Joseph Olexa's PageAKA: Joe Location: Tucson - Arizona USA Club Memberships: SARA,NAR Favorite Rockets: Qwest Superbird, Super Eagle, Custom Rockets Liberty Biography: I started in rocketry about three years ago. I was in a hobby shop buying some supplies for the balsa and tissue airplane I was building when I noticed the Estes display next to me. I was looking at the rocket kits when a person standing next to me started a conversation. He was affiliated with the local rocket club and invited me to launch rockets with them. I ended up buying a few kits, three of them, a Viking, Rascal, and a Bandito by Estes. Then I went to the big two day launch the club has once a year and launched my fiirst rockets. I ended up losing two and coming home with a damaged Viking rocket, which has since been repaired twice already and I still have it. Now I have 41 rockets in my fleet and the biggest engine I use right now is the Estes E9-4. Not sure if I want to launch anything bigger, I'm satisfied with the rockets I have now. That's why I haven't tried to get certified for a higher level - I have fun with the smaller ones. The biggest one I have is a 76'er by Cygnus Rockets that is 78" long. It's been modified to separate in the center and comes down on a 24" nylon parachute. The smallest rocket is the Estes Nome. I'm not into competition flying and only fly for sport. I just enjoy seeing them fly! I've been getting better as time goes by. The ones I build now are always a little bit better than the ones I built previously. I also run and collect Lionel trains and build rubber powered Free Flight balsa and tissue airplanes and build plastic models.
Favorite Quote: Your time is limited so don't waste it living someone else's life.
-Steve Jobs
RocketReviews.com Pages:
2024-04-06Custom Rockets Zero Gravity Flight The goal of this flight was to meet the streamer duration requirement for NARTEK Bronze, needed 30 seconds and got 45. Used an Apogee 4x40 streamer. Good altitude on the B6-4 and the streamer fully deployed. Good flight. - B6-4 - Muncie AMA Field [More]
2014-02-15Custom Rockets Sport Flight Good flight with soft parachute landing! - B6-4 - SARA [More]
Quest Ruthless Flight Good flight with soft parachute landing! - B4-4 - SARA [More]
2013-05-19Launch Pad Bolo  Flight Good flight with soft parachute landing - D12-5 - SARA [More]
Estes Prospector  Flight Good flight with soft parachute landing - Great flight! - B6-4 - SARA [More]
Quest Super Eagle  Flight Good Flight with soft parachute landing! - C6-3 - SARA [More]
Custom Rockets Liberty  Flight Good flight with soft parachute landing. - D12-5 - SARA [More]
Estes Metalizer  Flight Good flight with soft parachute landing! - B6-4 - SARA [More]
2013-03-24Estes EX-200  Flight Great flight with soft parachute landing. Will need to replace the shock cord before next flight. - 1/2A3-2 - SARA [More]
Quest Bright Hawk  Flight Another good flight for this rocket. Great flight with soft parachute landing. - C6-5 - SARA [More]
2012-05-07Quest America (Kit)  Review
This is a four balsa fin, plastic nose cone rocket. The rocket, when completed, is 14 inches (35.6 cm) long and has a diameter of 1.18" (30mm). It uses the usual 1/8" launch lug for a rocket of this size and uses a 14" plastic parachute for recovery. The suggested ... [More]
2011-09-18Rockets by Manufacturer / Quest Aerospace Photograph 
The Quest Sport rocket awaits its turn to launch.
2011-06-12Astrobee 350 - Finished Gloss Coating the Astrobee 350 Build Entry I finished gloss coating the Astrobee 350. I had intended to gloss coat the whole rocket - including the nosecone, but after looking at the nosecone I thought it was glossy enough. The main body tube and fins received two coats of clear Krylon paint. This gave the whole rocket an ... [More]
2011-06-04Astrobee 350 - Decaling the Astrobee 350  Build Entry This is the Astrobee 350 after it's been decaled. I waited about a week before I started to put the decals on. As always the large decal under the nosecone was the hardest to put on. After you soak the decal in water to loosen it off the paper, make sure it's loose enough to come ... [More]
Astrobee 350 - Painting the Astrobee 350  Build Entry Finally got time to finish painting the Astrobee 350. I've been using Krylon paint on this one. The whole rocket was sprayed with white primer and sanded lightly. Next, I painted the whole rocket, except for the nosecone, white. The nosecone was painted black and left to ... [More]
2011-05-04Astrobee 350 - Sealing the Balsa Fins and Nosecone  Build Entry I started to seal the balsa fins with a mixture of micro-balloons(it looks like powder) and diluted white glue (water thinned elmers glue). I had put about two yellow (carpenters) glue fillets over the superglue in the last step, and now I am sealing the balsa. First I ... [More]
2011-04-20Astrobee 350 - Glued fins onto rocket body tube  Build Entry 4/19/2011 Today I glued the fins and lunch lug onto the rocket body tube. I left the rocket motor mount out so I can better estimate the correct placement of the fins as I glued them into position. I used yellow carpenters glue for this. Then I glued the launch lug onto the ... [More]
Astrobee 350 - Preparing The Fins Build Entry 4/18/2011 Today I cut the fins out of the balsa sheet. Wasn't much to do since the fins are laser cut. I traced the outline of the fins and also traced the open "holes" in the balsa sheet in order to make a PDF file of the fin design. I plan to attach it to the build so anyone ... [More]
2011-04-17Astrobee 350  . Build 4/16/2011 Started to build the Semroc Astrobee 350. I had bought the kit on Ebay from a hobby shop. The kit looked pretty nice for a four fin balsa nosecone rocket. the specs are as follows: Body diameter 1.040 inches, Length 16.2 inches, fin span 3.5 inches (More on this), ... [More]
2010-12-12Estes Prospector (Kit)  Review
This is a basic single stage, four fin, plastic nosecone rocket. It is a ready to fly kit with minimal assembly which is to attach the parachute and you're done. A pretty basic rocket using standard B and C 18mm rocket engines. Estes item/kit number 002457.
The rocket out of the box has two ... [More]
2010-08-24Custom Rockets Zero Gravity (Kit)  Review
Brief: The Custom Rockets Zero Gravity rocket (Kit #10048) is a single stage, three fin, plastic
nosecone rocket that uses a 12" parachute recovery system and a standard 1/2A, A, B, C, rocket motor (18mm). A
fairly typical or basic level 1 experience rocket.
Construction: The kit ... [More]
2010-03-23Custom Rockets Liberty (Kit)  Review
Brief: This is a single stage, plastic nose cone, three fin rocket and it utilizes an eighteen inch
parachute for recovery. The fins are balsa and there are two recommended motors, the D12-3 and the D12-5 which are
secured by a metal motor retaining clip.
Construction: The body tube ... [More]
2009-06-16Custom Rockets Atomic (Kit)  Review
Brief:
The Custom Rocket Atomic, kit #10047, is a single stage, six fin, plastic nosecone rocket with a 12" parachute
recovery and a 24" long by 1/4" wide elastic shock cord. The rocket is a new offering from Custom Rockets for
2009. The suggested paint scheme is all ... [More]
2009-03-31Estes Rascal (RTF) (Kit)  Review
Brief:
This is an Estes Rascal Kit #1897 and is silver in color. It is a pre-assembled kit where the only thing you need to
do is attach the parachute to the rocket. The parachute is 12" in diameter, and the kit uses an Estes (rubber
band) shock cord attached to the launch lug ... [More]
| Joseph Olexa
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