Dick Stafford's Rocket Dungeon Blog 
Rocket Dungeon Posts
Sport Rocketry / Scale Models / V-2
V-2 camo paint job (2009-12-06)
Despite all my rumbing about using masks to create the camo pattern for the Hostile Projectiles V-2, I went a little stir crazy and just started sprayin'.... [Read More]
Launch Report 2010-1 (2010-01-16)Location: Higgs Farm, Price, MD ( MDRA - ESL-140) Weather: temps in the 40's, light breeze Total flights: Today - 4; YTD - 4 Total motors: Today - 4; YTD - 4 I can not believe I actually got out to ... [Read More]
EMRR kicks off the New Year (2010-02-01)EMRR is updated ! There are 15 new reviews, including mine on the Hostile Projectiles V-2 . I haven't scoured the site, but the The RockSim Library has new look and some new data and there ... [Read More]
Hermes A-1 build plans (2010-08-30)I think I'm going to turn the Semroc V-2 that I bought as part of my 'showing my support' purchase into one of these. At least I'll try. This willl require some serious nose weight. Chances are high ... [Read More]
Review: Hostile Projectiles Delta X-15 (2010-12-29)This is sport scale model of an X-15 variant proposed by North American Aviation. More accurately, it is fantasy scale since this stretched, delta-winged version was never produced. Like the other ... [Read More]
Review: Hostile Projectiles V-2 (2010-12-30)This Hostile Projectiles kit is a sport scale BT-60 V-2 that flies on 18mm motors. The main thing that differentiates this kit is the hand-cast resin nose and tail cones. These are not your daddy's ... [Read More]
Hostile Projectiles V-2 rebuild, or how to tempt the rocket gods to return the original cone (2015-08-11)At the last NARHAMS launch, the Hostile Projectiles V-2 separated and the cone drifted away. I thought I saw it fall on the near side of a far tree line but my wife thought it went over. I started ... [Read More]
Hostile Projectiles V-2 rebuild complete (2015-08-16)Well, you can't find your lost stuff unless you look for it...and I didn't trek up the large hill to search for my lost nose cone. Here is the new nose cone and new paint job. I didn't go for ... [Read More]
Stupid pre-coffee thoughts (2009-01-12)Why do I add dashes where they don't belong and leave them when they do? Fireball XL-5 vs. Fireball XL5 and V2 vs. V-2. In internet communications, smileys should be a valid form of punctuation :) ... [Read More]
V2...oooops (2009-01-29)May 30, 1947 El Paso and Juarez were rocked Thursday night when a runaway German V-2 rocket fired from the White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico crashed and exploded on top of a rocky knoll three ... [Read More]
The V-2 Bumper WAC has a diamond anniversary (update) (2009-02-24)On February 24th, 1949, a two stage V-2 'Bumper WAC' launched from White Sands, New Mexico became the first documented rocket to reach space. It attained an altitude of 244 miles, well above the ... [Read More]
Launch Report 2009-1 (2009-03-21)Location: Old National Pike Park, Mt. Airy, MD ( NARHAMS ) Weather: up to 48 degs, wind calm to mild, sunny to overcast Total flights: Today - 10; YTD - 10 Total motors: Today - 10; YTD - 10 The ... [Read More]
Hostile Projectiles (2009-10-03)The title sounds like a description of some of my projects, but it is actually the name of a new kit vendor . Their one current offering is the V-23 Bomber Manned Rocket but a standard V2 ... [Read More]
What to do with MLAS numero dos? (2009-11-11)I've been away from the Dungeon and my rockets, but have been pondering what to do with my Quest MLAS #2. All options will include a lightly glassed cone to make it sturdier and easier to ... [Read More]
Monday stuff (2009-11-16)1. Watched Atlantis STS-129 launch on NASA TV. 2. As best I could, I recreated the MLAS nose weight that I used on-site and weighed it. It came up to 0.3 oz.. I found ... [Read More]
Breaking news: the Dungeon is bombarded by Hostile Projectiles (2009-11-22)While I was gone for the weekend, my order from Hostile Projectiles arrived! I got both the V-2 and the Delta X-15. Here are my initial impressions. I'll start with the reason I ... [Read More]
