Before beginning to build the Quest Superbird model rocket, I read the instructions - and found a few inconsistencies to watch out for.
Building the Superbird, by Quest Aerospace. Part 1 includes unbagging the kit and checking the parts.
This is the Estes Nike Smoke Pro Series II scale model Nike Smoke sounding rocket. I launched it for the first time in Berwick, Maine, on a G40-7 composite motor - a beautiful flight. The Jolly Logic Chute Release was set for 400 feet. The Nike Smoke was a NASA…
A high power rocket is like a model rocket, only bigger and more powerful. Model rocket engines, or motors, range from A through G. High power motors start with H. That means they have more than 160 Newton-seconds of total impulse. I successfully did my HPR L1 certification attempt on…
You can shape plywood high power rocket fins by hand, even without power tools. It's easy - though a little time-consuming. In this video, I'm turning my Estes Leviathan fins into airfoils with a simple hand sander. Some people feel that airfoiled fins reduce drag and allow a rocket to…
The Ivy Tech Rocket Kids launch a keychain spy camera on an Estes Patriarch with a B6-4 motor.
This is the Ceres B, a model rocket you can build, from the book Make: Rockets: Down-to-Earth Rocket Science, by Mike Westerfield. The rocket carries a hidden video camera payload, an altimeter, and a Jolly Logic Chute Release. This isn't an Estes kit - it's a rocket you can build…
First flight of a three-motor clustered model rocket. This was my first design.
My Estes Partizon Pro Series II rocket flying for the first time, on a CTI F31 motor. After a day of my low power rockets suffering damage, it was nice to have a good flight.
I designed and built a rocket for a friend's grandson, but I didn't get to see it fly, until he sent me this video. This was a thank-you gift for donating to a Bloomington Playwrights Project fundraiser.
The Ivy Tech Rocket Kids launch Hank's Funky Fins - an Estes Viking with four fins, two of which are flipped around backwards. The rocket reaches a roughly-calculated altitude of about 260 feet.
September 26, 2015, the members of CMASS - the Central Massachusetts Spacemodeling Society - launch a piece of cake in honor of their former president, Bill Spadafora. The cake was served at the 13th Anniversary FlisKits Launch. Jim Flis speaks first.
The Quest Quadrunner, by Quest Aerospace, is a big, beautiful model rocket that flies on a cluster of four motors at once! Building it was a challenge, because when I did it, I had only been building rockets for a few months. You can see some of the troubles I…
Some members of the MIT Rocketry Team were present at my first NAR section launch. I got a good view of liftoff, and an even better view of recovery!
July 20, 2014, I launched my first rockets, including the Estes Der Red Max, the first rocket I built myself. This was at the very beginning. I was unfamiliar with the Model Rocket Safety Code at this point, and you'll notice a couple of times we failed to do a…
After searching for a rocket for nearly an hour, I found it in an unexpected place.
This is a typical model rocket flight - ignition, boost, coast, ejection and recovery. I love the Cosmic Explorer. I managed to get a nice airfoil on the fins, and it barely rolls at all. This rocket flies nice and straight, and it's a real beaut.
This was my first cluster rocket - the two-motor Magnum Sport Loader by Quest Aerospace. It's what is known as an egg lofter, meaning it carries a payload of a raw egg - actually, two raw eggs. This is a common model rocketry challenge - you launch an egg, because…
About a week ago, I suddenly felt like trying a two-stage rocket, but I didn't have a kit. Since I'd also been toying with the idea of designing and building my first rocket from scratch, I decided to go for both at once - a big step for me. I…
