that is all.

Can't let the trucks be the only ones to have the fun here

Who's got a longroof here!?

For the purposes here, you have a wagon if:
-it has glass over the rear cargo area
-it's based on a sedan or hatch but with an extended roofline
-it has a seat height and roofline lower than a typical CUV (I'll let the outback slide here, lifted wagons are good)

I find snow, I park not-jeep on the snow. This is the way.

Got some very fun skiing in today...

Finally, a very important DOTS. Someone has THE. BEST. SKI. CAR. On proper snow tires-didn't see if awd or not, but guessing it is.

@manwich naturally aspirated EJ25s with precisely 99K miles on them and no headgasket replacements.

Round two of Moderna done! Thank goodness. Here's to a better 2021 than 2020.

Related cool glacial erratic rock from the drive home, for your time.

Haven't had much time to post lately but life has had a couple fun little upsides lately...

First off, both bikes got new contact points on the bars. Lock on grips for the manomano and fancy donut bar tape for the rove:

Been riding the wheels off both bikes as much as possible. Good times...

Then... my macro lens arrived! Shortly followed by the older EOS Rebel G.

Couple photos from the macro lens. This thing is a total blast and I should've gotten one AGES ago haha.

If not, consider rally twingo today.

More info on this magnificent thing thanks to @Jb-boin :
http://rallyraid23.free.fr/preparation.htm#

Or, how to burn money even faster than most vehicular hobbies

So following a couple rocket posts here and interest from some oppos, I thought I’d write up a little guide for how to get into this really fun hobby. Here’s a very rough guide, broken down into sections:

Categorization: all* hobby rockets flown at club launches follow guidelines by either the National Association of Rocketry (NAR) or Tripoli Rocketry Association (TRA). There are, broadly speaking, a LOT of clubs around and it’s by far the best way to get started-they tend to have some experienced mentors and flying sites since once you progress to bigger motors FAA approval is needed to launch. A quick google ought to find clubs near you-it might be a few hours drive since they tend to be far from cities and airports, but that’s hardly an issue for oppos. Rocket motors are grouped by letter, A through O (and even past O). Each letter represents a doubling in total impulse/power-An A motor gets a maximum of 2.5 newton-seconds, a B is 5, a C is 10… and a G, the largest you can fly without certification, is up to 160. Anything past a G motor is “high power” and requires a license to fly. More on certification later…

Rocket design: Rockets are typically built out of cardboard and wood, fiberglass, carbon fiber, or various canvas composite or phenolic materials. They can range from 6mm diameter to well over a meter in diameter, but generally low power rockets are constructed with 13mm to 98mm airframes and high power range from 29mm up, usually at least 60mm. Generally speaking, “sport flying” rockets use a motor of a smaller diameter than the airframe (for example, a 38mm diameter motor housed in a 98mm diameter rocket), but performance rockets shooting for the highest altitude possible use tubing the same diameter as the OD of the motor to fit as much motor as possible for maximum speed or altitude. Fins are either surface-mounted with alignment jigs or “thru-the-wall” between the outer tube and motor tube for added strength, and layups of fiberglass or carbon fiber are often employed for added strength.

Fiberglass (red/black), cardboard/plywood, and canvas composite (brown) rockets

Recovery: almost every rocket past a C motor has some form of active recovery-either a parachute or streamer. On smaller rockets, these are usually deployed by a small black powder charge at the end of the motor-motors are sold with various time delays so that after a boost + coast period the charge fires, pressurizes the rockets airframe, and separates the rocket in a way to deploy the parachute. Larger rockets and more complex rockets typically use a barometer/accelerometer based electronics system to fire small explosive charges instead of a time delay-this is much more accurate and means the parachute deploys right at apogee when the rocket is moving at the slowest part of the flight. Quite commonly with higher flights, a form of “dual deploy” is used with a small parachute or streamer deployed at apogee for a fast descent from altitude, followed by a large parachute deployed at low altitude (either a second explosive charge or a tether release) to slow the landing speed dramatically. This allows for a ~60-120 ft/s descent from high altitudes like 10,000’ or more, followed by a slow, safe 20 ft/s descent for the last couple hundred feet to land the rocket to fly again. All rockets flown at club launches are required to have active recovery of some sort as the last thing anyone wants is a rocket coming in ballistic over a crowd of people…
G motor 98mm rocket landing