Hostile Projectiles update (2009-11-24)Here is the V-2, flight ready and waiting for primer. I ended up laminating the fins with paper since I couldn't get the fin template off the balsa. The instructions have you attach the ... [Read More]
V-2 status (and other stuff) (2009-11-29)Well, a little sanding and a re-coat did the trick. Trying to sand the base of the cone actually lifted all the primer. I sanded the exposed areas good before the re-priming. My ... [Read More]
V-2 status (and nuttin' else) (2009-11-30)It was raining so no additional painting happened. So, I took a photo. [Read More]
Scale scratch builders may want some Unwanted rocket drawing sets (2010-01-18)The Unwanted Blog , among other things, is the front for a commercial enterprise that offers drawings of various aerospace subjects. The latest is Space Drawing set 22: V-2 rocket ... [Read More]
A reminder from NASM: We have lots of cool stuff (2010-03-19)Check out their Trajectories of Space Flight post. Includes several of my favorites including the V-2. [Read More]
So, you want to sea-launch your V-2? (2010-03-25)Well, apparently, so did the Germans. Scott Lowther has an interesting blog post on the ?Prüfstand XII? (?Test Stand 12?) concept. His post includes some background/history and ... [Read More]
New X-37B OTV details and graphic (2010-04-18)Clark Lindsey gives latest scoop on the upcoming X-37B flight. The update is short so I quoted the whole thing. And swiped the new NASA/ULA graphic. Leonard David reports again on the ... [Read More]
A Thursday twofer - the Falcon HTV-2 also launched yesterday (2010-04-23)The first Minotaur IV Lite launch vehicle roars into the skies above California carrying DARPA's Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 on April 22, 2010. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class ... [Read More]
Falcon HTV-2 (partial) results (2010-04-24)Spaceflight Now reports that the Minotaur-4 'Lite' deployed the HTV-2 at more than 20 times the speed of sound. However, contact was lost around 9 minutes after liftoff. After d ... [Read More]
Launch Report 2010-5 (2010-05-15)Location: Central Sod Farm, Centreville, MD ( MDRA ESL-144) Weather: sunny, high 70's, windy Total flights: Today - 12; YTD - 33 Total motors: Today - 12; YTD - 33 The day started badly - the Beltway ... [Read More]
Paul is gone, but won't be forgotten (2010-05-23)Gone to Aridzone, that is. Yesterday, Warthog and Mrs. W. hosted a nice going away party for our rocket buddy, Paul. They covered all the food groups: grilled meat, BBQ, sausage ... [Read More]
EMRR update with my reviews and a new contest! (2010-06-03)Today's EMRR Update includes reviews of my Odd' Rockets Birdie and Wedgie . One has a goofy formatting error but the gist should be clear - these are cool kits. And you can always look at ... [Read More]
ROCKETS Magazine, June 2010 (2010-06-15)What's inside: Review of an Estes Saturn V complete with scale gantry; Pt. 5 of Black Magic Missile Work's electronics series; Rocket girl Haley Allen; Launch report from the Phoenix Missile Works ... [Read More]
Coming in Ballistic (2010-07-26)Coming in Ballistic , originally uploaded by jurvetson . The sad demise of Steve Jurvetson's big V-2.1. Click through for a bigger view and the action sequence, including the digging that ... [Read More]
Launch Report 2010-10 (2010-08-21)Location: Old National Pike Park, Mt. Airy, MD ( NARHAMS ) Weather: overcast, mid 80's, humid, wind 5mph Total flights: Today - 12; YTD - 90 Total motors: Today - 14; YTD - 118 This was a great day ... [Read More]
Iran's version of German V 1 (2010-08-22)Iran's version of German V 1 , originally uploaded by Douglas606 . I obviously don't support such things politically, but this would be an interesting scale subject for those who like the V-1 ... [Read More]
Sport Rocketry, September/October 2010 (2010-08-24)As you see from the attached photo, the headliners in this issue were TARC and NSL. I especially liked the NSL reports, which included a lot of nice photos. Two that stood out were night ... [Read More]
Hermes A-1 - first iteration (2010-08-31)Photo - check. Ruler - check. As-built Semroc V-2 - check. Mash this stuff up and shove it into RockSim. And this is what you get. Since the Hermes A-1 is not based on ... [Read More]
