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Here is a diagram of the Cineroc showing its dimensions.

This project is not so much a camera rocket but rather a camera rocket payload. It is an upscale of the Estes Cineroc that was produced in the 1970’s. The story behind this payload is my friend Dave Flynn loves the Estes Omega two-staged rocket. He has built several pseudo-scale versions but when he wanted to build a 7 1/2” diameter version, I tried to convinced him to do a true scale of the rocket. He agreed, but only if I built a scale version of the Cineroc to go on top.

There wasn’t much of a centering ring between the 7 1/2” body tube and the 8 1/2” payload section. Both Quick tube body tubes were covered with a Kevlar sock and epoxied.

The base of the couple had to be re-enforced to withstand the impact of landing. The parachute was attached at the top to keep the payload section vertical upon descent.

This shot shows the Kevlar re-enforced access door from the inside of the payload tube.

This is the plywood frame that would hold the Photosonics 1VN high speed 16 mm movie camera. Kevlar pulp was used to strengthen the epoxy fillets throughout the payload section.

An outside shot of the plywood cowling that housed the movie camera. The camera was secured with screws to the cowling.

The nose cone was not as tricky as I imagined. I started off by making a cone from ordinary poster board and gluing it to a short piece of body tube (1”). A centering ring was used to keep the body tube round. Then, several layers of fiberglass was epoxied to outside to strengthen the cone.

The tip was made from a clear plastic hemisphere. I used expanding foam to strengthen the dome and then glued it into the cone.

After the tip was installed, I added more fiberglass and epoxy to the inside of the cone for additional strength.

This shot shows the top plate inside the payload section. This plate is where the parachute attached. The parachute was housed in the nose cone. A coupler set on top of this plate and extended slightly above the body tube. This allowed for a shoulder for the nose cone to fit over. Nylon 2-56 screws held the nose cone on until deployed.

This inside view of the coupler also shows the mounts for 4 point & shoot cameras. These cameras were placed around the payload section and looked out the side of the payload section. Another 35 mm SLR camera was mounted in the base of the coupler and looked down taking pictures on descent of the payload section.

There was very little transition between the two body tubes that I used masking tape to build up a step and then filled it in with Super Fil.

After the payload section was painted, vinyl decals added the final touch. You can see the screws that held the high speed movie camera and the point & shoot cameras looking out the side of the payload section.

This was the maiden flight of the Cineroc payload section. This take-off shot was taken at Dairy Aire in 2002. The rocket was scratch built by Dave Flynn and it flew on a L952.

This is one of the few shots of the upscale of the Estes Cineroc/Omega together. On another test flight of the Cineroc on the scratch built booster the rocket had a major malfunction and the payload section was destroyed. Plans are in the works to rebuild this payload section.