Bill Eichelberger's PageAKA: Wallyum, Fishhead, Fire Marshall Bill Location: Ft. Thomas, KY Certification Level: NAR - Bronze Club Memberships: Wright Stuff Rocketeers,Dayton,OH,QUARK,Cincinnati,OH Favorite Rockets: Estes Condor, Estes Satellite Interceptor, any Goony, Semroc Lil Hustler, Centuri Raven, Centuri USS America, Centuri Mach 10, FSI Viking Biography: First started flying in the summer of 1977. Lost interest in college, made the classic mistake of giving almost all of my rockets away, then started over in the early 90's after my son was born. Sam and I flew an occasional mix of semi-RTF stuff until my brother in law took me to a launch in Cleveland in 2001, after which the bug bit hard once again. Since then I've gone with the occasional ebbs and flows of the hobby, seen a lot of changes, made a lot of friends, and lost a great field.
Favorite Quote: "No one respects the flame quite like the fool who's badly burned" - Pete Townshend
RocketReviews.com Pages:
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2018-03-18Estes - Prowler  Flight Surprise flight after a day of Estes "starter" issues. Perfect flight and recovery, and likely a C6-3 bird here in calm conditions. - B6-4 - Fabulous B6-4 Field, Ft. Thomas, Kentucky [More]
Estes - Goonybird Cloudhopper  Flight Must be a fat bird. Low level flight that was ten feet off the ground when the ejection charge finally fired. No damage. - A10-3 - Fabulous B6-4 Field, Ft. Thomas, Kentucky [More]
2018-03-11Fishhead Rocketry - Rumble Bee  Flight Still plagued by launch issues, wind issues, car issues, etc. After two previous rockets failed to launch, I was about to give up on this one when it took off. Great flight for conditions, heading out over the infield before recovering in deep left center. - A8-3 - Fabulous B6-4 Field, Ft. Thomas, ... [More]
2018-03-04Custom - Satellite Regent  Flight My "oops" Satellite Drone. I glued the fins on incorrectly while watching football. Flight was straight off the pad, and quite a bit higher than expected. Landed on the hill below the trees, but was never in any danger of snagging. - A8-3 - Fabulous B6-4 Field, Ft. Thomas, Kentucky [More]
NAR - Jet Freak  Flight Straight up flight, then straight down for the glide portion. This was the best performer off the back deck yesterday, but still may need some trim help. On the positive side, what gliding it did was in a circle, so it likely won't fly away like the first one did. - 1/2A6-2 - Fabulous B6-4 Field, ... [More]
MRI - Phobos  Flight Flight was high and straight. Streamer deployed perfectly and the rocket began chasing its tail. Landed in the front yard of a house across from the school. - A8-3 - Fabulous B6-4 Field, Ft. Thomas, Kentucky [More]
U.S. Rockets - Scout  Flight High and straight flight with perfect streamer deployment. Landed softly on the infield and snapped a fin. I've had no luck with infield landings using streamers. - A8-3 - Fabulous B6-4 Field, Ft. Thomas, Kentucky [More]
U.S. Rockets - Stripper  Flight Straight, high flight in minimal breeze. Saw the ejection and streamer, but forgot to bring my sunglasses, so I quickly lost it. It had appeared to be drifting toward US 27, so I walked that way and found nothing. Turned around and found it in the middle of dead center field. - A8-3 - Fabulous ... [More]
2018-02-18Estes Kadet (Kit)  Review
Brief
This was a project that came out of a cleaning session in my build room. I had been looking for a project in the plan collection at YORF. http://www.oldrocketplans.com/ I clicked on the Kadet plan and realized that I had everything I needed laying around my build room. The fin can was ... [More]
2018-01-20Quest - X-15  Flight Unexpected launch when Jay hit all the buttons, but flew fine. Windcocked a fair amount, then recovered just beyond the pad. - C6-3 - E-Rockets Field, Huber Heights, OH [More]
Estes - Leviathan  Flight Drag separation of nose cone just before burnout. Ejection charge fired after the chute was deployed. One fin damaged when nose cone struck it, but fixable. Impressive flight until the unannounced event. - F50-6T - E-Rockets Field, Huber Heights, OH [More]
2017-02-06Estes Vector (Clone)  Review
Brief
Back in the early days of Ebay I picked up a lot of Estes kit decals that somehow didn't make it onto the rockets they were meant for. Quite a few of them were minimum diameter BT-5 and BT-20 kits from the mid to late 80's, rockets that would rarely be noticed unless you happened to ... [More]
2017-01-25Estes Generic E2X (Kit)  Review
Brief
Once available only in a bulk pack, the Estes Generic E2X has recently been released as a stand-alone kit. I don't have much interest in E2X kits, but on occasion I build one to have an idea how tough it might be for a group build. Recently I was in Hobby Lobby, in the mood to build ... [More]
2017-01-19Estes 220 Swift (Kit)  Review
Brief
For the old-timers, the 220 Swift is simply a Mosquito in an updated body with sticker graphics. The Swift is another of the "fire and forget" mini engine birds. I can't imagine that the recovery rate on these is anywhere close to 30%.