Rocket heredity (2010-09-07)I think this is where I got my rocket genes! My dad's outfit, circa 1947. Via the Ft. Bliss Monitor : The 1st Anti-Aircraft Guided Missile Battalion was organized at Fort Bliss in ... [Read More]
Already antsy to launch, building is in the doldrums (2010-09-25)A mere week after ESL-148, I'm already itching to launch. My October launches are still up in the air and the prospects of missing them is fueling the itch. I have NARHAMS and then Red ... [Read More]
Hermes A-1 - measure once, scale once, cut once (2010-09-26)I went ahead and started the Hermes A-1 kitbash. I looked back at the spreadsheet that I made to guesstimate the dimensions of the fins and decided it is good enough. I'm sure these ... [Read More]
Variations on a theme (2010-10-09)TRF just opened a new forum section for rocket Galleries . These are organized by kit type (e.g. Fliskits Deuce's Wild! ) or scale subject (e.g. V-2 ). The latter will include all ... [Read More]
Rocket launch probabilities (2010-10-15)I was looking forward to this weekend's NARAMS launch but it looks like life has gotten in the way. P L =0. I also feel bad for the rest of the club because the weather report is saying the ... [Read More]
Another X-37B video (2010-12-03)This one shows the FLIR landing video and some of the post-processing. I went ahead and quoted the text included with the video. I found the video link on the ParabolicArc . The U.S. Air ... [Read More]
Review: Mini V-2 (2010-12-31)My Mini-V2 (2nd from left) is a semi-scale model based on BT-50 tubing. I was motivated to build this V2 after seeing plans for a BT-20 version that appeared in the January 1989 issue of American ... [Read More]
Mega Review: A Semroc Flood! (2011-01-23)This post covers several from my Semroc Fleet: Gee'hod SLS Sky Hook Recruiter Space Probe LAUNCH Missile Gee'hod This is the latest in Semroc's line of Groonies (Grown-up Goonies). Inspired by ... [Read More]
Review: Powered FLICS (2011-01-29)When I read that Hans "Chris" Michielssen had converted a Quest FLICS rubber band powered rocket to MicroMaxx power, I immediately gave it a try. I too have had a stash of these freebies with no ... [Read More]
A big V-2 history post (2011-01-31)The images below document a V-2 launch circa 1950. They were part of an article in the October 1950 issue of National Geographic, which was written by Clyde T. Holliday. Mr. Holliday ... [Read More]
The Liberty - Frankenstein rocket (2011-02-08)ATK and Astrium (an EADS Company) are teaming to respond to NASA's Commercial Crew Development-2 (CCDev-2) procurement. I grabbed this diagram from R2K . As shown, their Liberty rocket is a ... [Read More]
X-37B OTV-2 to launch tomorrow (Saturday, March 5th) (2011-03-04)Since there isn't much to say besides the new date/time, I'm merely republishing yesterday's post. The OTV-2 space plane is slated to launch tomorrow from the CCAFS atop an Atlas V. The launch ... [Read More]
X-37B OTV-2 is is orbit...at least we think it is (2011-03-06)We'll have to wait for official confirmation from the unofficial amateur sat-watchers, but it sound's like the X-37B is in orbit. [Read More]
Amateur sky-watcher day (2011-03-10)Today, I spotted two interesting stories about the cosmic beings known as amateur skywatchers (aka astronomers and sat-watchers). The first comes from the Bayourat's Twitter stream via ... [Read More]
Countin' my chickens before they hatch FLY (2011-03-18)The literal count is one, one Ballistic Chicken. But what I was getting at in the title is that I have laid out and prepped my rockets for tomorrow; and I even built a couple of reloads. Last ... [Read More]
Launch Report 2011-01 (2011-03-20)Location: Price, MD ( MDRA ESL-154) Weather: partly cloudy, low 50's, wind 0 - 5 MPH Total flights: Today - 11; YTD - 11 Total motors: Today - 21; YTD - 21 I left very early under the light of the ... [Read More]
Review: Hermes A-1 (2011-03-22)This review explains how I converted a sport scale Semroc V-2 xKit to a Hermes A-1. Construction The following parts are required: One Semroc V-2 xKit, using the scale fin option 3/32” balsa stock ... [Read More]
Compendium of V-2 footage (2011-03-25)RocketryPlanet has posted seven videos of German and U.S. V-2 launches . [Read More]