Flight profile

Certifications: Both NAR and TRA follow the guidelines below for “rocket licenses” effectively:
-0 to 160 newton seconds or A-G motors: no license required
-160-640 newton seconds or H and I motors: Level 1 cert
-640-5120 newton seconds or J, K, L motors: Level 2 cert
-5120 and up newton seconds: Level 3 cert
Level 1 is quite easy: fly a rocket on an H or I motor and recover it in one piece with a certified supervisor. Level 2 requires a written knowledge test followed by a safe J, K, or L flight. Level 3 requires written documentation of the build of the rocket, redundant electronic deployment systems, and 1 or 2 certified officials following every major step of the process. While there’s not a delay required between certifications, most folks (myself very much included) will highly recommend getting plenty of flights in at a given skill level before advancing to more powerful and more dangerous rockets. Fly your L1, practice with electronic deployment for 10+ flights, then think about how you want to do L2 (electronic deployment? motor deploy? how high?), then get a bunch of K and L flights in before considering L3.

"Sparky" L motor at dusk

Motors: Most motors are commercial, Cesaroni Technology and Loki Research are the two brands I fly for larger stuff usually. Motors come in reloadable (metal casing, sometimes reusable metal nozzles) and single use forms. Both effectively are tubes stuffed with propellant-black powder for some small motors like A-E, ammonium perchlorate composite (see, Shuttle SRBs) for larger ones. Typical prices are $10 for a three pack of A/B/C motors, $20 for a G motor, and $100-150 for a K motor to give some sense of scale. TRA L2 and up members can also make their own motors-it’s quite the process but VERY fun. Hybrid motors also exist using a tank of oxidizer and rubber/plastic fuel, but that’s well outside my wheelhouse.
My L1, on an H, many moons ago

Other stuff: GPS tracking is commonly used on higher flights and I 100% recommend it, as are bright metallic streamers for visibility. Also, have fun! This is an awesome hobby, and I hope this guide helps some folks a bit who might be interested. Feel free to @ me with project ideas or questions-I’ve been doing this since age 6

Couple more photos...
A K flight on a newer build of the same design as my L1 rocket.

My L2 rocket on a "pink" K motor

My L2 rocket on a J motor

"odd-rocks" are very popular

Sometimes things don't go as planned... this is what happens when your airframe fails at 500mph. Part of the experience!?

@whoistheleader said in Weird Brand Quirks: Tell me Some:

GM and lighting the reverse lights up when you lock and unlock.

This is unforgivable lol

They are good. Rode with a friend for the first time in a while, nice change, and found this nice detour on the way home:

@cb said in Alaska Oppos?:

@beefchips I'm sad I can only give you one upvote for what I assume is a Risk joke.

@beefchips took an awful risk with that pun but folks seem to have gotten it...

@beefchips I love how most of the Forest Service stuff that's old enough to be for sale is manuals haha

@carsoffortlangley Niiiiice. I'd be so hyped to try that

@carsoffortlangley said in Today's Adventure - The Tree of Life:

You joke, but as a whole the majority of "overlanding" is a joke. The roads we ran (albeit, we drove 1000km) are regularly done by First Nation's people in their rusty Pontiac Montanas with spare tires.

Seeing a clapped out POS driven by people well below the poverty line drive past two brand new 4Runners airing down on the side of the (smooth) road really puts this stupid fad into perspective.

So what you're saying is when it's possible to do an oppo overland meet I can just bring my wagon on winter tires?

@skyfire77 Hydrogen should only be used in places where you want fire (rocket fuel) lol.

@grindintosecond said in Building more rockets.:

3" Wizard upscale on a 54 mount. But the decision of paper vs. glass.....since its modeling at M1.6, glass is it.

That's gonna be fantastic! Definitely would go fiberglass-not just for going supersonic, but since the wizard has those cool fins that stick out so much, fiberglass will do a much better job keeping them from breaking on landing.

@davesaddiction You didn't say I had to be able to afford it...

I'm tossing a bet in here that a battery replacement 10-15 years in, while expensive, would be less expensive than big ticket repair items on a new gas car over the next 20 years. Otherwise it ticks ALL the boxes. Fast, fun to drive, comfy doing long trips, plenty of cargo space.

@grindintosecond Yeah a medium K out to be a blast. For L, you might want to think about another fiberglass rocket haha! I regularly run a 3" fiberglass rocket on 54mm Ks and Ls and it's a blast.

Which casing did you order?

@grindintosecond Ah that looks fantastic! Do be a little careful running it with an L motor or the more powerful Ks-I've shredded a 4" cardboard rocket just like that on a large K. Fins held great... the coupler, not so much. A little fiberglass reinforcement will go a long way though if you really want to crank up the impulse.

@CarsOfFortLangley @CB there's an unwritten rule that any time Sammy or Targa is posted we ALL upvote. This is the way