Model Forum / General / Rockets / April 2004

My dog has an opinion too, I just wish it wouldn't keep leaving it on the
grass.

Joel. phx

Get off rmr and go fly rockets.

First off, it's not dying, not by a long shot. Under attack but it's not
dead.

Most people on rmr are just confused. Every time I ask someone here what the
time is, I get a different answer.  ; )

Randy

Not dead....

Just resting.

model rocketry will never die, unless of course the BATFE gets a wild hair
up its butt someday....

shockie B)

Hello Christopher,

Well a scan of the replies does not surprise ... after all this is a
BIASED
group :)

If you asked the AVERAGE man/woman on the street ... they would not
know nor care about model rockets ... we do.  Yes WE ... there boaring
to fly, but collecting and reselling for cash is interesting ... guess
that is why the majority of sellers at Barbie Doll shows are male
sellers ... its the money ...

Look the readers and posters here are still going to do the hobby till
they are either cremated or lowered into the ground ... but who will
be flying rockets 75 years from now ... 150 ... there will probably be
AI robots kept as pets ... model rocketry was a FAD in the 60s and 70s
... for some of the nerds of today its a lifestyle ... but public
interest has all but dried up.

The same thing happens with any hobby/collectible ... take a look at
comics.
Growing up I spent my allowance at the comic stores.  X-Men were 15
cents a book.  Thor and Silver Surfer were about the same.  With $5.00
I could walk out of the store with an arm full of comics to read for
the remainder of the Saturday afternoon.

Now lets roll the clock forward 30 years ... Comics regularly sell for
$3 - $5 a book!  They are no longer being purchased by average ten
year olds in the scores ... the comic industry destroyed itself in the
mid 90s as did the sports card industry with high prices and volumes
of low quality products ... the same is true with rocketry ... made in
China ... plastic "idiot" kits [sic] that require 10 - 15 minutes of
time investment ... then its back to the Playstation or the XBOX or
Yu-Gi-Oh or Magic the Gathering ... or paint balls ... or Rap music
... or surfing the porn sites in the libraries ... or anyhing but
cuttting balsa, sanding, gluing, sealing wood and spirals, paint
primer ... painting ... dull/gloss coating ... joining up with a
couple dozen other young people your age to fly the lastest rocket
offfered from FSI, Centuri, AVI, pre Damon Estes ... its NOT the same
culture as it was 30 - 40 years ago.  Kids are NOT captivated with,
"God Speed John Glen", or "Lift-Off of Apollo 11 at 32 minutes past
the hour", or even, "Challenger Houston, your go at throttle up" ...
times change ... public interest changes ... hobby shops rarely carry
model rockets ... instead they carry R/C Cars ... believe me, a 16
year old today is more interested in a 1:10 scale HPI r/c car, then
they are running down to their local club house and trying to form a
NAR chapter.

One other thing that should be noted:

In the responces so far, no one has given numbers of membership
rosters.  Also, how much of  the hobby industry in dollars does model
rocketry account for when compared to 1966?  I am
99.99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 percent sure that
it is "back ground noise" today when compared to other hobby
interests.

Now, does that mean I am trying to get you to leave the hobby ... hell
no, I don't care what turns your crank ... I am just looking at things
objectively.  When I walk into hobby shops and toy stores and see
little to no model rockets, I have to go with what I see as opposed to
what I hope and feel ... thats all.

Model rockets are not the only hobbys taking hits ... greenware shops,
yes I do greenware, are closing and not being replaced ... young girls
no longer do crafts like before ... instead they dream of breast
enlargements so they can look like Brittney ... women no longer make
dresses so McCalls went out of business ... why because its cheaper
and far less hassle to let some Chinese
sweat shop in Harlem make the things for a fraaction of the costs to
make the dresses yourself ... rocketry is no diffferent ... why should
a 10 year old wait hours, days, for glue, and paint to cure, when they
can plop $10 - $20 down for a plastic ready made rocket, spend 10 min
installing the batteries, motor and igniter into it press the button
... ok done ... now back to Pokemon ... using drugs ... having sex ...
play station .. xbox ... rap ... its a different world from when you
were growing up in the "summer of love" back in 1967 ... kids DON'T
work with their hands like they used to ... no more spending hours of
cutting stringers and bulkheads for that tissue rubber plane being
built with your dad oon the kitchen table ... those days are over ...