Daedalus static build (2011-04-24)I haven't seen any sport rocketry activity from Steve Neill and Hostile Projectiles for some time (here are reviews of my HP builds: V-2 , Delta X-15 ). Most of his recent blog activity has ... [Read More]
Full scale V-2 model (2011-04-25)Rocketry Planet posted an article on a full scale V-2 model that was built for the Classic Fighters Airshow at Omaka Airfiel, New Zealand. The article describes the V-2 'flight' in the future ... [Read More]
Full scale V-2: Built to burn? (2011-04-26)One RP reader smells gasoline. Figuratively, of course, he wasn't there AFAIK. I just find it a shame that people would spend the effort to build such a cool prop and feel they had to burn it ... [Read More]
A cooler, albeit smaller, Big V-2 (flight 3) (2011-04-26)_MG_0028.jpg , originally uploaded by Nick DeBrita . Built to fly! 480 lbs; Predicted alt: 9,000' Motor: 60,000Ns (mid-'P') PS - 'Smaller' in the title somewhat cryptically refers to my previous ... [Read More]
"Make This Your Year To Ride The Rocket"! (2011-05-02)"Make This Your Year To Ride The Rocket"! , originally uploaded by paul.malon . Timewarp! This Oldsmobile ad seems to have been inspired by my banner, which was inspired by my Big V-2 History ... [Read More]
Links and nuttin' but links (2011-06-04)In no particular order: Here's a Flickr album on the flight of the the Copenhagen Suborbitals' HEAT 1X-Tycho Brahe flight: - Mission 2011 . And more HEAT 1X-Tycho Brahe videos, via Clark ... [Read More]
V-2 on the USS Midway (2011-06-26)USS Midway , a photo by Kemon01 on Flickr. Click thru for a few more shots. [Read More]
V-2 on the USS Midway (2011-06-26)USS Midway , a photo by Kemon01 on Flickr. Liked this shot more... [Read More]
More about my home made cones (2011-07-29)Hope this inspires the scratch builder and odd-rocketeer in you. Clockwise, starting with the big gray one: 5.5" dia., made from two sizes of floral foam cones, glassed with a plastic ... [Read More]
Virtual tour of the NMUSAF (2011-07-30)The National Museum of the United States Air Force has a nice virtual tour . You can find their V-2 in the WWII area, second button from the top in the far left (display # 030). [Read More]
Falcon HTV-2 is on-track updated (2011-08-11)DARPA was giving some mission status via Twitter and reports that they lost telemetry after the HTV-2 successfully entered the glide phase about 30 minutes ago. The attached graphic depicts the ... [Read More]
X-37B OTV-2 update (2011-10-03)Space.com notes that, as of last week, OTV-2 had been in orbit over 206 days on its way to its full 270 day mission. Although its mission is still top secret, the Air Force will say that it is ... [Read More]
Army hypersonic success (2011-11-17)Space.com reports that the Army's AHW (Advanced Hypersonic Weapon) had a flawless first flight, streaking across the Pacific at "several times the speed of sound." To be considered hypersonic, that ... [Read More]
The Dungeon's Top Ten of 2011 (2011-12-27)In no particular order.... Early in the year, I completed transferring reviews from the old EMRR (see the My Rocket Reviews Page ). I transferred (and updated) all but eight and, while I ... [Read More]
Reader stars and interesting links (2012-02-02)More Winter? Punxsutawney Phil Sees His Shadow , Live Science - I wonder what 6 more weeks of winter means when you hardly have had any already? My prognostication is that we'll have 9 ... [Read More]
What's new with Estes in 2012? (2012-02-22)This morning Model Rocket Building discussed the new Estes 2012 catalog (pdf) that just appeared on their site. Most of the new stuff that interested me has been discussed here and I'm sure ... [Read More]
Feed reader stars, tweets and other interesting links (2012-03-06)Booms ...brought to you via High Power Rocketry (and the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center at New Mexico Tech. Year anniversaries: Fukushima (March 11), X-37B OTV-2 (March 5). ... [Read More]
Feed reader stars, tweets and other interesting links (2012-04-01)Why we love to fear dragons - Cosmic Log - I posted this because I just watch the finale if Season 1 of Game of Thrones . Season 2 starts tomorrow. That show really needed dragons. ... [Read More]