Components
BT-5 main body tube
... [More]
2016-03-23New Way Space Models Check-It (Kit)  Review
Brief
Back in the infancy of my BARdom, I found a square tube that a component for a printer I used came in. At the time, every tube I came in contact with was fair game for potential rocket designs, and I thought up a doozy for the square tube. Several attempts with balsa blocks and ... [More]
2016-03-21Semroc Cherokee C (Kit)  Review
Brief
The Estes Cherokee D was one of the first vintage kits I tried my hand at cloning when I first picked up the hobby as a BAR. Even though I'd mistakenly identified the PNC-55BB nose cone as the correct one for the project, I was quite happy with how it turned out, and if not for an ... [More]
2016-03-14FSI Dart (Clone)  Review
Brief
I'm always on the lookout for vintage rockets on Ebay. Something about continuing the career of old veterans appeals to me, and I picked up several mystery birds from a collection back in the summer of 2012. The only notation on the rocket in question was "Mach Buster", so after ... [More]
2016-02-02Scratch Rascal 1.59x (Upscale)  Review
Brief
I picked up a poorly started attempt at an Estes Rascal via Ebay several years back, then took eight years to finally clone the rocket using the only parts I could salvage, the nose cone and decal sheet. I really liked the finished product, and like all rockets with the Goony profile, ... [More]
2016-01-24Rockets by Manufacturer / NewWay Space Models Photograph 
New Way Check It glamour shot.JPG
2015-09-26Estes Star Wars Darth Vader's Tie Fighter (Kit)  Review
Brief
A seldom seen bird from the last Star Wars craze, the Darth Vader Tie Fighter is one of those rockets that you look at and say "No way that can fly right." Well, based on my experience, you might be right.
Components
Darth Vader Tie Fighter plastic model
plastic ... [More]
2015-09-14Estes Astron Spaceman (Kit)  Review
Brief
Several years back, EMRR had a NASCAR themed contest. Slapping a bunch of sponsors decals on a rocket seemed too easy, and I've never been one known for my creative flair. I had been a Richard Petty fan since the age of 9, so deciding on the subject was easy, but I wanted something ... [More]
2015-09-04Semroc Lil' Hercules (Kit)  Review
Brief
The Semroc version of the Centuri Lil' Hercules, a "pee-wee" rocket offered by Centuri from 1965 when it was the Lil' Hercules, to 1983, by which time it was the Lil' Herc and had a spiffy new paint job just in time for Centuri's end. Basically a nose cone with fins, the Semroc version ... [More]
2015-08-29MRC XR-20 (Kit)  Review
Brief
MRC, or Model Rectifier Corporation, was a comparitively short-lived low-power company from the late 80's. Several years ago a number of their kits were available on Ebay, and being a new BAR, I picked an XR-20 and a Firefighter since anything old and OOP was good, right? I was ... [More]
2015-06-16Fun Rockets Wicked Winnie (Kit)  Review
Brief
Back in the good ol' days when Hobby Lobby could be counted on to stock a variety of kits from companies other than the Big E, I picked the Fun Rockets Wicked Winnie up on clearance for a song. I'd already owned a Tangent and Zoomie, so when I saw this one on the block it was just ... [More]
2015-05-28Estes Astrosat LSX (Kit)  Review
Brief
Talk about rockets that get no respect. I bought the AstroSat LSX because I lost my scratch built Marauder on an ill-advised C6-5 flight at B6-4 Field back in the early years. I filched the cone, then let the rest of the rocket sit on the dusty corner of the workbench until one night a ... [More]
2015-04-05Quest Full Moon (Kit)  Review
Brief
Picked up as an afterthought back in the days when Quest products were still available in local retail outlets, the Full Moon languished in my kit storage cabinet for several years before catching my eye one cold winter night when I was in the mood to build something quick. The Full ... [More]
2015-03-15Estes PSII Rogue  . Build This project was inspired by a post in the NAR Group on Facebook. Louie Berlin had a picture of his lineup of Estes Rogues, one of which was obviously oversized. Being the owner of five Rogues myself, a BT-5 downscale, a BT-20 original, BT-50 and BT-55 upscales, and a BT-60 QModeling version, I ... [More]
2015-02-19Rockets by Manufacturer / Sunward Photograph 
Sunward Star Watcher
2015-02-11FSI Micro (Clone)  Review
Brief
Before the untimely end of Semroc I spent the bulk of a year using their parts to create upscales and 1:1 clones of FSI kits. For the most part, this meant that I was building the rockets, then figuring out a paint and decal scheme that was of my own making, something I'm not exactly a ... [More]
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Bill Eichelberger
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