Dr. Zooch - Vostok Build - FINISHED!

[Mushtang]

First Flight!! Finally, I had some time this afternoon to take the Vostok out and launch it. I'd hoped to have the first launch of a few of my recent builds, but as the day turned out I barely had time to launch one. So I selected this one.

I packed the chute and inserted the motor and igniters at home and drove a mile down the road to a school ball field. The weather was perfect, no wind, so I didn't worry about losing the rocket to the trees. I also only used an A8-3 for the first flight since I wanted to make sure I got it back. Maybe eventually I'll send it off on a C, but today was a test flight for sure.

I took a couple of pictures pre-flight while it was on the pad.




And I even managed to catch an action shot of the rocket leaving the pad. This was not easy to do with the way that the digital camera delays after the button is pushed to take the picture. I got very lucky.



The rocket probably went about 200' high, or less, arced over and was heading down when it shot the parachute out. But it opened beautifully and coasted over to land on a small patch of gravel. 98% of the field was grass, but it landed on the gravel.



A brief inspection showed no damage, and I can call the first flight a 100% success!!

Maybe Saturday I'll take the Batman Hyper-Bat and the SR-71 back to that field for their first flights too.

 

[Montaro]

Looks great !!!

After this thread and JR's threads, i really want to try a Dr. Zooch kit
Congrats !!

 

[NJRick]

Musthang...awesome pictures!! my Zooch Soyuz is a good flyer..looks like your Vostok is the same. great build thread and great flight pictures!

Rick

First Flight!! Finally, I had some time this afternoon to take the Vostok out and launch it. I'd hoped to have the first launch of a few of my recent builds, but as the day turned out I barely had time to launch one. So I selected this one.

I packed the chute and inserted the motor and igniters at home and drove a mile down the road to a school ball field. The weather was perfect, no wind, so I didn't worry about losing the rocket to the trees. I also only used an A8-3 for the first flight since I wanted to make sure I got it back. Maybe eventually I'll send it off on a C, but today was a test flight for sure.

I took a couple of pictures pre-flight while it was on the pad.

View attachment 77597
View attachment 77598

And I even managed to catch an action shot of the rocket leaving the pad. This was not easy to do with the way that the digital camera delays after the button is pushed to take the picture. I got very lucky.

View attachment 77599

The rocket probably went about 200' high, or less, arced over and was heading down when it shot the parachute out. But it opened beautifully and coasted over to land on a small patch of gravel. 98% of the field was grass, but it landed on the gravel.

View attachment 77600

A brief inspection showed no damage, and I can call the first flight a 100% success!!

Maybe Saturday I'll take the Batman Hyper-Bat and the SR-71 back to that field for their first flights too.

 

[NJRick]

Montaro....you should try one of the Zooch kits...would love to see your build skills on one his kits...you have great build threads....I think you will find the Dr. Zooch kits are fun, look great and are great flyers!

Looks great !!!

After this thread and JR's threads, i really want to try a Dr. Zooch kit
Congrats !!

 

[hcmbanjo]

You launched the Vostok with an A8-3?
You are a brave man!

I'm glad to hear it all worked out well.
I've yet to get the guts to fly my Zooch Soyuz, it's a shelf queen for now.

 

[Mushtang]

You launched the Vostok with an A8-3?
You are a brave man!

I'm glad to hear it all worked out well.
I've yet to get the guts to fly my Zooch Soyuz, it's a shelf queen for now.

I don't have enough flight experience to know why this was a bad idea. Too low?

This afternoon I stopped by Hobby Lobby and got a lot of B and C engines to fly some this weekend. I might risk another flight with my Vostok, but like you I'd love to see it stay pretty for a while. I think the next flight will be with a B8.

 

[hcmbanjo]

I don't have enough flight experience to know why this was a bad idea. Too low?

Nah - it's not too low if the parachute came out in time for a good recovery.
Regarding flight experience, I'm still figuring it all out.

I've flown my Zooch Ares Stick with an A10-3t (in an adapter) and it was fine. Maybe lower altitude than I'd like but recovery was fine.
Sometimes I go to the low end of the power choices for the small field launches.

 

[Stuyoung38]

I'm rebuilding my 1/48 scale Vostok, a conversion from a free Internet cardstock model. I know that this thread is a year and 5 months old, but I stumbled across it while searching for tips.
For anyone interested in building any scale Vostok: You want details? I'll show you details. Check out the cardstock model at www.cardmodels-r.narod.ru. The Dr. Zooch model is fairly close to 1/100 scale, so set your printer at 50%, +/- a few percent until it looks right. The same basic principle applies to the Cosmodrome and Noris kits: adjust the ratio as required.
I actually have to leave detail OFF, or I'll go insane! (If it's not already too late!).
-Stu Young

 

[gdjsky01]

I'm rebuilding my 1/48 scale Vostok, a conversion from a free Internet cardstock model. I know that this thread is a year and 5 months old, but I stumbled across it while searching for tips.
For anyone interested in building any scale Vostok: You want details? I'll show you details. Check out the cardstock model at www.cardmodels-r.narod.ru. The Dr. Zooch model is fairly close to 1/100 scale, so set your printer at 50%, +/- a few percent until it looks right. The same basic principle applies to the Cosmodrome and Noris kits: adjust the ratio as required.
I actually have to leave detail OFF, or I'll go insane! (If it's not already too late!).
-Stu Young

Wow those are great. But way beyond my ability to interpret the build sequence. Thanks for the link!