On Tuesday we released a newsletter article about tip-to-tip fiberglassing your rocket. This explanation of how to apply fiberglass from the tip of one fin to the tip of the other takes a topic that can seem intimidating, and makes it accessible to those of us less experienced in building. If this is something you have always wanted to try but been a bit put off by the difficulty, give this article a read! And if you are an experienced fiberglasser, see if there are any new tips you might pickup from the author!

If you missed the article, you can view it from our archive page (here).

Other Internal News from Apogee

This week our staff has been working hard while Tim was away visiting his daughter and enjoying the sun and warmth (we were at negative temps in Colorado earlier this week, so the staff is very jealous). Our new warehouse staff member Rook has been building inventory non-stop, helping us get stocked up. School ordering season is really ramping up with many competitions looming, so our shippers are busy sending out some giant orders in addition to all our regular customer shipments. Our customer service team have also been getting a lot of phone calls asking about how to use RockSim (we love that people are eager to use it!). Did you know we have video tutorials to learn how to use the software (click here)?
Our product development team has been immersed in our next kit release (coming soon!) and also the following kit as well. We are becoming a well-oiled machine for new kit development, so keep checking in this year as you will see a lot of new items coming out of the Apogee workshop. With a wide variety of kit types, there should be something for everyone this year.
Finally, NARCON was this past weekend. Tim will be writing a NARCON review in an upcoming Peak-of-Flight Newsletter, so be sure to keep an eye out for that to keep up to date on the news from the model rocketry world!

Did you miss the Industry Updates Newsletter?

One of our fastest growing publications is the Industry Updates Newsletter. This email newsletter comes out about once a month, and features short promos for the newest items from not only Apogee Components, but other manufacturers as well. If you aren't already a subscriber to that newsletter, you can get on the list at: https://www.apogeerockets.com/Industry-Update-Subscribe

Do you hate sanding wood pieces for hours?

A wood plane is a great investment for anyone looking to work with wood. Many experienced rocketeers swear by them as an essential tool for shaping and smoothing wood surfaces, like fins and wings on rocket boosted gliders. They can be used to create intricate, fine detail that would take a lot longer to do if just using sandpaper.

What a wood plane allows you to do is quickly remove a lot of excess material in order to carve into wood, like you need to do when shaping an airfoil into a thick piece of material. If you’ve ever spent hours going back and forth with a sanding block over the rear edge of a fin, you know what a hassle it is to shape the wood by hand. But with a wood plane, this amount of time can be reduced significantly.
This handy little wood plane can be used on any type of wood, from plywood, basswood, and balsa wood. With it, you have control over the shaping process, and there is much less dust and small debris that you’d get from sanding.

This month, the special rocketry tool being offered is a Wood Plane and Replacement Blade. The promotion for February is that for $150 spent on merchandise, the wood plane can be purchased for FREE!!, 100% off from their regular price of $15.95. The offer ends at midnight on February 28th and will not be repeated. Don't miss out on this great opportunity to save on valuable tools that will ease the tedious steps in building rockets.

Coming Next Week:

On Tuesday (February 7th, 2023) we'll have the next Advanced Construction Video. Video 8 shows how to attach the controller to your rocket, and position the heat shield cloth at the correct location on your rocket's shock cord.

You're already on our newsletter list, so look for that in your email in-box next Tuesday.