Now to explain the pictures. ;)

The first one is a prototype of sorts of a rocket launch pad constructed of PVC. It's about 16 3" lengths of PVC that I cut, joined by various T-connectors, 90° elbows, and 4-way connectors. The black object in the center is a keyless drill chuck that will retain the launch rod. I'll build a blast shield out of a pizza pan or similar thick piece of sheet metal.

This pad will launch all the low- and mid-power stuff I'll need it to (up to F/G sized motors). For high power stuff, well, that's no big deal, as the club has a pad specifically for that purpose, and I'm not going to be launching HP stuff outside club launches anyway.

So, yeah, in my seemingly endless crusade to annoy my wife to death and spend gigantic amounts of money, I'm taking up a second hobby... Haha. I'm still waiting on my initial order of rocketry gear to come in. These rocketry suppliers are small companies and don't ship out as quickly as the "big guys" in other hobbies. That's ok, it'll be worth the wait.

The second photo, obviously, is a shot of my hobby room/area that I'd mentioned in a previous post. It worked out very well. 8' x 3' is plenty work area, and I've got an ancient cabinet we had laying around, that I mounted to the wall over the work table. It now holds my vast supply of various hobby adhesives. Worked out awesomely!

Ah yes. A sailplane. A 100" sailplane to be exact. A full-function one to boot. Electric motor, ailerons, elevator, rudder, and flaps. I always wanted one, and now it's on the way. It's an Omega 2.5ME from Northeast Sailplane Products.

Why a sailplane? Well, due to fleet reduction/bad decisions/stupid selling, I didn't have a real "main" plane left, heh. I've always been interested in higher-end sailplanes anyway, and to boot, this plane solves a couple logistical and political (DO NOT ASK) problems that I'd been having. So it's on the way, and I'm pretty excited. :D

Setting this thing up and flying it will be interesting. It will use pretty much every knob and switch on my 9303 transmitter, and will be very different from flying a powered plane. For instance I'll have 5 flight modes switched by 2 different switches. The up/down axis of the left stick, which is normally throttle on a powered plane will change it's function based on which flight mode I'm in. In one mode ("Launch"), it'll control the electric motor, for climbing to cruise altitude. In another mode ("Land"), it'll control the flaps, which will move down (up to 90°) while both ailerons move up; this is referred to as a "Crow" setup, and will allow a skilled pilot to land a sailplane this big (and even bigger) precisely in a space as small as a baseball diamond. I'll also have trailing edge camber/reflex on a couple of sliders. It'll be very cool. :D