Links roundup (2012-04-23)Falcon 9/Dragon Launch Delayed One Week - Parabolic Arc Graupel alert! - DCist - before this Spring, I had never heard of graupel. More info in coming out about Planetary Resources in ... [Read More]
Missile defense, then and now (2012-05-16)This morning, Modern Mechanix features an interesting article by Willy Ley: Missile vs. Missile, A rocket expert looks at our chances of withstanding a missile invasion (09/1947). &nb ... [Read More]
Launch Report 2012-4 "Lucky 13" (2012-05-26)Location: Old National Pike Park, Mt. Airy, MD ( NARHAMS ) Weather: mostly sunny, hot (96 on the field!), wind 0-5 mph Total flights: Today - 13; YTD - 30 Total motors: Today - 13; YTD - 36 Motors ... [Read More]
X-37B, OTV-2 has returned from its 15 month mission (2012-06-16)[Read More]
Links roundup (2012-07-24)today in 1950: 1st rocket launch from Cape Canaveral. The rocket was a Bumper 8, a German V-2 captured after WWII go.nasa.gov/OWjKLz — NASA History Office (@NASAhistory) July 24, 2012 ... [Read More]
Links roundup (2012-09-03)V-2 rocket footage , High Power Rocketry (9/3) Live Hangout with me at RocketFest! , Bad Astronomy (9/3) - Fundraiser for Huntsville's US Space and Rocket Center - Rockfest Check out T.I.'s ... [Read More]
V-2 photo of the day (2012-09-09)White Sands, NM 1946 [Read More]
A change of direction for The Dungeon (2012-12-13)I won't bore you with all the whys and wherefores, but I have decided to take this blog back to its roots. The Dungeon began as a place to talk about my projects and to document my launches. And, I ... [Read More]
The Dungeon's Top-10 for 2012 (2012-12-22)I see Chris Michielssen posted his top ten for 2012. So, I see no reason to wait to post mine: 1. Space Shuttle Discovery buzzes Washington DC . 2. Discovery and Enterprise nose-to-nose at ... [Read More]
Big photo dump! (2013-01-06)I haven't been blogging but I have been harvesting photos. Since this isn't general rocketry or space news, my previous self-imposed rules don't apply. So, here are some retro-futuristic cars, ... [Read More]
Ten military testing videos (2013-03-28)From German V-2 failures to a robot dog tossing cinder blocks, Jalopnik presents The Ten Most Unbelievable Military Testing Videos . You can argue the 'most' and the 'unbelievable' but they are ... [Read More]
My first issue of High Power Rocketry (HPR) Magazine (2013-06-17)I just found my very first issue of HPR magazine (pictured). I had previously posted about the first issue of my subscription, but this is one I bought off-the-shelf a few years earlier. I got this ... [Read More]
My flyable fleet (2013-10-10)After seeing ~1/10 of Dave Bucher's huge fleet on Facebook, I thought I'd snapshot mine, which consists of a paltry 233 birds. First sort criteria is a column that's not showing, breaking the list ... [Read More]
Semroc is closing...nooooooooooooo (2014-03-10)Chris Michielssen reposted this from YORF (of course, there is a similar thread on TRF ): Semroc Fans, I am sorry to say that we will be closing the company. After my father’s death ... [Read More]
V-104, a bit late for April Fools Day (2014-04-03)A V-104 is what you get when you mix a V-2 with an F-104 Starfighter. (Refer to the attached photo) On top is one of the pods from my rekitted F-104 Starfighter. On the bottom is the rocket being ... [Read More]
V-104: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (2014-04-06)Well, I finished painting the fins and attached them with...hot melt glue. I had a hard time bonding to this plastic when the F-104 was an F-104 so I thought I'd try something new. I figure the ... [Read More]
Launch Report 2014-4 (2014-04-19)Location: NARHAMS, Mt. Airy Weather: max temp. in high 50's, a few high clouds, gusty winds to 15mph Total flights: Today - 13; YTD - 28 Total motors: Today - 14; YTD - 33 Motors by class YTD: ... [Read More]
Its a rainy day... (2015-06-27)It's raining, I had to get up early to meet our paving contractor and my current project is waiting on Stickershock23 (decals will be here Monday!). I am not really in the market to spend money on ... [Read More]
Classic V-2 OOPS! (2016-03-02)http://froggy2nite.tumblr.com/post/140309398924/enrique262-v-2-vergeltungswaffe-2-rocket-test [Read More]
Sponsored Ads
