosion at the end, and will cause a very nasty injury indeed if they go off too near to you.
Please exercise a great deal of caution when setting up and launching your rocket as I know I will be. Even this beginners kit will top 600 feet plus which is cloud height.
Hopefully I will not burn myself and will have a successful first three launches.
Full kit + parachute + combo
