Upcoming Launches – Bunnell Blast and (Turkey and) GRITS

JonRocket.com will be at NEFAR’s Bunnell Blast the weekend of November 11 and 12 near Daytona Beach, Florida. Then we will be at the GRITS Launch near Tifton, Georgia, November 25 and 26.

Bunnell Blast is a two-day TRA Research launch.  Two sets of launch pads, low-power and high-power, will be in operation on Saturday from about 10:00 am to sundown and on Sunday from about 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.

Georgia Rockets in the Sky (GRITS) is a two-day launch that has moved to Thanksgiving weekend this year.  Taking place in rural Georgia, GRITS offers a large launch site allow very high-altitude flights of high-power rockets.  But, the launch is also model rocket friendly.

Both of these launches are expected to attract flyers from all over the Southeast.

 

JonRocket.com Supports Space Week Activities in Brevard County

JonRocket.com has made a donation to the National Space Club Florida Committee to help support their Space Week educational outreach in Brevard County along Florida’s Space Coast.

Space Week actually lasts several weeks.  During this time, every sixth grader in the county’s public schools is able to spend a day at Kennedy Space Center and engage in a number of space-related activities.

In 2016, more than 6500 students participated in the Space Week program.

For more information, please visit the NSCFL website at https://www.nscfl.org/spaceweek.

 

Odd’l Rockets F-16

In the late 1970s, Centuri released a line of fighter jet inspired model rocket kits including the F-16 Fighter.  Drawing on Centuri’s classic design, Odd’l Rockets has released its own F-16 kit.

The Odd’l Rockets F-16 features laser-cut parts, waterslide decals, a stronger body tube, and excellent instructions.  But, it is the vacuum formed plastic canopy that sets the F-16 apart from other kits.

The F-16 is now available at jonrocket.com.

https://jonrocket.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_38_64&products_id=1515

NEFAR Half-Blast – April 22 and 23, 2017

We’ll be at the NEFAR launch this weekend, April 22 and 23, in Bunnell, Florida. The “Half-Blast” is a two-day TRA Research Launch. Normally NEFAR’s launches are held the second Saturday of each month. Due to conflicts with other events, however, this month’s launch date has been moved.

We will have a selection of rocket kits as well as supplies and accessories including motors. In addition to Estes and Aerotech model rocket motors, we have some of Aerotech’s high-power DMS (single-use) motors for sale.

 

 

(Still) Moving …

JonRocket.com Trailer

Moving is exciting.  Moving is challenging. Moving is a lot of work And, as we are demonstrating, moving is time-consuming!

We are still working hard to get JonRocket.com back on line. We have all of our inventory in our new office. Most of it is unpacked and sorted. We still have some things to unpack.  

We are also continuing to move furniture and fixtures into the office. Almost all of the furniture and fixtures are new (or, at least, new to us). Some arrived in big cartons with assembly instructions spelled out in hieroglyphics. 

The office now has internet service and we are starting to set up the computers and printers that we use to process orders.

We started to “flip the switch” to enable the online store this weekend (March 4-5).  But, realized that we weren’t quite ready and trying to process orders while still setting up the office was not really a good idea. Bracha and I apologize for how long it is taking, but we have decided to continue to take our time and do things right.

We are currently in the process of moving JonRocket.com to a new location.

We will have more room to stock a larger selection of rocketry kits, supplies, accessories, and motors.

During the move, we are closing our online store.  Once the move is completed, we’ll be back!

We understand that this is not the best time, but a combination of circumstances has forced us to close our store temporarily during the move. We had hoped to be back in business in time to support your holiday shopping, but the move is taking longer than expected.

We are now estimating that our store will be back online around the end of February.

Thanks to every one of our customers and friends for your support since we started running JonRocket.com over seven years ago.  We look forward to serving the rocketry community for many years to come!

Orlando Sentinel Article About Our Local Launch

sentinel-253x300We try to attend each of ROCK’s monthly launches in Oviedo, Florida. At this month’s launch was a reporter, Caitlin Dineen, from the Orlando Sentinel newspaper. She interviewed several of the launch participants including our club’s president, Brian Coyle.

Jordan Krumbine, the Sentinel photographer, took photos of people prepping rockets for flight, launching rockets, and watching the flights.  Carl Campbell, of Real Space Rockets is featured in one of the photographs.

Later the same day, Dineen’s artice, titled “Rocket Enthusiasts Find Great Heights,”  appeared in the Space News section of the Sentinel’s web site. The article includes a gallery of the photographs taken by Krumbine.

Georgia Rockets In The Sky (GRITS) 2016

GRITS LaunchFor the third year in a row, JonRocket.com is attending GRITS as a vendor. GRITS is a regional launch sponsored by by SoAR (Southern Area Rocketry), a National Association of Rocketry section, serving Atlanta and North Georgia.

The launch site for GRITS, though, is in South Georgia, near Tifton. The 2016 event begins on Friday, April 1, and continues through the weekend with rockets flying from 10am to 6pm all three days.

With a waiver to 20,000 feet and support for rockets with up to N motors, many large rockets take flight at GRITS. But, the launch also supports low-power and mid-power flyers.

JonRocket.com TentJonRocket.com will be at the launch all three days with a selection of model rocket kits, motors, supplies, and accessories.

If there is anything specific you would like us to bring to the event, please let us know.

 

 

The “New” Estes Goblin Kit

Estes GoblinIn 1970, Estes introduced the Goblin as a free kit which they included with some orders. In 1972, it appeared for sale in their catalog.

Estes recently reintroduced the kit which is available at JonRocket.com. With a 24mm motor mount and streamer recovery, the Goblin is designed for high-flying. And, with a yellow and black paint scheme and classic decals, the Goblin also looks good sitting still.

Local Launches this Summer

ROCK LaunchROCK holds launches on the first Saturday of each month.  This July, the first Saturday is July 4.  Because of the holiday, ROCK is skipping their July launch.  The next ROCK launch will be August 1.

The next NEFAR launch is Saturday, July 11.  We will be at the launch, but don’t expect to have our trailer with us.  So, if there are any items you think you will need, please Contact Us and we’ll try to bring them.

 

JonRocket.com Will Be at the National Sport Launch (NSL 2015)

JonRocket.com Vendor TentWe will be at the National Association of Rocketry’s National Sport Launch (NSL) from May 23 to May 25 in Orangeburg, South Carolina. We will have a selection of model rocket kits, supplies, and accessories including Estes black powder and composite motors.

NSL is an annual event drawing hundreds of rocketry hobbyists from around the country each spring.  The location of NSL changes each year.  The 2015 launch is sponsored by the Rocketry Organization of South Carolina at Orangeburg (ROSCO), NAR Section 648.  ROSCO’s launch site is an 80-acre sod farm to the east of Orangeburg which provides great terrain for launching and recovering rockets.

NSL 2015 begins on Saturday, May 23, and runs through Monday, Memorial Day, May 25. Rockets will be launched from 10am to 5pm each day with a special night launch Saturday evening.

For more information, and to register for NSL, please visit the NSL 2015 web site at:

http://nsl2015.com/rocketry/