I guess saying Model Rocketry is "DEAD" was a strech ... what I should
have said is that Model Rocket with regards to the public at large,
really is INSIGNIFICANT.  Oh, YOU the space minded hobbyist care, but
the public at large does not.  If it did, hobby shelves would be over
flowing with kits, rockets would be launched at NFL halftime shows as
was once done back in 1970, every science exhibit at school would have
some type of rocket theme ... it ain't happenen folks.

Here is a tip ... invest in Magic the Gathering ... very hot and
lucrative.  It first made its arrival back in 1993 and then died out
back in 1999 - 2000.  Now it is hotter than every and single cards can
sell for $500 - $700.

Now you might say, well model rocket interest flow and eb so just give
model rockets time ... the difference is that I can go down to my
local swap meet or card shop, and I will see 20 - 30 kids all sitting
down playing Magic at the sellers tables ... they are not bulding
Astron Alphas or the modern day equivalent ... and the nice thing is
that these kids in the next 20 or so years will be tomorrow's Magic
the Gathering collectors :)  Where are tomorrow's "ground swell" of
model rocket flyers and collectors?

So is Model Rocketry dead? ... I guess it depends on perspective ...
is model rocketry significant in today's culture? ... NO.

Yup.. the glory days are gone.. but I can say that about a lot of different
hobbies..

Just got back from launching at the local undeveloped park, Seems three of
us "rocketeers" got the same idea at the same time...   One group was three
generations just cracking open a starter set RTF.   Another group also had a
RTF set, but they have flown before... Then you have I and my family.. I'm a
BAR... All rockets were balsa, etc, etc, except for one Almost ready to fly
Shuttle Express.. Everyone had a good time.   One of the men stated.... "I
thought model rocket interest had all but vanished.. I'm surpised there are
three of us here!!!" ....  I told him, when the wind dies down and the skies
are blue, we come out of the woodwork.

I sure left a lasting impression when I launched my Maxi Honest John on a
F21 ... Up to pressure ... Baaammmmm!!!

This is just a park around the corner from where I live...

It's not dead..

TF

Beatle Man (mainrain_2@juno.com) wrote:

All methods with lower reliability and accuracy than almost any other
stealth delivery mechanism.

On what economic basis can such a statement be made?  I fail to see
the connection between long term investment performance and this kind
of potential event.

I respectifully disagree.  Estes still sells millions of rockets and
motor annually.

This is no different than it was 20 years ago.  Mass market outlet
don't make money on speciality products; they cater to a different
market.  Recognizing that economic fact does not relegate the hobby to
"dying" status.

I agree.

The absolute number of hobbyists in any given hobby isn't necessarily
relevent to whether or not a hobby is dying.  The real ratios I
believe should be examined are whether any given hobby has a sufficent
critcial mass to develop products and promote events.  If you look at
the past 10 years of the rocketry hobby, that critical mass has been
more than present.

I would obviously prefer that more people participated.  However, with
the numbers we have or are likely to reach, we have a sustaniable
hobby, IMHO.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Mark B. Bundick           mbundick - at - earthlink - dot - net
NAR President             www - dot - nar - dot - org

"A dark night in a city that knows how to keep its secrets, but high
above the quiet streets on the twelfth floor of the Acme Building,
one man is still trying to find the answers to life's persistent
questions. Guy Noir, Private Eye."

On the contrary...
My son and I just took up the hobby and are finding it totally fun for us to
do!
We have made 4 flights to date, (in two days) - but I am finding issues with
the
Rocket motors... out of 6 motors, 2 have been duds.. or am I doing something
wrong???
If I am please reply!!

mkropf99@rogers.com